Pinetop White Mountain Blog

Good Morning Everyone,

As a Real Estate Professional it is my job to keep track of trends in the marketplace.  I read everything I can get my hands on and I have daily e-mail subscriptions to many publications about Real Estate and market trends.  One particular article caught my attention today because it is something every Real Estate Professional struggles with every day.  It is unrealistic price expectations from our Sellers.

You hear a lot on the news in the various publications about how bad the market is and even we as agents get discouraged hearing the negative nellies of the press hammer this theme to death.  The truth is that in most areas of the country, the worst may be over.  While there are still a lot of foreclosures in the marketplace, in many areas they are no longer the dominant type of properties for sale.  Does that mean that prices are going to start back up, the simple answer is NO.

What we have seen in the past year or so is a massive correction in the price of property.  The boom days of 2004 & 2005 drove prices up way higher than they should have been and what we are seeing is a correction of that phenomenon.  Prices are stabilizing and they are not going to climb to astronomical heights any time soon.  The days of making a huge profit on your home sales are gone.  Just because your neighbor made a huge amount of money a few years ago on the sale of his home does not mean that if you hold out long enough your are going to net the same gain.  It just isn't going to happen.

The best advice I have seen recently was from another agent in California who said if your home has been on the market for more than two weeks without any activity, it is time to drop that price.  You need to be prepared to lower that price every two weeks until you do start to see activity.  Sitting on your laurels waiting for that perfect buyer who loves your home as much as you do and will be willing to pay the price for it are gone.  There are too many homes on the market and too much to choose from for that to happen. 

You also need to prepare yourself mentally for the occasion when you finally do get and offer that it is going to be a low one.  You can't get offended and just reject it out of hand, that buyer is just testing you to see how motivated you are to sell.  They are likely prepared that they are not going to buy your home for that price but they want to buy it for as little as they possibly can. 

Such is the way of the Real Estate market today.  It is price driven and you must be very competitive if you are going to have a successful sale.  Even at a competitive price it is going to take time for your home to sell because there are still far less buyers in the marketplace than there are homes for sale.  The buyers are shopping and they are looking for the best buy they can possibly make.  

So don't let your own emotions make your decisions for you.  Start out on your price where you would like to be and then be prepared that what you want and what your likely to get are going to be two very different things.  Listen to what your agent is telling you and pay attention to those comps when you price the house, because I can assure you, that buyer is going to before they even consider making an offer on your property.   

If you would like more information about property in the White Mountains of Arizona, give us a call.  As always, we are at your service. 

SANDRA & BRUCE PAULOW     Your High Country REALTORS®