Listing Price – Biggest Mistakes Agents Make That Are Critical in a Buyer’s Market
Determining the listing price can be the most important — and most difficult – part of a real estate professional’s job.
Price a property too high and it might not sell. Price a property too low and your client could miss out on valuable revenue. The key is to find the sweet spot in the middle. And for that you need the right real estate pricing strategy!
The very reason a client comes to a real estate sales professional is to accurately assess a list value for their home. Clients often don’t know how to evaluate the market nor look at sales comparables, listings, the competition, and other relevant resources. That really is a job for a trained professional.
Yet you also might have clients who insist on a list price that you know is over value — what do you do in that instance?
That’s where a real estate pricing strategy comes in. With the right approach, you can navigate both your client’s expectations, monetary needs, and the reality of the home value.
- Work to understand what your client thinks their home is worth.
Some people might be basing their estimate on the listing price of the neighbours down the street, while others might be thinking back to what they paid for the property originally, renovations they’ve done, items in the news, and more.
Whatever they are thinking, take the time to understand it. Is there something you are missing?
One solution here is to use real estate technology that provides property owners with insight into the current market value of their home. For example, Teranet’s new Home Value Range tool does just that by providing real-time valuation ranges on Canadian residential properties. This could act as a starting point for your list price conversations.
- Education is key.
As a real estate sales professional, you shine when you show your client that you know your stuff. This is one reason why ongoing professional development is so important.
Being knowledgeable about home prices in the area your client is coming from, plus the Canadian real estate market in general (such as with the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index), can help you have a much more nuanced conversation — and give you a credibility boost if the client disagrees with your listing price suggestion.
Again, this is another instance where the Home Value Range tool can also come in handy. You can use this tool to go into a list conversation with more knowledge about real-time valuation ranges, or even use it as a marketing tool to bring prospects to you!
To this point, you could use the Home Value Range generator as an incentive to entice prospective home sellers to contact your office once they’ve discovered the potential value of their home using the tool — so you are both operating from the same data and information.
- Make the most of your tools.
Your clients may be looking at the MLS and local property listings. In most cases, they will be watching the competition closely.
However, the MLS and list prices don’t tell the whole story. There are many cases where homes have been listed for a high property value and then never sold and were subsequently removed from the MLS.
There are also cases of recycled listings — where a home has been listed, didn’t sell, and was taken off MLS, only to be put back on as a “new” listing at a lower price.
Clients may also be looking at listing prices from a year or two ago — and that may not necessarily be the reality now.
As a real estate sales professional, you know you will use sales comparables and sold home prices to determine what buyers and sellers are actually prepared to pay. This is where property data comes in — specifically comparable sales in the neighbourhood and historically.
The Home Value Range is the perfect tool for bringing accessible, up-to-date market estimates to your clients. This tool uses Teranet’s advanced mathetmatical modeling and Teranet’s national property information database for comprehensive estimates.
You can then pair the estimated valuation with your other GeoWarehouse property data tools to create the perfect lice price and selling strategy.
Teranet’s Home Value Range solution leverages our Automated Valuation Model (AVM) to produce current market estimates for residential properties across Canada. Learn more about the Home Value Range tool here: https://www2.geowarehouse.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Teranet-AVM-Home-Value-Range-Flyer-R7.pdf
GeoWarehouse has the property data to get the listing price on the mark every time. Discover sold home prices in your area and beyond, search comparable sales, and more.
Boost your real estate pricing strategy today. Call 1-866-237-5937 or visit www.geowarehouse.ca.