How quick to lower price - real estate

[doggielover]

DH and I just closed and moved into a new house last week.  It's back in our homestate and we listed our other house for sale.  The realtor at the time said to list for $749K so we did.  It's been on the market 1 week and we've had 9 different groups of people look at it however no offers.  We are a bit suprised given how quick other houses sold in the area.  When we listed I thought we were too high and realtor said no.  The feedback from everyone was that the house looked great however the bedrooms were to small.  I can't change the size of the house.  

Realtor ran comps today and they are about 40k less than ours.  The difference is we have a 2 car garage and have been fully renovated with new carpets etc.  She suggested lowering the price down to $725k.  At what point do you lower the price and how much would you lower in the beginning?  I feel like if we drop the 24k at once we're going to make it seem like something is wrong with the house but at the same token I also can't afford to not have that house sell.  Starting next month I'll be paying 2 mortgages which is going to hurt the wallet.  

My absolute lowest I was willing to go was $720k.  I'm also a bit confused why she's only holding an open house on Sunday's from 12-2.  I feel like it needs to be on Saturday's as well but she hasn't responded to that.  The house is great for someone just starting out or a family with 1 child. 

[starburst604]

Did she not run the comps before recommending the listing price? I think once the house has been on for 2 weeks I'd do a price drop but maybe not that far down since it's only 5K above what you're willing to accept. Leave some room for negotiating.

[al dente]

If you're overpriced I don't think a drop indicated anything bad, just maybe a bad realtor (sorry!).
I've been looking at houses constantly and often will think something is overpriced and the price lowers a week or two in.

How long are houses sitting in your area? Things had slowed down, but may be picking back up with lowered interest rates.

In my area all the open houses are on Sunday, so I don't find that odd. There's a few one offs that will happen on Saturday and Sunday. What does your area look like?

How recent is carpet was recently replaced? I hate to say it but unless it was replaced after you moved out and truly brand new, that is not a selling point to most people.

Lowering the price will def be the quickest way to sell so you have to decide what's more important to you the money or the selling.

[bex1973]

Open Houses are most typically on Sunday in my area as well.

[Susie]

9 showings in 1 week, with no feedback that the price is too high, would not have me rushing to drop the price just yet.  I can't imagine listing without checking comps first, but I'd give it a little longer.

As for open houses, it's common here to have a 2 hour open house on one day on the weekend.  I would not expect a 2 day open house.

We sold our last house in 2021 and got feedback from people like "not enough bathrooms."  I mean yeah... it has the exact same 1.5 baths that are indicated in the listing.  We don't like it either, that's why we're selling, lol.  Buyers are annoying.

[doggielover]

Sept 18, 2024 15:13:24 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Did she not run the comps before recommending the listing price? I think once the house has been on for 2 weeks I'd do a price drop but maybe not that far down since it's only 5K above what you're willing to accept. Leave some room for negotiating.

She "claims" she did but I'm also not sure.  I had to remind her to do a "coming soon" and I had to remind her about a lot of other things - she said we have a built in microwave, automatic water in fridge, sit in kitchen which we don't.  When I called her out she said she didn't have pictures and oculdn't remember but she was at our house 6 times prior to us listing.  We were supposed to go on the market on Saturday and she changed it to Sunday.... it's been 3 days and already she wants to drop that much.  I checked the comps myself before we listed and thought we were too aggressive and really should have been about 735k.  She got us based on the rapport and she had excellent references, great word of mouth etc yet we feel like she's not doing much.  She's fowever posting about being with her grandson or being out on the lake and I'm thinking to myself why aren't you putting that much effort into marketing our house etc.  

[doggielover]

Sept 18, 2024 15:16:55 GMT -5 al dente said:

If you're overpriced I don't think a drop indicated anything bad, just maybe a bad realtor (sorry!).
I've been looking at houses constantly and often will think something is overpriced and the price lowers a week or two in.

How long are houses sitting in your area? Things had slowed down, but may be picking back up with lowered interest rates.

In my area all the open houses are on Sunday, so I don't find that odd. There's a few one offs that will happen on Saturday and Sunday. What does your area look like?

How recent is carpet was recently replaced? I hate to say it but unless it was replaced after you moved out and truly brand new, that is not a selling point to most people.

Lowering the price will def be the quickest way to sell so you have to decide what's more important to you the money or the selling.

We moved out on a Saturday and the new carpet went in on Monday.  It was then stagged on Tuesday so the carpet is brand new.  

[ssmjlm]

I wouldn't lower. I would have her say that you're open to reasonable offers if someone asks.

I would give it time, it sounds like it might not be a good fit as a seller's realtor, but you may be stuck.

[scm1011]

Sept 18, 2024 15:13:24 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Did she not run the comps before recommending the listing price? I think once the house has been on for 2 weeks I'd do a price drop but maybe not that far down since it's only 5K above what you're willing to accept. Leave some room for negotiating.

Agreed. I'd prob drop to $429,900.

ETA: $729,900 I mean lol

[livinitup]

That is tough. I don’t know if there is a good way to know.

When we bought our house (not a particularly hot market for buyers or seller), we researched a bunch and looked around a lot. House #1 was priced too high, but within our range and we made an offer (below listing). The seller was so mad that he would not counter & that ended that. House #2 hit our radar when the previous listing dropped into our range. It was on the market for a while and just not priced right. When we saw it we thought we were lucky, made an offer (a little below listing) and it got accepted. We didn’t think there was anything “wrong” with the house, just priced too high.

H kept tabs on House #1 and it sold a year later at the same price we offered. So, we were not way off. I think the seller could keep it on the market because they had moved and his company was floating some costs.

I would give it more than a week. I know people/buyers who will not make a low offer which is nuts. So, you might have to drop it to bring in buyers in that range. It’s so hard to tell !

