Bridging The Gap Between Buyer Dreams and Seller Reality in Northern Virginia

The Northern, Virginia area is presenting a challenge to agents; it’s not the “down in the dumps” market the news likes to report on and it creates a challenge for Realtors in this area daily.

I think the national news does a disservice overall in their reporting of real estate because their blanket approach doesn’t help anyone – no two markets are exactly the same and the broad areas they choose to report on make for an extremely inaccurate portrayal of what reality is.

I work with a lot of buyers and in this area sellers aren’t giving their homes away nor are they entertaining offers that are completely off the wall low ball. I’ve been party to cases where homes are priced/show well and are receiving multiple offers and going for above list price. No, that’s not the case all the time but, it’s also not what you hear on the news. It seems as though lots of buyers “buy into” the national news reports and as agents we are faced with overcoming these misconceptions. Add in opinions from family and friends who don't know the local market and it can be an uphill battle. Providing comps, educating buyers on the local market and showing them what reality is doesn't always convince them what a realistic offer is and then comes the let down of the seller turning the offer down. We aren’t making these stats up, they are real and this area is not included in what the news is reporting on.

All markets vary on what is going on in the current month and that can drastically affect what type of offer a buyer should make. It could be the difference in being the offer selected or on the flip side getting no response from a seller.