Waiting Can Be Costly - Timing the Sale of a Property

The latter often leads to a listing at an arbitrarily set price. This price is often significantly above the market value. What reasoning lies behind such behavior? Sometimes the sentimental attachment to a property that one has lived in and often renovated for decades is so strong that the market value is overestimated.

Often, only a confrontation with reality brings about a gradual change in thinking. But even sellers who calculate soberly often try to approach the unknown market price "from above": the property is priced high, since buyers can always still negotiate the price. The concern here is that a property offered too cheaply will quickly be snapped up by an interested party, whereas waiting longer would eventually attract a buyer willing to pay a higher price.

However, this is all too often a misconception, as the following experiences show: Let us first assume that the asking price is actually below the market value. In this case, a considerable number of interested buyers can be expected. Nothing stops the seller in this case from raising the price retroactively. This can be credibly justified to interested parties by citing greater competition. In the end, the achieved purchase price may even exceed the original desired price.

What does the reverse scenario look like? For a property listed above the market price, nobody gets in touch. Contrary to the assumption of many sellers, no one calls to negotiate the price. On the contrary, many interested buyers remain inactive but keep a very close eye on the property. Everyone waits for the price to drop to a level close to the market value. After a certain period of time, the seller will likely reduce the price, but this often no longer has the desired effect.

Because by now, interested buyers are no longer looking at the price alone. They see a property that has been on the market for many months. They suspect that something must be wrong with the property because it has not found a buyer for so long. Instead of submitting purchase offers, many interested buyers begin to wait and see whether the price will fall EVEN FURTHER. Rightly or wrongly, they assume that the ongoing fixed costs will prompt the seller to make further price concessions. And so, what was once a decent property has become a problem listing.

This phenomenon, long known among real estate professionals, was analyzed by the German Hettenbach Market Research Institute and confirmed through empirical studies. Properties listed at 20% above market value consequently had to be sold after one year with a price reduction of up to 35%. This demonstrates how important a professional property valuation and a smart pricing strategy are.

For further questions and information, please feel free to contact me at any time! Expert recommendation: Dipl-Ing Roland Reiterer [email protected] +43 678 128 2353 https://4m-immo.at/uber-uns/