Here are his top seven:
1. It’s better to price my home on the high side. If the buyer’s interested, they can make an offer. If your home is overpriced from the beginning, you risk losing potential buyers who aren’t stretching their search into an uncomfortable price range. The first price impression is the “window of maximum opportunity” when buyer interest and offers should be at their highest.
2. If I list my home for the price I want, I might lose out on a potentially higher offer. The opposite is true. A well-priced home tends to generate a lot of interest and can result in multiple offers in a short space of time. A shorter marketing span can bring in strong offers resulting in your home selling for over your asking price.
3. The price of my house will improve with time. There is a strong link between how long a property has been on the market and the final selling price. The longer your home remains on the market, the more likely buyers are to question its value.
4. The lowest price I’ll accept for my property is X. Resist the urge to draw a line in the sand with a figure you consider your “bottom line” price. You can decline an offer based on a number but you might never get there with another buyer and a subsequent offer may be lower or layered with conditions and complications. In this market, work with the offer you have.
5. An offer should come in close to asking price. In this market, buyers aren’t going to be generous initially. Unless it’s a really hot property, which is priced aggressively or in a low-inventory market, no buyer will willingly offer more than they have to, especially the first time around. Buyers will try to get a sense of how flexible you are on price before deciding their next move.
6. Outdated features shouldn’t impact my selling price. Unfortunately, they do. Buyers are looking at how much they’re going to have to spend to bring the home up to today’s standards and are going to deduct accordingly.
7. The buyer’s offer is simply too far off the asking price to counter. When a buyer steps up and puts pen to paper with an offer, it’s an invitation to negotiate and begin discussions about the property.