Hoping that a buyer will overpay for your home isn’t a strategy, it\u2019s a wish, warns South African property company, Seeff.<\/p>\n
“As a seller, you naturally want to get \u2018top dollar\u2019. The chances are also good that you have a deep emotional attachment to your home. Combined, these factors often lead sellers to insist on a high price,” said\u00a0Elaine Chetty of Seeff.<\/p>\n
She said that the exercise of placing an inflated price on your property is self defeating.<\/p>\n
“Our analysis of website activity shows that new listings get an average of 50-60 page views on the day that they hit the market. Houses with price drops get only 15-20 views,” Chetty said.<\/p>\n
“First impressions matter. If your home is overpriced when people first see it, chances are good that they won\u2019t look at it again”\u00a0Chetty said.<\/p>\n
Seeff estimated that a house listed for sale gets 3.5 times more web traffic in the first 7 days than it does one month later. After the first 3 days web traffic to existing listings slows by more than 65%. Within 3 weeks it\u2019s down by 85%.<\/p>\n
“In short, your home\u2019s debut is its best chance to shine. An overpriced property is more likely to be ignored. In this current market, don\u2019t expect a rush of lower offers either; people won\u2019t assume that you\u2019re willing to negotiate.<\/p>\n
“By the time you lower the price, your home will have the taint of being a \u2018languisher\u2019, stuck on the market. Fair or not, a home fresh on the market at R1.2 million looks different than one reduced from R1.5 million to R1.2 million,” Chetty said.<\/p>\n
Seeff pointed out that even if objectively it\u2019s a good home, if it\u2019s been on the market for a while, many buyers will wonder if there\u2019s something wrong with it.<\/p>\n
“Once that stigma is there, it is going to be hard for a seller to get full asking price. If there has already been a price cut, savvy buyers will start circling. This is not a good situation for sellers to be in,” Chetty said.<\/p>\n
Most buyers will look at your home on the first day it comes to market \u2013 so make that impression count by pricing right, Seeff advised.<\/p>\n
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