In central Florida real estate, a common question that I often get asked is, "Should I price my house higher than market value so that I have room to negotiate?"
The answer is, "No, you should not!"
In order to understand why, you have to understand how Orlando MLS works. When buyer specialists are working with buyers, they put them on an automated e-mail notification system via the Orlando MLS, which will send them an e-mail when a house comes onto the market that matches their requirements. So when you first put your house on the market, hundreds and hundreds of e-mails are set up to potential buyers who want a house just like yours, in your area of town, and in a certain price range. With that being said, it is so important that you have your house priced right from the very beginning because if you don't, you will be missing out on potential buyers. You see, if your house is just $1 over the criteria that were set by the potential buyer, they will NOT see your house pop up. Therefore, your house will not be visible to the buyers who are looking for a house just like yours.
Another thing to keep in mind is that 90% of buyers work with REALTORS to help them find a house to purchase. Whenever a buyer finds a house they want to buy, before they make an offer, the agent will do a market analysis of the property to let them know if the house is priced right, if it's underpriced, or if it's overpriced. If your house is overpriced, it will not get any offers! You see, if you were a buyer and your REALTOR was telling you that the house you wanted to purchase was overpriced, you wouldn't want to waste your time trying to convince the sellers that their home is overpriced when there were other homes to look at.
Now, this doesn't mean that you have to cheaply give your house away; however, you do need to price it right in order to drive the traffic through the front door. The more demand you have on your house, the higher it will sell for -- and I'm sure that it what you want! Studies show that overpriced homes take twice as long to sell, and they sell for 6% less. So price your house right from the beginning so you can get it sold for top dollar!
As always, we are here to help you! Please feel free to Contact Us, and I hope that I have helped you get real estate smart.
