Realistic expectations and market value
There have always been different perspectives on housing values. The seller views the property at a higher price, the buyer views the property at a lower price and the market value is generally somewhere in between. Negotiation between the seller and buyer hopefully resolves the differences and a sale can be made.
The seller's perspective The buyer's perspective The market
A seller in today’s Charleston South Carolina real estate market faces a lot of competition from excessive inventory of homes available for sale and the fewer available buyers have many choices to select from. With that in mind, why are some buyers trying to “steal” properties below market value and why are some sellers holding out hope for equally unrealistic selling prices?
Everyone can agree that the current market conditions favor the buyer. There are values to be found from some very motivated sellers who have to sell for any number of reasons; perhaps they can no longer afford their mortgage due to rate resets, job loss, etc. Others may be very motivated to sell because they may have relocated to another city and cannot afford two mortgage payments. Death in the family, divorce or other personal factors may be motivating factors as well.
Buyers need to understand that not all sellers will be motivated but sellers should not be testing the listing waters in today’s Charleston real estate market trying to attract a disproportionate offer.
A buyer has to place a value on a property they are considering purchasing. They will look at comparable sales provided by their real estate agent and adjust the price up and down as they compare the home they are considering to the sale price of similar homes. A buyer generally will not have to offer list price for a home today but the offer they make should be realistic with a reasonable amount of room to negotiate. The seller should have set their asking price based on the same information provided by their real estate agent and if the home is priced to market, a small margin of room to adjust their price. If the buyer doesn’t put a ridiculous low ball offer on the property (and why some insist on doing that baffles me) and if the seller doesn’t price the property far above market (and why they would do that in today’s market equally baffles me), it should be a simple process to narrow the differences and come to an agreement. If either the buyer or the seller is stubbornly unrealistic, the two parties may remain far apart.
There are two perspectives on value, buyer and seller. When one of the parties to the transaction doesn’t understand market value, an offer cannot be successfully negotiated and both buyer and seller lose. Whether buying or selling, keep your expectations realistic.