Chances are good you weren't alone. Chances are really good that house went on to sell with very competitive offers, way over the asking price and left a lot of confused agents and hopeful home buyers. A smart agent can often tell you easily what it will truly sell for, one with far reaching relationships can get the inside scoop on what caused the seller to price they way they did and what their goals are.  

 

On occasion, we can even ask the question " what would the seller accept today?" and get a real answer. 

 

There are a few reasons why homes come to market at prices that are so much lower than where they actually sell.

By accident : Within hours the agent is shocked by interest and unclear on why what's happening is happening. Often they'll say something like "I had no idea so many people would call ".

 

Their voicemail boxes fill up, they stop responding to messages. 

 

They host an open house with 100+ people by themselves and are flustered, unable to answer questions, no support, no strategy, no system for coordinating gathering details from buyers or supplying buyers with necessary interest, no way to enhance the buyer's interest because they are simply too busy. You'll recognize this is likely the case when you visit. 

 

The sellers are overwhelmed, without a plan in place to manage all of the inquiries, showing requests, drive bys, people randomly knocking it feels hectic. An early offer comes in and they shut down the viewings and open houses as a way to make it stop. They may even cancel pre booked showings for the same day. 

 

Energy pricing as a strategy : The seller and the agent make a decision to price the property below true value. This in order to cause traffic jams on the street and attract attention they wouldn't have received if they had priced in line with the current market. Often this is when there are a lot of houses they are competing with, the seller is under a tight time crunch, it's an estate sale, the house needs some work and the seller isn't able or willing to complete it. 

 

This can be a way to generate fast, high interest. If the time it takes to sell a house is slowing down and the seller is motivated, but want's to be sure they got top dollar with few contingencies this can be smart. It can work. 

 

The key is as a seller you have to follow through with the viewings and open houses. You have to let people see the house flexibly and your agent has to be clear on the strategy and the range you are targeting as a minimum threshold.

It takes a skilled agent to pull this off.

 

In order to assess property accurately as an agent you have to absorb info by seeing a lot of houses, in the same town, in the same price range, in the same style range and actually do the work to learn the how, when and why of the sales. 

As a home buyer or a seller you want to hire an agent who can articulate to you the stories of the sales similar to what you are selling or buying. Look for someone who knows the local market and can explain it. 

That's the theory behind the old school thought to hire a local expert. Not everything old school is bad. This makes a lot of sense for a lot of people and can make the difference between a record breaking sale or a big negotiation for a buyer.

 

As real estate agents for home sellers, we are chosen to help people maximize their sale price. To do so we review approximately 86 data points as a base to our pricing strategy before we see a house in person. We do about 12 hours of research before we meet with the home seller so that we know all that we can prior to viewing the home. Sounds like a lot? Well, it is.

 

We won't cross your doorstep with a firm price in mind because that's the wrong way to do it in my opinion. How can I put a value on your house until I've seen the style, condition, upgrades, cosmetics etc.

 

I honestly can't and you wouldn't want me to. It's too big of a thing to get wrong. I won't give a way a dollar of your hard earned equity.

 

If you are a hopeful home buyer looking for a "deal" we likely have a list ready of properties that aren't our listings that we believe are too low, negotiable or ready to be sold. Tell me what you are hoping to find and I'll match you with the best opportunities. This works, really well. 

 

Next time you see a house priced too good to be true, call us, let's go see it as soon as we can, same day if possible.

Very often the sellers who accidentally priced these houses low are the same sellers who will choose to take an offer early. 

 

Then once we know whether you like it, love it, want it we will determine a likely true value before considering an offer. You'll want and need insight like this from one of the reports we review.

 

If the house is in the $800's in Andover, and has been on the market 2 days, and you feel like its a "steal" look at the last 34 homes in the 800's to sell online, find the 3 or 4 that are most similar and ask their agents for the story of their sale. What happened, how many offers, what contingencies, what won, what didn't win.

 

If you can't find 3 or 4 that are similar because the subject property is much nicer, bigger, better, superior neighborhood, superior location go into the 900s and move up in 20K increments until you find the price tier that's most similar.

Then repeat the questions to those agents, who, why, when, how much, what contingencies.

 

Once we move through that process you have the base price range of where the house should have been listed, then and only then can you determine its real value and what another buyer could likely offer.

 

If you have questions about your options in today's new market, where some price ranges in some towns are seller controlled markets and some other price ranges and towns are buyer controlled markets reach me at 978 457 3406.

 

I'll be able to give you an easy to understand overview of where your money will go the furthest, what I would consider if I were you and whether it makes sense based on your unique situation to buy today or hold off.

 

If you are feeling like you want a clear understanding of what your home could actually sell for today, whether you should sell AS IS or make enhancements to maximize your sale price or just find out about how long it would take for you to receive attractive offers, call me. 

 

I am a real person, a good listener, an empathetic conversationalist and a solution finder. 

I love kids, love animals, love good coffee and will never shy away from a tough conversation if that's what is needed.