Kathy S Koops

For eons consumers have been brain washed into believing the 3 key words in real estate are location, location, location!

Conventional wisdom stated that if you purchased a home in the right location-the sky was the limit when you decided to sell. It would appear the number of properties stagnating in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) defies the wisdom of this type of thinking.

Real estate has always been about price!

Priced right- the "worst" home in any neighborhood is defying the odds and selling in under 60 days.

Why?

According to NAR (National Association of Realtors) 77% of buyers start their home buying search online. They are comparison shopping before they actually walk into a home. If your home is one of many on the market, with essentially the same square footage, number of rooms, property taxes and school district- why would the buyer pay a 10%, 20% or 40% premium for your house?

Most sellers justify price premiums by:

1. commenting on the prices of homes sold in the past- ( call that yesterday's news)
2. tallying up all the things they have fixed or upgraded such as: new landscaping, roof, 95% efficient furnace, hot water heater (call that- "welcome to home maintenance")
3. summarizing all the improvements such as big deck, gourmet kitchen, lower level entertainment center.....(call that- "what I did for my/our own enjoyment).

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