With Terry Story, 27-year veteran Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, FL
As a real estate agent of some 27 years, Terry Story has seen her share of ups and downs, bad markets and good markets, homes under water, new construction thriving or lagging, but every once in a while, something a little different enters into the picture.
The standard for pricing a home for sale has typically been to list it above the value or above what the seller wants and then to negotiate down from there to an agreeable number. Terry says a smarter approach is to list the home either at or slighter lower than that figure. This idea may sound counterintuitive, but it actually attracts multiple buyers who then engage in a sort of bidding war ending with the home selling for above the list price. So thinking twice before you price your home may be just what you need.
As an example, Terry recently had three offers for a home valued at $300,000 that was listed at $299,000 which brought in three offers and eventually sold for $310,000. This more creative pricing is something that Terry says can move a home more quickly and also weeds out the less qualified buyers. With several bids in for one property, the race is on for prospective buyers to get approval and win the “contest”. Exposing a home to the greatest number of people is key, so if you’re selling on your own, you’re really missing out on the exposure a professional agent can bring to the picture.
Summer traditionally is the best time to buy or sell a home, and Terry thinks this is particularly true right now since the current low-interest rates and home prices are bound to rise before too long. Many people who were held captive in their homes after the 2008 crisis are finally realizing some equity which allows for more relocation to areas with better job opportunities, all of which contributes to a healthier economy and to a more vital and stronger real estate market.
So if you’re sitting around wondering when it’s a good time to sell your home, Terry Story will tell you “right now”. And if you ask her when it’s a good time to buy, Terry’s answer will be “right now”. Sage advice from a seasoned veteran.
Read The Entire Transcript HereCollapse Transcript
Steve Pomeranz: It's time for Real Estate Roundup. This is the time every single week we get together with noted real estate agent, Terry Story. Terry is a 27-year veteran with Coldwell Banker located in Boca Raton, Florida. Welcome back to the show, Terry.
Terry Story: Thanks for having me, Steve.
Steve Pomeranz: One of my favorite parts of doing this segment with you is when we start to find out about your work and what challenges you face on a daily basis, but you've got some tips for getting the most money when selling your house. What are they?
Terry Story: Steve, this is going to sound counterintuitive, but price the home. I'll give an example. Let's say a home, the market value is $300,000. You could either price it at, let's say, $325 or $299,500 or any number comparable to those. If you were to take that home that's worth $300,000 and you price it right at that number, slightly below, what happens is you're going to, if it's priced right, you're going to have a strong response from the buyers because they recognize the value, and you will get multiple offers. I just did this the other day. I had somebody…we debated where we should price it at. I said the value was around $300,000. We talked about $325 versus $299. We put it at $299. We got 3 offers. I ended up selling it for $310,000.
Now the why? Because what happens is you're allowing the buyers to bid against each other, and that way, as a seller, you don't have to wait for that one offer and you're trying to win that negotiation against that one buyer.
