The Risks of Overpricing

Profitable Sale

Maximize your chance of a profitable sale by avoiding costly marketing mistakes. If you currently own property and are thinking of placing it on the market, one of the first steps you'll take is setting an asking price for your property, an important move that requires the ability to find the perfect balance between attracting solid offers and ultimately receiving top dollar. Read more...

Seller Info

If you currently own property and are thinking of placing it on the market, get informed about preparing your home for sale, pricing your property appropriately, marketing it effectively and learn everything you can about real estate sale process so you can maximize your chance of a profitable sale by avoiding costly marketing mistakes.
Read more...

One of the most important decisions you will have to make during the selling process is setting a price for your property. The list price affects how quickly a property will sell - because it's competing with other properties on the market. Most sellers want to establish the high price for their property and sell it fast. But it's critical not to overprice it.

The main risks of overpricing:

Overpricing helps sell competing properties by making them look like better values.
Overpriced property can attract the wrong prospects. The prospect you do attract don't like it because it's not what they expected in that price range.
The prospects you should attract don't see it because they think they can't afford it.
Overpriced properties reduce advertising responses and sales professional and buyer interest.
Overpriced property sits on the market and often sells for less than it would have, had it been competitively priced to begin with.
Overpriced property that sits on the market for a long period may carry a stigma; prospects will assume that there is something wrong with the property and will not make inquiries.
Overpriced properties can lead to mortgage rejections because they don't appraise correctly.

Some sellers are under the impression that they need to add a margin to their home in order to have a cushion to negotiate and achieve their actual price. Although this may sound logical in theory, in practice overpricing will not bring anyone to negotiate with. So they usually end up with plenty of cushion, just no buyers.

Sometimes sellers decide to price their property high for a month or so and then lower the price if nobody bites. This is a big mistake because they lose the impact of initial activity.

When a property first goes on the market, it generates and initial surge of activity, especially among sale professionals, who are eager to show it to their pool of qualified buyers. Don't lose this great opportunity because of overpricing.

Pricing correctly is critical to the sale of your property and the accomplishment of your real estate goals. It is also important to see your property's value from the buyers' perspective - which is what counts when you're pricing your property to sell.

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Selling Tips

When you get the buyers into the house, it is very important to make their visit as pleasant as possible.

Every room in your home should be spotless, especially the living room, kitchen and bathroom.

Organize all closets and drawers because buyers might look there.

Try to eliminate all clutter as clutter can cost a sale.

Make sure your house does not have any unpleasant odors.

Try to rearrange furniture to make rooms appear as large as possible.

Depersonalize each room, removing photo frames and posters or personal artwork.

If you have pets, remove all pets' ancillary items, such as food bowls and litter boxes.

Tidy up the garage and throw away any obvious junk that is lying around that you never use.

Rent a storage unit or portable pod if needed for larger pieces of furniture or knickknacks.