Selling Your Home: Should You Lower Your Asking Price?
By Sally Aquire
Photo: © Yuri Arcurs - Dreamstime
 Setting the right price is crucial when selling your home. If you overestimate the value of your house, you risk alienating potential buyers who will not be able to afford to buy it. On the other hand, pricing your house at far less than it is worth can leave potential buyers wondering whether it has hidden problems. Having your house professionally valued can help you to set a fair price, but what happens if this price is not fetching any buyers? At this point, homeowners often toy with the idea of lowering their asking price to clinch a sale. However, some homeowners would be better off waiting for the difficult market to ride itself out, especially if the house in question is desirable in terms of size, location and amenities.
Selling Seasons
The selling season in which you first put your house up for sale can have an impact on how long it takes to sell. The housing market typically starts to warm up during the winter months and reaches a first 'peak' from April through to June. After the summer passes, the selling season tends to slow down again until a second 'peak' begins from September to Thanksgiving. Between Thanksgiving and New Year, the housing market slows down again.
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Listing your house during one of the 'peak' selling seasons is a good way to ensure that it will receive as much interest as possible from potential buyers.
Standing Your Ground
In a difficult market, houses can take up to a year to sell as the number of sellers is greater than the number of potential buyers. In this situation, it is often unrealistic to expect a quick sale, so try not to panic if your house does not sell quickly after first going on the market. If your house is in a location 'hot spot' or is particularly desirable, it makes little sense to lower your price, as this type of house is likely to attract plenty of interest from potential buyers unless it is grossly overpriced.
Cutting Your Losses
If your house has been on the market for a year or more without a sale, it is probably time to lower the price. As some time has passed since it was put on the market, you may need to take a significant hit on the asking price to interest potential buyers. This is obviously not ideal, but it may be the only way to clinch a sale if you have been unable to secure a sale at the current asking price.
Many buyers look upon price reductions as an indication that you have admitted defeat on the previous asking price, and will often come in with an offer that is below the new asking price. In this situation, you need to decide whether you can afford to accept the reduced offer or whether you are prepared to wait for a different offer. The latter can be a risky gamble as a higher offer will not necessarily be forthcoming, especially in a difficult market. |
