Kissimmee Homes Defy Usually Good Realtor Pricing Advice

The common wisdom these days if you want to sell your Florida home is to underprice your competition. Sellers hate this advice from their Realtor®, but in a tough market, an attractive price may provide a competitive edge when several properties up for sale in a neighborhood. A recent analysis by ZipRealty indicates underpricing is not a one-size-fits all tactic especially in the Orlando area.

Agents typically provide sales prices of comparable homes in the neighbor to sellers to give them an idea of how to price their home. Working face-to-face with an agent is preferable to just depending on an on-line analysis as the agent can figure in factors such as the condition of the home, special features, and sales figures from a much more local area than software alone can do. What agents should offer sellers are figures on the difference between the selling price and asking price. In neighborhoods where there is a big difference, pricing the home lower than the neighbor's might make sense; where sellers tend to get close to what they originally asked, there is no need to lowball.

In general, housing values in the Orlando-Kissimmee region showed the sixth highest decline among metropolitan areas but there is a lot of variation among specific neighborhoods. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the ZipRealty study noted that in upscale Orlando neighborhoods like Winter Park sold for 89.4% of the listing price, while neighborhoods like Kissimee, dominated by lower-priced housing, sold for 97.2% of the asking price. This reflects what is happening with lower-cost housing in many markets: first time buyers and investors are grabbing up the bargains and even engaging in bidding wars, while high cost housing linger on the market.

Other things to consider are the supply of homes for sale within a one-two mile radius within the same school district. As supply falls, demand will rise to mandate higher prices. Another measure of how supply and demand are at play is days on the market (DOM.) Fewer days on the market indicate increasing demand.

If you feel the agent wants to go too low, you can insist on a higher price. You can even call on a third party like an appraiser, though that may set you back $500. However, your Realtor® is usually the best guide to pricing your home as he or she is relying on the numbers and their expertise, not your memories or your remembrance of what you put into the house. If the house is priced too high in many markets, you can always lower the price if it doesn't sell. However, if you are in a hurry to sell, this can eat up valuable time.

At Exit Real Estate Results, we are prepared to help you sell your Orlando home quickly - a the right price based on neighborhood data. If you need help with any real estate issue in Central Florida, call Janice Petteway today. We can help you beat the clock and move on.