Has your home been sitting on the market for quite some time now? Most likely, you are now feeling too desperate to sell off your property that you'd be willing to let it go for a lower price. But before you reduce your asking price, there are a few things you need to consider to avoid losing thousands of dollars. Here is some advice from real estate experts.
Keep tabs on buyers.
Listen to what buyers are saying and not saying. After private viewings, ask buyers and their brokers for feedback and pay attention to their responses. If a majority of them say that your price is a bit steep, then it's time to consider lowering your price.
"If 35 to 40 buyers have passed through your home and not a single one has placed an offer, it's time to seriously consider a price improvement," said New York City real estate agent Brad Malow.
How long should you wait?
Selling your home is not like dating where you should wait for the perfect suitor to come along. In the world of real estate, perfect is a very high bar.
"Houses set at the right price will start getting offers 'within the first few weeks,'" Malow shared. But what if you haven't received an offer even if comparable houses are selling like hotcakes? If so, you may want to do more than just lower your asking price. You may need to delist your home for a short while, do some touch-ups and relist.
"Once you've been on the market for five weeks or so, you're chasing the market," said Mike King, an agent with California-based Partners Trust Realty. King related that he sold a house which stayed on the market for half a year by removing it from the listing, having the sellers change the carpeting and staging the place much better. Within a couple of weeks, King had it relisted and it was sold at the original asking price.
