Precision Pricing

Precision Pricing

Last month, I put together a very careful market analysis on a home I listed in American University Park, a popular DC neighborhood. Still, there were several homes that had been on the market for a while and some of those are still for sale.

By the time it hit the market, my listing was ready for prime time. The seller had it painted, refinished the floors, and transformed it from crunchy granola looking like it should be in Takoma Park to proper AU park understated chic. When we posted the listing on MRIS, it was with a beautiful virtual tour, and we had great brochures for the Open, produced by our brilliant in house Art Directory, Piers Lamb. We brought the house on the market when the seller was at a week long spa retreat, and her gorgeous German shepherd was at a doggy camp. So it was very easy for our colleagues to show if their clients couldn’t make the Open House.

Most important, however, it was priced right on the nose. Ed Schneider, my co-lister, had been previewing the AU Park listings for several months before we actually listed the place. We looked at the current listings, our competition, the homes that were under contract, and the sales back to the beginning of the year. Since we’d actually seen most of the homes we used for comps, we were able to advise out client on the factors that went into determining the value of each of the other homes.

So we set the magic number not too high and not too low. An offer came in right after the first Open House. We didn’t have a mob scene with multiple offers. But the offer we did get was quite perfect, and that was all it took.

The staging, marketing and virtual tours certainly got people in the door. And some of the lingering listings were also nicely done. But the big difference with ours, at least I think, is what Ed and I have started to call “precision pricing”.

If you list a good house at the magic number and make it easy to show, it’s a slam dunk.