There is a lot of talk these days about buyer’s markets and seller’s markets; I hear clients ask me where we are on a weekly basis. The truth is each seller has the potential to swing it to their advantage based on the listing price of their home.

Take this example…a single family home comes on the market in your neighborhood. If the median home value of comparable houses is around $125,000 that is the market setting the average price on the homes in the area. If the seller’s wanted their house to sell after an average amount of days on the market (DOM) they could list their home around the comps pricing and expect a sale. Most sellers are convinced that their home is valued above the median neighborhood price and might try listing it around $135,000.

If you can expect to get 10 people interested in buying a average house in the area, you may have just cut your list of potential buyers down to 2 – thus creating a buyers market on your home. A limited amount of buyers intersted in a particular home creates more supply than demand (remember econ class). If, however, the seller listed the home right away at $115,000 they would have successfully created a seller’s market by increasing their demand (buyers) on their home. Increasing the buyers could potentially create multiple offers on the home and (hopefully) generate an offer at or above listing price.

The home prices at $135,000 will likely remain for sale until the supply in the neighborhood runs dry, which could take months or years. That home will eventually be reduced in price to compare it with other homes nearby but the sellers will have lost out on their time and resources. In summary, create your own SELLER’S MARKET in any part of the country by listing your home at an aggressive price.

 Posted byAshley Person