There is a popular tv programme called come down, the price is right – it just happens to be one of my favourite game shows that I would love to watch in my youngers year. If you guessed the price right, you would be called down and you could win a range of prizes.
It’s a game I still play, although in a very different format. Don’t think bad of me, but I love to trawl through Rightmove, making my long suffering husband “guess” a price of a house that has been advertised. I do it because I see so many over priced properties that I start to question my own thinking – and maybe I need re-assurance as a valuer of 20 years, that it is not me that is wrong!
How many properties are over priced locally? Or badly marketed?
It is just over 4 months since lockdown eased for an estate agent ( We were allowed to start showing houses from May 13th.) In that time 651 properties have been reduced on the Lancaster and Morecambe housing market. The question is why?
The main 2 reasons are as follows
- An over-valuing estate agent
- A client who simply wants too much money.
Either is not good. Occasionally an estate agent can it get wrong, unique properties can be harder to value or material information comes to light further down the line that means a price adjustment. Sometimes, a seller’s circumstances change which means they really do need a quicker sale. Some properties are harder to sell. However, 651 times getting it wrong is questionable.
Take a look at the graph above. Houses which are accurately priced and marketed correctly on average take just 21 days to sell. Sometimes it can be a lot quicker. For example, today we have agreed 3 new sales. Two sold for their full asking price. One sold over. All 3 have been on the market under 21 days. Two of them only came available for sale last week!
Properties that struggle to sell, tend to eventually have a price adjustment. Those that do, on average find they have a sale agreed in 47 days. Now this time, might not seem that long, however other facts to consider is that a buyer is more likely to offer even less than the new asking price. Initially interested has waned and competition between buyers is less. This is a UK average (data provided from Rightmove). Closer to home, 799 homes have been for sale for 12 weeks and longer (84 days and more!). This figure is more than half the local property market. As of today there are 1261 homes for sale in total. If your home is struggling to sell within the first 4 weeks of marketing, it really is important that you act quickly and ask yourself why?
Property marketing is not a science. It is a process. Get the process right and a property should sell. No property is unsaleable. It just needs Pricing Right, Presenting correctly and Promoting fully.
If you are struggling to sell, we would love to have a chat with you. There will be a reason. Can we help you find the solution?
Call us on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk
Thanks for reading
Michelle