Using Adaptive Real Estate to sell a house

Setting the listing price on a house often doesn’t matter as much as one would think. That may seem like a shocking statement, especially coming from a real estate broker, but consider this: 

If you were looking for a house, and you found one that you absolutely fell in love with, one that you couldn’t be without, the listing price could be a little bit higher than the true value of the house, but you might feel as though you were willing to pay that premium. The reason could be that the setting was fantastic, it was well-manicured and felt warm and inviting, or maybe all of your top priorities were met in this one house. These are subjective factors that increase the appeal of a property. When a person truly loves a place, they are more willing to make offers, and they are less interested in negotiating the price, especially if there are other buyers that feel the same way. 

An impressive marketing plan is important. So is back-to-back open houses beginning on the first day your listing goes active and continuing for the first few weeks. This is when you will see your best qualified buyers and when you should receive your best offer. The forms of exposure that are best suited for your property are detailed in your personalized marketing plan. I am happy to provide a list of resources for performing deferred maintenance, staging, and adding upgrades as desired.

What sets Adaptive Real Estate apart from other approaches to selling real estate? 

It is the way the listing price is set. It is the emphasis on exposure for that listing. And it is the back-to-back open houses that make the showings so easy. These three points increase the number of qualified buyers who come to see the house and in so doing, they create the situation where the market determines the value of the house. This may not be obvious to you if you are hearing it for the first time, so do not hesitate to call so I can explain how this would play out in your particular situation. For more information, please read my blog titled, “Setting the List Price”.

Setting a Listing Price

I used to set a listing price much as an appraiser would to determine the value of a house. I would find houses that were similar in price, location, and size that had sold up to 6 mos. in the past. However, in selling a house, we know that it is the market that determines the value of the house and that changes day-to-day, week to week, and depends on who the prospective buyer is. The old way of determining value may work in a large city or when there are many houses on the market. However, in any market, you want to judge the current market climate. I now use a wide angle lens to determine the listing price of the house. 

This wide-angle lens looks at what the buyers will find on the market at the time the listing goes active. This approach creates 3 stacks of MLS printouts for the seller to review other listings currently on the market with similar price, location and size/number of bedrooms. This has two benefits. The first is that the Seller is able to see where their house fits into the current market near their specific location, size and price range.  They can also see what amenities the houses have that are in the price range which they were hoping to achieve with their house. This is very different than looking back to see how their property compared to houses on the market up to 6 mos. ago. Importantly, this places the owner in charge of setting their own listing price.  

Setting the listing price from the perspective of the buyer helps you to know who your competition is when you’re selling your house.  Ultimately it’s the market that determines the value of the property at the time the listing goes active.