“Hi Gary. We’ll be selling our condo in La Jolla next month. We know the comps say it’s around 700K, but we’d like to shoot for 725-750K. We’re not in a rush and are willing to hold out even if it takes several months to sell. How long should we expect it to be on the market?”
Answer:
I hear this all the time and find it, well, puzzling.
How does “not being in a rush” actually increase the value of your home? Sure, you’d likely sell for less if you were under time pressure.
But the opposite isn’t the case. You don’t get a higher price just by waiting (unless you’re in a highly appreciating market and the market rises to your price over time).
In fact, studies show the longer a home is on the market, on average the LOWER the final price.
Why?
Because it no longer has the “new home on the market” buzz. And with time agents and homebuyers start to wonder what’s wrong with the home and figure the seller is getting more motivated and willing to deal.
The moral is to price it right from the beginning and to generate the most interest when it’s the new home on the market.
