Messy Homes Are The Last Ones That Should Be Over-Priced!

Yesterday I had a couple who wanted me to show them mobile homes in one of the nicest subdivisions in Zephyrhills, Florida. In this park you own the land. The HOA fees are just $30 per month, yet the park has a huge clubhouse, heated pool, whirlpool spa, covered terrace, shuffleboard and tennis courts. In other words, a very nice subdivision.

In general, nice homes here range in price from the mid $70,000's to the mid $80,000's, depending on size. A couple of weeks ago a few agents started pricing their listings at $99,000! Too high, in my very humble opinion. What often happens is when one seller lists his home that high, the neighbors get the same idea since they think their homes are as good or better.  Most have since lowered their prices somewhat.

Now back to the couple that I was showing around. We looked at a homes in price from $74,900 to $97,000. Seven in total. All but one were very nice and only a couple of them were truly overpriced. Guess which one was a mess? You got it. The one at $97,000! The most expensive one in the park. There was clutter everywhere. The kitchen was not as clean as it should be, windows were dirty, and we could not even walk into the spare bedroom due to all the "stuff". Even the utility shed was filled from top-to-bottom. The sellers were there when we were visiting and they, of course, thought their home was great. It was not. The state of the home decreased its value in my mind by at least $10,000, and possibly more. As you may have seen me say before, "If you want top price, your home had better look perfect in today's buyers market.

I cannot imagine why the other agent would price the home so outrageously high. I know this agent to be experienced and honest. Sometimes we do get pressure from sellers to put a price on a home that we know is too high. But it has always been my policy to very politely excuse myself from such situations. I feel it is wrong to encourage the sellers' misperceptions. Not only will their home sit for months unsold, it will become "stale" to the other agents and buyers. In the end the sellers will get mad at the listing agent because they are receiving no offers. Well, SURPRISE, the buyers can get a nicer home just down the street for a lower price! Why would they pay $8,000 more for a home that is a disaster when they can get a better one for less in the same subdivision? They won't! This applies to conventional homes as much as it does to the mobile homes I have been speaking of in this post.

As a REALTOR® I believe that we do our sellers and our colleagues no favor when we accept listings that we know are way over-priced. Even if the sellers insist. This is just my opinion. However, ethically and morally, I believe that it is our responsibility to price homes as close to their true market value as possible. It is the sellers' option whether or not to accept our professional advice.

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