The pricing process is the same for both our 2% and 3% Programs.   Of course sellers want to sell their houses for the highest price possible, but they also want to sell them in reasonable amounts of time. We help sellers establish the sales price by giving them information on properties that have sold and on properties that are currently for sale. This information is presented in the form of lists maps and graphs.

PRICE RIGHT TO SELL RIGHT!--Value is established by the marketplace and what a buyer is willing to pay for a house. Creating a "sale price" is a process whereby an estimate is made of the maximum price that will attract a buyer within a reasonable time period.  Price too low and money is left on the table; price too high and the sale takes forever or does not take place at all.

Markets change and so must pricing philosophies. Recently, in some geographical areas, there was an extremely high demand for houses. We often heard of multiple offers on the first day the property was offered for sale. This would seem to indicate that the property had been offered for sale at too low a price. Yet when setting the sale price, by reviewing the prices for which other houses had sold in the area, the asking price seemed reasonable. In this type of market you can be aggressive in setting the sale price. Care must be taken not to be overly aggressive since the property has to appraise.  If a property is sold at a high price and does not appraise for that price the buyer will most likely withdraw the offer.  Conversely, when buyers are scarce, care must be taken to set a competitive price.

Unfortunately in most markets the tendency is to set the sale price too high. In a normal market a house should sell within sixty days or it may become "stale." This means that the house will be ignored by buyers and agents. When this happens it is difficult to get even the fair market value for a house. A "stale" house is almost always caused by initially overpricing the property. 

The right price is established by the marketplace. The marketplace is measured by comparing the prices of houses that recently have sold and are currently for sale in the area and by analyzing trends. These are the so called Comp's; the COMParisons and the COMPetition. We provide the comp studies to help our sellers establish realistic sales prices. We have some analytical tools that our clients find helpful. In addition, we often take sellers on tours of houses for sale so they can make visual comparisons themselves. We make recommendations as to pricing, however, sellers always make the final decisions.

Realistic pricing is particularly important when selling in normal markets using our Single Agent Program   Buyers do not have agents encouraging them to make offers or to help them negotiate. Buyers look at selling prices as the prices sellers actually want and if buyers think they are too high they just leave. Also, buyers know sellers are saving money and want to share in the savings. Sellers should price their property where the buyer can also benefit from sale. 

With either of our programs, if ten or more prospective buyers view a house per week and it does not sell within thirty days, most likely it is priced too high. At this point a price reduction should be considered. 

If a property does not rapidly sell using our Single Agent Program it is easy to blame the process and not the price.  If  sellers do not sell rapidly often they think that they must place their properties on a multiple listing service to get it sold.  Contrary, a price reduction might be the best way to go.  An overpriced house on the multiple will still be difficult to sell.  

After showing the property for a few weeks when selling using the Single Agent Program, we know if there is enough activity to reasonably expect a sale. If there is sparse activity the seller may have no other alternative but to get more exposure by placing the property on a multiple listing service. Also, we acknowledge that some sellers become frustrated  and should pursue the customary approach of listing their property on a multiple listing service. For this reason we offer our 3% Program. We concede that by placing the property on a multiple listing service you will get a lot more exposure.