Ideally, the sooner the better.
Time is not your friend when you’re selling. Your price of your property doesn’t go up the longer you’re on the market – in fact, it’s the opposite – the longer you’re on the market the more heavily discounted your eventual selling price is likely to be.
Telling yourself that you have time to sell and that you can hold out for your hope price is gambling on being the exception rather than the rule. Your house is a very high stake to wager.
When it comes to selling, it’s not how long you’ve been on the market that’s important – it’s how long the buyers have been IN the market.
Buyers typically look for months, if not years, before deciding to make an offer on a property.
Your buyer pool is at it’s peak when you first hit the market. Hot buyers will see your property within the first hours and days that it’s listed.
Your peak hits on the internet are in the first 3 to 5 days.
Your peak home open turnouts will be in the first week; it will roughly halve in the second week and halve again in the third.
If you missed out on getting offers from the hot buyers when you first hit the market, you’ve probably missed the market.
I can be 5 minutes into my first home open for a new property and pretty much guarantee that at least one buyer will ask me how long it’s been on the market. Why? Because buyers want to know how much they might be able to discount the price by. Whilst it’s starting to change, overall it’s still a buyers market.
In Perth the average days on market for selling a property in the last December quarter were 71 and the average discount amount was 7%.
The question is, do you want to sell well or do you want to risk being the average?!
The primary reason for missing the market and taking too long to sell is price.
And the most common reason for property being incorrectly priced is because either the seller a) wants too much or b) has chosen to go with the agent that’s made them an unrealistic promise on price.
I don’t always get price right, but I try very hard not to get it wrong.
And if your price isn’t right and you’re not getting offers, taking too long to adjust the pricing strategy and meet the market could cost you tens of thousands. And help your competition to sell before you.
When you’re interviewing agents to sell your home, ask them about their average days on market – if they’re close to or higher than the average give them a wide berth – they’re probably one of those agents that over prices properties just to get a listing. That focus on doing whatever it takes to win your listing so that they get a commission comes at your expense.
At the same time, don’t be your own worst enemy. Make sure your price expectations are grounded in reality and real comparable surrounding sales evidence. And if you’re not sure how to price your home, read my blog on two mistakes sellers make when pricing their own properties!
So be realistic, interrogate your agent, look at the sales evidence and above all, be prepared to meet the market if your property isn’t selling. The clocks ticking, and those seconds $count.
Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash
