There are a couple of kinds of people who help their neighbors sell their home.
The first kind is the neighbor we all want to have.
Their yard is perfectly landscaped, the trash cans are never left out by the curb, the cars are tucked safely into the garage instead of parked on the street, they don’t have dogs that would even think about barking or cats that consider your garden a litter box.
They are friendly, courteous and can’t wait to tell anyone they meet what a great neighborhood they live in, including the people who are considering moving to the block. They are the cheerleaders for the community, make everyone feel welcome and are the best advertisement for a new neighbor you could ever hope for.
The second type of neighbor is just as nice.
Although they are trying to sell their home too, they still love their neighborhood and they are going to miss their friends after they relocate. They also take great care of their lawn and wouldn’t even think about allowing home maintenance to go undone.
Beautiful flowers by the front door, a freshly pressure washed sidewalk and driveway and a butterfly garden that would make the greenest of thumbs envious.They are friendly, courteous and…
…their home is way over priced for the neighborhood.
Now, if I was selling my house, I would want both of these types of neighbors. Heck, I’d love to have them anyhow.
But, if I had to choose just one, I would definitely cross my fingers and thank my lucky stars for Mr. and Mrs. Overpriced.
Why, you ask? Because no matter how lovely the landscaping, no matter how shiny the fixtures, how new the appliances, how clean the floors, how uncluttered the closets and cabinets and how nice the people…overpriced is still overpriced - and usually serves to make your neighbor’s homes look like much better deals.
Buyers are doing a lot of research before making offers on homes and you can bet that if your price is significantly higher than the others in your neighborhood, you are at a disadvantage.
So, are you priced right or are you just helping your neighbors sell their homes?
Run your free report of home values in your New Orleans West Bank neighborhood
Originally published at West Bank Living
Both of these kinds of neighbors are definitely an asset for selling a home - & I agree that the overpriced home sure does make buyers appreciate the correctly priced one all the more - & choose it!
Hi Lisa~ Those perfect neighbors live right next door to me. Their house isn't on the market and neither is mine. But, when I do go to sell, I will be in the perfect position!
So true and so well done, as always.
Hi Lisa, It's great to have the types of neighbors you describe in your post. I have a different kind of neighbor. This couple purchased one of the best kept homes in the neighborhood no doubt because of the condition and curb appeal and within just under a year have made it one of the worse looking homes in the neighborhood. I just don't understand folks who allow one of the largest investments one can typically make to do neglected. Fortunately we have a strong HOA who will correct the problem for them if they don't in a timely manner.
One thing with perfect neighbors of either brand is that life changes can mean they will relocate to be someone else's "perfect neighbors". I always embrace either of these neighbors for all the reasons you state. It's so helpful when a home in a neighborhood is overpriced and helps to sell others.
Sue of Robin and Sue
Lisa you have touched upon some really great points here, I would have never thought about the neighbor even helping to sell your home...great post and advice!!~laura cerrano
Great post! Price and presentation are so important.
Lisa,
The title of your post is one of the things that I caution my sellers about all the time when we discuss pricing their home. Do you want to price your home to sell or price it to help sell your neighbor's home?
Put into these terms, as you so eloquently did, makes it easy for most would-be sellers to see the picture clearly.
Lisa,
So true, helping others sell their homes is exactly what you are doing when you are the overpriced home on the block.
Sadly, recently I was showing homes in a neighborhood where the lack of buyers is making all the sellers take big drops in their prices just to be the low, best priced home. It's a TOUGH market.
All the best, Michelle
Nancy, when a buyer is narrowing down their list of favorites, one of the first to go is the overpriced house!
Vickie, lucky you...between great neighbors and the right price, you'll be the star of the neighborhood :)
Hi, Susan!
Colin, there is a house not far from mine that is the same way. The previous owners always had the most stunning garden and now it's just overgrown with weeds. What are the new people thinking??
Sue, it's definitely helpful if you are a listing agent - way too easy to drastically undercut Mr. and Mrs. Overpriced and make your listing look like a steal.
Laura, they may not mean to be helpful, but when it comes down to price, they certainly are.
Janice, thanks.
Brian, I hope so! One of the first things I point out when pricing a home is the most expensive listing in the neighborhood - I don't want it to be mine unless its's truly warranted and even then it's a risk.
Michelle, I really feel for sellers in the position of jockeying for price and trying to keep ahead of the competition.
Yes, but....when one house in a neighborhood or category is WAY overpriced, then the new listing -- can't use that price to hang their hat on.
Happened last week:
Me: here are the 42 active listings within a few miles that are sort of like yours.
Them: Oh, our house/barn/paddock/fencing/paint/cabinets/bump outs are much better than any of theirs.
Me: Well, maybe, but none of these houses have sold. Market time for this category is over 500 days. It's hard to give a market value for those bump outs.
Them: OK, but since we have a BETTER house, we'll price at/just above/just below the other prices and the buyer will see the difference, because we have the bump outs.
Me: um, market time is 500 days. You should think about being lower--much lower--much. much lower than the houses that HAVEN'T SOLD.
Them: we bought our house because of the bump outs, we raised our babies in those bump outs, we can't imagine having a house without bump outs and we'll sure people will love the bump outs and recognize their value. People are willing to pay a premium price for bump outs in any market. We'll call our relo coordinator right now.
Me: sigh......
.
We tend to see alot of over priced houses, for some reason sellers think they know best!
I love listing homes next to Mr. & Mrs. Overpriced
Couldn't have said it any better, Lisa. People need to think about the effect that their listing price will have not only on their homes ability to be sold, but what it might do for other homes in the neighborhood.
Hi Lisa -- While this concept seems simple in nature, it's a mystery to many a seller, hard to swallow, especially since some sellers' heads are stuck back in the heady days of a few years ago.
It would be so cool if there was an electronic sign in the yard that changed from white (underpriced), green (priced well), to yellow (a bit too high) and RED (for homes way overpriced) anytime a consumer walked or drove by. Now wouldn't that serve as motivation to put a competitively priced home on the market.
Think about it...how cool would that be to hear a buyer say: nope, red sign, overpriced, next! Or even have it in the MLS that way. I know, stupid idea, but it sure would free up a whole lot of time and wasted energy or at the very least, make a fun saturday night live skit.
Lisa - Great Post. Thanks for sharing. We learn sooooooo much on Active Rain every day.
Great Post! Thanx for sharing!! hehehaha-HA! Right back'atcha!
Chris - You better pattent that idea QUICK! There are already desktop LED displays that light up and/or change color when you get facebooked or tweeted. If you do it, I'll help you build it.
Great Blog! The Cul-De-Sac that I live in is the same way. A wonderful place to live. There are about 4 homes on our street, leading to our homes, that are the complete opposite. Trash out ALL the time, broken cars in the street, homes that have couches, car seats, grills, etc. out on their front patios. Bad. It is such a shame that people can't recognize an investment and help keep their streets nice.
Diane Casale
"But my house has <fill in the blank>." Or, "That house is nowhere near as nice as mine inside." Some people irrationally think their home is worth so much more than a virtually identical one. And they are the ones that always lose out.
Yup...I'd want both as my neighbors as well....very helpful to sell my home.
So well said. I will try to remember the simplicity of your words when I am giving sellers advise. The ole "is this a price war or a beauty contest" ?
Yes, it is all about the VALUE a home presents to sellers. Features help sell but only if the price communicates value. I try to go back to motivation. If they don't have enough, I RUN!
Ohhhh Lisa...
The irony here. Blog Boy had to tell a Seller that his home was not going to fetch a whopping 249k. Instead he'll be lucky to get 160k. This is an expired listing. As you can see it was way over priced. The Seller is not a happy camper and who can blame him? The house never should have hit the market at that price to begin with. This is always such a thorn in my paw :)
TLW...ROAR!
