SELLER TIP: Dropping the Selling Price Isn’t Always a Good Move

Published On: February 19, 2020|Categories: Blog, Home Sellers, Jasper IN Real Estate, Pricing your Home, Real Estate, Sellers, Selling Tips|Tags: Home Pricing, Jasper IN Home Sellers, Lowering the Price on your Home, Pricing Your Home, Seller Mistakes, seller tips, Selling Your Home, Tips for selling your home|

When your home’s been on the market for months and you haven’t received any serious offers, it’s natural to become concerned and look for ways to spark more interest. It occurs to most sellers to drop the asking price in the hope of attracting a buyer, but this isn’t necessarily a good idea. Here are five reasons you should think twice before heading down the price-cutting route.

Neighborhood Comparisons

When setting your asking price, you should always pay close attention to the value of similar properties in the surrounding area, and not go too far above or below the average. This is just as important if you’re planning to drop your price. If you value your property too far below the local competition, a potential buyer is likely to ask themselves what’s wrong with your home to make it worth so much less? What might you not be telling them? As the old saying goes, if something looks too good to be true…

Psychology of Value

Everyone loves a bargain, but in general people place more instinctive value on expensive items than cheaper ones. A low price implies a lack of confidence in the property’s value, and this uncertainty can easily spread to potential buyers. Before they even get to the viewing stage, they may decide that your house mustn’t be an appealing buy, or it’d be priced at a higher level.

Signs of Desperation

If a potential buyer has been actively looking for properties in your area, they’ve probably already seen your home listed at its original price. If they see the price suddenly fall, then it’s only natural for them to reason you’re desperate for a sale. If the reduction tempts them, they’re likely to treat the new price as a starting point and come in with a vastly lower offer, safe in the knowledge that they have the upper hand in negotiations.

It’s a Slippery Slope

Once you’ve decided that a price cut is a tactic to follow, what happens if it doesn’t generate any new interest? Will you opt to reduce the price again? And again? How far will you take it?

Price Isn’t Everything

Lastly, price is only one of the many factors that go into a successful house sale. Emotions, personal preferences, convenience, and gut instinct all play hugely important roles as well. A few thousand dollars here and there on such a major purchase will make little difference if a buyer has their heart set on your property. On the other hand, low prices may only encourage half-hearted interest which takes your time and energy without leading to any final result.

If you’re finding it hard to sell your home, there are many tactics to try, such as taking better photographs or carrying out minor renovations to make it a more attractive buy. Price reductions can work too, of course, but they shouldn’t be your immediate, unquestioning choice when things aren’t moving as quickly as you’d like.

Are You Thinking of Buying a Home in Dubois County?

Use our site to search homes for sale in Jasper, Dubois, Spencer, Martin and Davis counties and all of our surrounding areas. Unlike the “big name” sites out there, at Sell 4 Free Welsh Realty our site is directly connected to our local MLS and is updated with new homes every hour. By signing up for New Listing alerts you can stay on top of the newest homes for sale and get price change alerts so you can stay ahead of other buyers and beat them to the hottest deals!