Sellers are much more realistic about the value of their homes than they were a year ago. In early 2009 when I gave home owners a value the number was often met with shock and dismay. Most home owners have caught onto the fact that if they bought their home in the last decade it may not be worth more than it was when they bought it and may even be worth less.
Yet there always have been and always will be sellers who determine the value of their home by how much they need. They figure out how much they owe on it, what their selling expenses will be and maybe how much they need for a down payment on a home and add it all together and that becomes their asking price. The number has nothing to do with how much a buyer will pay for a home or how much an appraiser will say that is is worth. Yet that is how the price is set.
The amount owed on the home or what was paid for it has nothing to do with the current value, neither does how much money the seller needs. As a home owner myself I have had to come to grips with the fact that my home was worth more money in 2006 than it is worth now. I also know that I could buy another home for less than I would have had to pay for it a few years ago, that takes some of the "ouch" out of the new value, but not the higher taxes. If you set your price by how much money you need and that amount is more than your home is worth to a buyer, it is simple, you will continue to be a home owner but not a home seller. .
I think I write this post or one just like it every year. . . see ya next year.
I am in complete agreement with this! I also often hear “Well, I don’t want to give my home away…” and still often hear people today trying to price their homes based on how things were 2-3 years ago. Even the hard truth in front of them, the graphs the “sold” numbers and the “sold” prices still are not convincing them.
What sellers need “to net” has nothing to do with what an educated, with lots of choices buyer is willing to offer for the home. That’s it.
Thanks Teresa for a great post! I always enjoy your superb photos!
Home sellers are a bit more realistic than a year ago. However, when the homeowner hears the number their home is likely to sell for, there is a notion that Realtors are out under sell the home. I still see lisings priced as if were 2006 around here in NYC. There is still just a small portion of the market that’s priced correctly.