Oh...
Congrats on the feature. Good to see your pretty face on the dashboard. Now all we need is the MeatLoaf song :)
TLW...ROAR!
Leslie, I hope they love those bump outs, because it sounds like they are going to be living with them for quite some time...
Marilyn, I'm a numbers geek. I pull stats every which way in my efforts to price homes and still have to come back to "no house in the neighborhood has sold for $xxx in the last 6 months" when dealing with some sellers.
John, you and me both :)
William, it's getting harder and harder to get away with more than a smidge of wiggle rooom in prices anymore. If they aren't right, they don't get shown.
Chris, I want to see the prototype of that!!
Inna and Jon - pffffffffftttttttt!!!!!!! Tag teaming now??
Diane, unfortunately, you can't count on those kinds of neighbors helping you sell. They are the ones that push prices down even further.
Richard, there will always be sellers who overprice. I just want to list the other houses on their street ;)
Sally, yep!
Dawnita, I like that!
Nate, with the market the way it is in so many areas, I find that more and more agents are running instead of spending time marketing homes that don't have a shot at selling anywhere near the list price.
TLW, yikes! That's a huge gap between list and reality. I wouldn't want to be the one delivering that news. Oh, and I love that song - memorized all of the words years and years ago when I had more brain cells.
Hi Lisa, I like John love having the listings next to M/M overprice. I had the other kind of neighbors whereas they bought one of the nicest homes on the street and two years later it has gone downhill.
There have been a lot of blogs on pricing - overpricing - in particular lately. I think your points best express the reality of overpricing. If anything should drive it home to a seller - maybe, and I know there are many who can never be convinced - but this should have a shot.
So true! Who wouldn't want to list the best house on the street and next to an overpriced listing! Sounds like a slam dunk!
Lisa, thank you for wonderful post! I laughed and learned, and you made my evening :)
I have wonderful neighbors, and hope they don't sell and move out before we do! (their kids are older than mine, so there's a chance...)
And a lot of times, that 'perfect but overpriced; home can draw them into the neighborhood to see YOUR home...
Funny how nice some people are. Thanks for the perspective and for sharing this post.
That's a neat way to put it. I may just borrow that verbiage. Thanks for the post!
So true. Any neighbor with an over priced home helps sell the house next door. Neat or not. I want all of my listing to have over priced homes next door.. Ha!
Definitely worthy of a re=blog. Thanks. Gredat article for sellers!!!!
Sally English
I have this conversation with sellers so frequently and talk about just that fact.."Don't let this happen to you. You will actually help your neighbor sell their home if you are overpriced." Most of them get it...
Nicely done Lisa. So many sellers refuse to realize that they are waaaaaaaaaaay over priced.
Thanks everyone! It seems like we are all battling the overpricing monster in all of our markets. It's just a fact of life that not every seller is going to be realistic, but I keep trying :)
Right on! I'm sure glad many of my 'competitors' don't mind taking overpriced listings. Helps me sell mine faster and makes me look that much better.
Lisa - Love it! I am going to use your line - if that's okay with you - on my pre-listing presentation. I think that is a powerful statement.
Ryan, I didn't think about it from that angle!
Susan, borrow away :)
Lisa, great post. Because of the stager that I use and the type of investors on fix and flips that I work with, we are usually higher than any comparables out there. We actually hope that new listings price off of ours to support comparables when it comes time for an appraisal. It's a tricky game we play but it does give me the right to market this fact to others in the neighborhood when it goes under contract. Overall, your post is right on the money. Mr. and Mrs. Overpriced helps out a ton!
Hi Lisa. Very well written post. And congrats on the featured post. Have a great weekend.
Lisa, struck a bunch of button, here! Thanks for a great post on a most important topic."...overpriced is still overpriced..."
I'm contantly sending my sellers updates on the other homes for sale in their neighborhood. It pays to be under the competition. Most sellers appreciate and listen.