[sarahsays]

If it is truly overpriced I don't think there is a such thing as too soon but it all depends. How quickly are similar homes going under contract? Honestly, it sounds like you have a bad agent. What does your agreement say about firing her?

I just sold my condo (closed two weeks ago) and my agent sent me comps along with her recommended listing price. I feel like that is the norm. We did do a Sunday open house so that doesn't seem that odd to me.

[eb777888]

Sept 18, 2024 15:30:43 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Sept 18, 2024 15:13:24 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Did she not run the comps before recommending the listing price? I think once the house has been on for 2 weeks I'd do a price drop but maybe not that far down since it's only 5K above what you're willing to accept. Leave some room for negotiating.

Agreed. I'd prob drop to $429,900.

This would ensure a quick sale! lol

[sadlebred]

I'd wait another week or two before dropping the price. Around here there are plenty of 2 hour open houses one or both weekend days.

[deadwing]

I feel like it's normal to have 1 open house per week for 2-3 hours. In my area I see a mix of weekend days, and the occasional 4-6pm on a weekday.

I think I'd probably wait a few days to a week before dropping the price. None of your feedback has been about price.

[wanderingback]

I don’t have advice on price but I think Sunday from 12-2 is perfect unless you live in an area where everyone goes to church?

I feel like Saturdays are often booked with stuff and Sundays are a good day where people might be more free and looking for things to do.
There are plenty of open houses here on Sundays.

I don’t think having it on a Sunday would be a reason it isn’t selling.

Best of luck!

[al dente]

Sept 18, 2024 15:22:39 GMT -5 doggielover said:

We moved out on a Saturday and the new carpet went in on Monday.  It was then stagged on Tuesday so the carpet is brand new.  

that's good! I've looked at so many houses that say new and mean within the past 3 years lol.

Good luck hopefully with the rate drop it will get moving soon.

[fernweh]

I would at least wait until after the open house to drop the price. Your realtor can tell people you are open to offers if they think the price is too high.
Sunday is the pretty typical day for open houses around me.

[minzy]

I feel like it’s ten looks to an offer but that may be wildly outdated advice. But if it’s not, you’re almost there! 😝 I’d wait til after the open house and then reassess after maybe.

[sonrisa]

The fed dropped interest rates by half a point today. Give the market time to absorb that. In terms of monthly mortgage costs, that's as if someone dropped the price on your house by 20K without you doing anything.

[scm1011]

Sept 18, 2024 15:57:56 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

Sept 18, 2024 15:30:43 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Agreed. I'd prob drop to $429,900.

This would ensure a quick sale! lol

OMG lol! I meant $729,9.

[thebreakfastclub]

I don't really understand setting a price and then running comps afterwards. You seem to not trust her and it's only been a few days. Did she present you with a plan of how she was going to market the home?

[mysteriouswife]

New carpet wouldn’t entice me to pay $40k more than a house down the road. As a homeowner we value our property way more than anyone else would. I say wait it out a few more weeks. The rates dropped today. The market might move.

Also, September is a typically a low selling month. People tend to move around school schedules and holidays.

[klee23]

Sept 18, 2024 15:21:10 GMT -5 doggielover said:

Sept 18, 2024 15:13:24 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Did she not run the comps before recommending the listing price? I think once the house has been on for 2 weeks I'd do a price drop but maybe not that far down since it's only 5K above what you're willing to accept. Leave some room for negotiating.

She "claims" she did but I'm also not sure.  I had to remind her to do a "coming soon" and I had to remind her about a lot of other things - she said we have a built in microwave, automatic water in fridge, sit in kitchen which we don't.  When I called her out she said she didn't have pictures and oculdn't remember but she was at our house 6 times prior to us listing.  We were supposed to go on the market on Saturday and she changed it to Sunday.... it's been 3 days and already she wants to drop that much.  I checked the comps myself before we listed and thought we were too aggressive and really should have been about 735k.  She got us based on the rapport and she had excellent references, great word of mouth etc yet we feel like she's not doing much.  She's fowever posting about being with her grandson or being out on the lake and I'm thinking to myself why aren't you putting that much effort into marketing our house etc.  

I hope this was TIC but if not you need to let this part go. Does she have a professional and personal page? If so, you need to not look at her personal posts, you will drive yourself crazy. No one, not even you if it was a FSBO, would spend all waking hours marketing a house. 

[lilac05]

We had a realtor who cherry picked comps to give us a higher price. Every time I questioned it, she would tell me, “I ran the comps. No one is commenting that it’s priced too high. The right person just hasn’t come yet.”

So we waited. And then dropped it a little. And then 2 weeks in, everyone seemed to assume that if the house was still on the market when everything else was selling quickly, there must be something wrong with it….so showings drastically lowered. And then it sat and sat.

In the end, we fired her, listed through a FSBO company at the price I felt was probably right all along, and had 3 offers in 2 days.

Looking back, I wish we had just taken a big cut right from the start.

[brooke77]

I wouldn’t drop yet. The market has cooled - even HOT markets - and I think unless you are super aggressively-priced or literally brand new, houses are sitting for more than 1 week. Buyers are really picky.

If you definitely need to sell, I would drop if you do not have an offer after another weekend. I am not sure how accurate this is, but my realtor said to drop in logical increments since people use them to search. So in your case, you may want to drop to $724,999 to get people looking with a budget up to $725,000. I am not sure you will get all that may more buyers between $749,000 and say, $739,000.

Before you drop, do the math and see what makes sense. For example, if you pay the mortgage for one more month, it will cost you $2,500, but you have the potential for getting $25,000 more (minus all the fees) on an offer. This is what we did and it helped me to be less panicky about accepting an offer and rejecting offers. Good luck!