Over a year and a half ago a seller called McCoy-Freeman Group wanting to list his home. He implied his current Realtor was not getting the job done and he needed a new approach. We pulled the listing history and noticed that 2 other Brokers had previously attempted to sell his Cocoa Beach home for over two years.
After pulling the 7 most recent comparable sales and taking a look at the current competition our analysis concluded the seller was priced about $70,000 over market value. We explained to him that even with the best marketing available his home would still be a challenge to sell. Also, we would find it very hard for the home to appraise if the potential buyer was in need of financing.
The seller told us that his home was superior to the 7 most recent comparable sales and used this reason to justify his $70,000 increase over the most recent sales. We then asked how many showings and offers he had received in the past year. He said he hadn't had any offers and only two showings which was the reason he was in hot pursuit of a new Realtor.
Finally the seller agreed to reduce his asking price by $10,000 but made it very clear to us that he would not go any lower because in his mind he would be "giving his home away".
After much discussion we chose to respectfully decline the listing. He then questioned as to why a Realtor would decline a listing especially a nice home on the Banana River.
He told us our marketing presentation was the best he had seen and that was what it was going to take to attract the right buyer.
We explained the expense that goes into our marketing and if a property is extremely overpriced it probably wouldn't even get showings not to mention a contract.
Fast forward 18 months later and low and behold the property is still for sale. It has since been reduced $20,000 and two Brokers later. Add the seller's carrying costs, about $30,000 for taxes, insurance, power, upkeep etc... and the seller will receive much less today compared to our price recommendation 18 months ago. Also, one must take into account the real estate market values have dropped about 10% since then.
If you are looking to sell give the McCoy-Freeman Group RE/MAX Elite a call. We will be happy to provide accurate information and a marketing campaign that is like no other. We have the sales numbers to prove what we are doing works in this challenging market.
