6 Signs that your property is priced to high

As a seller, the first thing your should understand is that the price point you list your home at will determine how successful your sale will be.

Why? Because your listing price will either attract scores of qualified buyers, or scare them away. A property well priced will draw the attention of prospective buyers who match the criteria that your home meets, including its price. Listing your home at the right price will lead to less hassle, faster offers, and more money.

Every seller wants as much money for their home as possible, but that doesn’t mean that pricing it way over market value is going to get you all the funds you desire. In fact, you could wind up losing money when all is said and done. Buyers who are looking within the price range of what your home should be priced at will simply gloss over your listing and move onto a more fairly priced property. 

As more and more buyers pass over your listing, your home will sit on the market for longer than it needs to. At some point, you may have to opt for a price reduction just to start generating some attention again. Not only will you have wasted time and money waiting for a buyer to put in an offer, you may even find yourself entertaining lowball offers as buyers may equate your stale listing as one that has something wrong with it. It’s a common stigma that’s often attached to listings that sit on the market for 60 days or longer.

So, how exactly are you to know if you’ve overpriced your home? Here are 6 telltale signs that will tell you that you should probably rethink your pricing strategy.

1. Not many buyers are viewing the property

One sure-fire sign that your home is priced way above where it should be is if there are hardly any buyers showing interest in the property.   Your listing may boast attractive photos and your home may show very well, but buyers who can’t afford your price point won’t even bother to go see it.

The most traffic typically occurs when the listing first comes out, so you know there’s a problem if that window of opportunity comes and goes without a single viewing. If days and even weeks have passed without a showing, revisit your listing price to see if that could be the one factor that’s making buyers hesitant about booking a showing.

2. No Offers Are Rolling in

Obviously, if you’ve had no potential buyers viewing your property, then you won’t be getting any offers. Buyers typically like to visit the home they’re planning on buying at least once before they put in an offer. For the most part, if a property is priced correctly, the homeowner can expect to see at least one offer within the first couple of weeks.

If a month has passed by with no offer in sight, this may point to a potentially inflated price for your home. This is even more evident if you’re in the midst of a seller’s market, in which case you should have no problem attracting offers if your home has been priced appropriately.

3. Other Homes in the area Are Selling Except Yours

It can be really frustrating to see your neighbour’s home hit the market after yours and sell first. This is especially bothersome if this happens over and over again with no sign of an offer on your end.

Of course, there could a variety of other factors besides price that could come into play if your neighbours’ homes are selling besides yours. However, the listing price is certainly worthy of investigating if you’re getting tired of seeing your neighbours taking their For Sale signs down while yours is just collecting dust.

4. Similar Newly Listed Properties Are Priced Lower Than Yours

Keep tabs on new listings in the area that come up on the market. Are comparable homes listed at a lower price compared to yours? If so, you may find yourself having a tough time staying competitive and finding a buyer willing to pay more for your home than other similar properties that just popped up on the market.

5. Feedback Suggests Your Home is Overpriced

Your estate agent will typically try to get feedback from prospective buyers who have visited your property and their other listed properties. They’ll also seek the opinion of fellow agents who work in the area to see if they have any suggestions about what may be pulling the listing down. If the general consensus among buyers and agents is that the home is overpriced, that might be enough to encourage you to reconsider your listing price for something that fits more within the range of what the current market dictates.

6. Your Listing is Nearing Expiration

Take a look at your listing’s expire date. Is it fast approaching? Perhaps one of the more obvious signs that your home is overpriced is when the listing expires before the property sells. Rather than finding other excuses for the lack of a sale during this time period, it may be better to take a realistic look at the price and the market the home is in. If a property’s listing price is close to the amount that qualified buyers believe is fair and are willing to pay for it, the home will sell long before the expiry date approaches.

The Bottom Line

By now it should be clear how important the initial listing price of your home is. This number really can dictate how successful your overall real estate transaction will be. Rather than risking having a stale listing that doesn’t sell in a timely fashion and wasting all that time and money in carrying costs, make sure you price right from the get-go to ensure a faster sale.