It’s a bit of a sensitive question: when should you reevaluate your list price? No one likes having this conversation, and by the time you and your agent are having it, you are probably both frustrated, disappointed and tired. But, it’s obviously an important conversation to have if you are going to get your home sold and move on with your life.

“I always say ‘the market will let us know within two weeks if the price is right’”, Jake says. He has a few indicators he tracks to make sure he gets the message the market is sending.

Showings: “If the marketing is on the right track, a lack of showings is a big indicator that the price is too high.” The typical number of showings will depend on the price range – homes in the lower price ranges will get more showings than something listed at the upper end. “I have a firm grasp of what’s usual, what’s normal at each price point, and I’ll use that to compare.”

Feedback: Listening to the feedback from agents and potential buyers is so important, and while often the message is ‘It’s just not the right home for us’, Jake tries to get a concrete sense of why the home isn’t feeling right.

Objections: Those reasons why are called objections in the business, and Jake likes to get to the bottom of how focused those objections are. “I want to know, can I overcome the objection?” It might mean looking at small repairs or a different staging approach, but the reality is objections like these are often tied to the price. “The message is, this amount is too much for what you are offering.”

Deciding whether to adjust the list price based on these indicators will come down to a sellers motivation. “If someone is saying, ‘I’m in no hurry, I can stay here for a year and see what happens’ – that’s very different from someone who needs to move quickly.” And sometimes, the initial list price is just off. “I’ve learned the hard way that’s it’s really important to get off the computer and go out and look at homes. I had an experience where I did the market analysis and made a recommendation, and then a few days later I was out with a buyer looking at homes in the same area and price range and it was just shocking. The information you get from looking online versus in person is totally different. No comparison! My suggested listing price was 30K too high! But the damage was done. The sellers were upset obviously – that initial price was now in their imagination.”That experience convinced Jake to get out and ‘tour’ regularly. “Many agents don’t bother with going on tour, they may say this is not my best time spent, but it makes such a difference.”

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