The key to selling your home quickly is to price it right. As a real estate agent, I’ve seen many home sellers make the mistake of overpricing their homes. They often value their homes based on their renovation costs or the profit they want to make, rather than the actual market value. But the truth is, overpricing your home will always backfire on you. Here is why.
Why You Should Never Overprice Your Home
You Will Turn Off Potential Buyers
When you set the price of your house too high, you turn off potential buyers. Those looking for homes in a lower price range will skip your property since they filter real estate listings by price. If your home is priced too high, it won’t show up in their search results since it’s out of their price range.
At the same time, you will discourage potential buyers in a higher price range because they will see your home as not worth the price.
You Will Get Less Showings
When you overprice your home, you turn off potential buyers, reducing your pool of buyers. This means you will get fewer viewings and less foot traffic during open houses.
Remember, selling your home is a numbers game. The more people you can attract to view your home, the higher the likelihood of making a sale.
Setting the price too high means you’re essentially getting fewer potential buyers into your home.
Your Listing Will Get Stale
The longer your home sits on the market, the fewer potential buyers it will attract. This happens because your listing becomes stale over time and receives less visibility on real estate websites like Zillow and Realtor.com. Typically, home buyers are most interested in the newest listings, so the longer your home remains unsold, the more difficult it will be to find a buyer.
You Will End Up Lowering Your Price
In my experience as a real estate agent, I’ve often observed that sellers of overpriced homes eventually realize that their initial price was too high, leading them to do a price reduction.
The Seller is Getting Desperate
A price reduction is often interpreted as a sign that the home seller is getting desperate. It puts the home seller at a disadvantage, giving them less leverage when it comes to bargaining.
Buyers Will Think Something Is Wrong With Your House
One thing that could happen if your home sits on the market unsold for longer than usual is that people will start to think that something is wrong with your house. This can discourage a lot of potential home buyers, especially first time home buyers because they don’t want to buy a house with issues.
This could mean that home buyers will not prioritize your home when they are making appointments and going to open houses. Your home will be pushed down to the bottom of their list.
Home buyers have limited time, it’s impossible for them to see every home in their price range- they will end up skipping your house. Trust me, you don’t want to be that home.
It Will Take Longer to Sell Your House
Continuous price reductions, declining interest from potential buyers, lower turnout at open houses, and fewer viewing appointments will result in your home taking much longer to sell. This is really inconvenient if you are still living in the house.
In the worst-case scenario, you might find yourself feeling desperate as the sale drags on longer than expected, particularly if you require the proceeds to buy a new home. This will create significant financial pressure, forcing you to make further price reductions and concede to buyers’ negotiation demands.
All this pain could have been avoided if you had initially priced your home correctly from the start! You could have sold your home much more quickly, sparing yourself the hassle and stress.
By overpricing your home, you are only prolonging the selling process in a bad way. Do yourself a favor and be smart by pricing your home right from the start! Check out: How to Sell Your Home in One Weekend
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