The market is shifting. Is it time to reduce my asking price?

By Kathy Schmidt, Broker/Owner of Schmidt Realty Group Inc.

If your home is currently on the market and you’ve not received an offer yet, you might be asking yourself this question. It’s an important question to ask, but there are risks if you ask it too early…or too late.

When should you consider adjusting price?

• When you’re not getting any showings.
  If no one is coming to see your property, the first thing to check is the MLS listing itself. Is every detail properly loaded into the system so buyers and agents can easily find it? For instance, have all the nearby schools been included in the online listing details?  There are hundreds of fields of information to be loaded into the MLS system to help buyers with very specific search criteria find your home. Getting this right is key. Ask your REALTOR® to share the “detail” version of the listing with you to ensure everything in there that should be. If the online listing includes these important details, and if there is a marketing system in place to get the word out, and you still have no showings, that’s an indicator it’s time to consider price.
• When showings are happening but you’re not getting offers.
  When looking at value, buyers consider price, condition and location. You can’t move your house, so condition is the first thing to consider if you’re not getting offers. Buyer feedback is invaluable in this case. It can be challenging to get buyers and their REALTORS® to provide honest feedback about your home, but it’s vital that your agent has a system to optimize the opportunity to find out what buyers and their agents are thinking about your home. While it might hurt your feelings to find out they don’t like the paint colour you so carefully chose, if you hear that more than once then you might want to think about taking a weekend to repaint the kitchen. Then you’ll want your REALTOR® to redo photos and send out the marketing fresh on all channels.
• When online marketing results slow down.
  Whether it’s Realtor.ca, YouTube, Facebook or the MLS system, tracking the online response from potential buyers is invaluable. Your REALTOR® should provide you with regular reports about online traffic for your listing. When these numbers slow down, the result is almost always fewer in-person showings. A good agent is always asking how the marketing message or target audience could be revised to reach more of the right buyer group, but at some point it’s important to recognize that this might mean buyers are looking in a lower price range for a home like yours.
• When other homes near yours are selling but yours is not.
  If SOLD signs are popping up around you and you’re not receiving offers, that’s a sign that it’s time to reconsider price. Take an honest look at your home (size, rooms, features, location) and compare it to those recent sales. Then ask your REALTOR® for their honest opinion about your home’s value compared to those recent sales. Let your agent know that you don’t want them to massage the message. Ask them to give it to you straight. It might be that your home is worth more as it has a view of a park or a walkout basement, so it absolutely is worth more than your neighbour’s home. In that case, you’re looking for a buyer with a higher budget. The question to ask next is…what are homes similar to mine selling for in other nearby neighborhoods? That can guide the pricing discussion as well!
• When your REALTOR® suggests it.
  While some might think it’s self-serving for an agent to recommend a price change, the truth is that your REALTOR® really does have the same goal as you. A good sale that gives you the best price and terms possible in the current market. They also have the goal of maintaining their reputation and earning your future referrals. Neither of those are achieved by persuading homeowners to sell for less than their home’s value. Your REALTOR® will recognize market signals before you do, and can help you understand what the market is saying it will accept in terms of value. You’ll be doing yourself a favour to take their advice to heart.

Getting a home sold for its highest price and best terms in any market is always a team effort between you and your REALTOR®. A smart seller gives their agent permission to be direct with you so you can make the right decisions for you and your family. And a good REALTOR® always takes your lead as the seller. After all, it’s your property and your hard-earned equity!

No seller wants to leave money on the table.  Don’t drop price just because you’re impatient. Your REALTOR® can advise you on how long it’s taking similar homes to sell. Sometimes a bit of patience is all you need.