It's always the price that matters most
If you are selling a home in today's Charleston real estate market, you may have an absolute bottom price in your mind that you'll accept from a buyer. Of course, a buyer will more than likely also have a top price that they are willing to pay. In order to ratify a contract, there may be other terms to consider but both parties will have to agree on a price.
Most sellers who bought during the past few years will generally disregard current market conditions and try to price their home so that they break even after selling expenses.
That doesn't make much sense since it's generally accepted that Charleston home prices have declined about 10% from the top of the market. So if a listing is priced about 10% more than the seller paid a few years ago, it's probably about 20% overpriced.
And more likely than not, it won't sell until it's priced right.
I came across a show on HGTV that highlighted this reality over the weekend. I'll make it quick in case you also saw it.
Basically, a seller paid $470k in 06 and added $35k in renovations. The real estate agent suggested a price range and of course the seller basically started at the top of the range. Just a few showings, no contract yet, price reduction; a few showings, no contract yet, another price reduction; a few showings, no contract yet, another price reduction; etc.
So after sitting unsold on the market for about 6 months, finally an offer, lowball of course. Actually the seller did the right thing and countered slightly and the buyer did come back much stronger but now they had to agree somewhere in between. And the buyer did get the best of the negotiation from that point.
So the house finally sold and what did the seller say at the end of the show after having lost a little money.
"I should have priced it lower from the start".
It's always the price that matters most.