One of my clients recently commented to me, “all we have been doing is chasing the market down”.  I had his property listed at $699,000 when the market was about $650,000.  We then reduced to $649,000 and the market had moved to around $600,000.  When we repositioned ourselves at $599,000 the market had moved to $575,000.  We put the property at $569,000 and the market had moved to $550,000. 

He commented that if he had listened to me originally he would not own the property, but he said he was “stubborn” and was trying to squeeze every nickel he could out of the property.  In reality, he had lost money because he was always a day late and a dollar short on pricing.  In our business we call that chasing the market down. 

I recently attended a seminar in Dallas, Texas with some of the top Realtors in the United States.  I was curious to see what they were doing to try and get their properties sold.

Several of them were in markets that are in much worse condition than ours – especially the agents from California, Michigan, Ohio, Las Vegas, and South Florida.  I asked them what they were doing to get properties sold and most of them said “staying ahead of the market”. 

I always encourage my sellers to look at where they are and see how they compare against other properties in their area and just as importantly, how they compare with properties in their price range.

I often hear people say, “we are the lowest priced 3-bedroom fairway home on a particular street” and I tell them – “Yes you are, but we never have buyers that come in looking specifically on your street – they are looking at other 3-bedroom fairway homes in your price range.”  So in order to sell in today’s market, you have to be the best value. 

I often have people tell me “just get me an offer”.  I have tried to explain them that the way you get an offer is by being the best value.  The buyer looks at all the properties on the market today and then they make an offer on the one that they feel is the best value.  If you are not the best value, you do not get showings.  And as the old saying goes “you cannot score without a runner on base”. 

If you have any questions concerning pricing of property you are trying to sell, I would be glad to assist you by looking at what your competition is and where we need to be priced to sell in today’s market.  I do not want you to make the mistake that I see so many people making – chasing the market down.