This is the fourth post in a blog series on tips for selling a home in a bidding war in Northern Virginia. In Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, we laid the foundation for the strategies we’re discussing. In this article, we’ll finish our discussion of competitive pricing and start talking about what your agent should be doing to build anticipation among interested buyers…
A home that is priced very competitively almost always sells for its list price, and often above its list price. Could you do this in a dead real estate market where there aren’t a ton of buyers? You could, but it wouldn’t be a great idea. Again, this strategy works best in very active, competitive real estate markets, like the home market in Northern Virginia.
Tips for Selling a Home – Make Buyers Nervous About Their Competition
When you price a home competitively, it’s often best not to sell your home on the first day for its list price. I’m not saying it’s always bad to sell it the first day, as there are many reasons why a seller might want to sell their home the first day. Each offer is unique and you never know when an offer's other terms (i.e. no home inspection, no appraisal, all cash purchase, etc.) make it so attractive that it's worth taking right away. However, ideally it’s best to let the market absorb the news of your new listing and create anticipation among buyers and their agents by waiting to evaluate offers that come in.
These tactics and tips for selling a home by creating competition among buyers can change day to day after you list your property, depending on the market’s reaction, and I’ll get into that in my next article in this series. Suffice it to say though, that it’s best to build anticipation.
Read Part 5 in my blog series on tips for selling a home in a bidding war, and learn specific strategies on how your agent can spark competition among buyers by waiting to evaluate offers until after the first open house.