Despite the facts that it’s taking somewhere between 140 to 365+ days to sell property in the Twin Cities, sellers are running a major risk by not getting their property sold faster than this.   Agents as a whole are not aggressive enough on demanding price reductions and they are letting their sellers dictate timing and amounts.  While it’s the seller’s equity at stake and they have every right to choose not to reduce their price, I can honestly say, and back it up with fact, that it’s in the seller’s best interest to drop the price quickly and and frequently.

If your home has been for sale for 60 or more days and you have not had a price reduction and you have not received an offer, you are likely at least 5% overpriced.  The trick is to continue with price reductions until you are within 5% of what will be the final selling price.  My experience has been that buyers will tend not to make an offer until you are within this 5% margin.  Now they will likely come in with an offer that might be 8-15% under your asking price, but there’s a good chance you can get it negotiated to within 5% of your last asking price.

Sellers see the world from their point of view which is natural.  But I highly encourage sellers to try to see the world through the eyes of the buyer.  Once you do so, it will make a big difference.  It won’t make the financial pain any less easy to deal with, but you will have a better appreciation for the market conditions.   As a busy agent in this market, all I can do is to continue to push, prod, advise and counsel sellers that speed and aggressive pricing is absolutely critical if we’re going to be successful in selling your home.

But here’s the bigger problem especially if you live in a neighborhood…there are foreclosure proceedings going on all over the place.  Many of these are under the radar of the other neighbors and the sellers.  Generally, once those foreclosures come on the market, they can dramatically affect the price of the home you’re trying to sell.  That’s why you must move quickly to get it sold and move on.  Agents who know how to use technology and find the information online are able to better advise their clients on how to proceed.
If you’re hanging on thinking you’ll either get your price or you’ll wait for the turn in the market, I will tell you you’ll be waiting for years if ever to recoop whatever it is you’re waiting for.   Remember life is short.  At some point you just have to decide to move on.  We are in the midst of a major reset on the American economy.   It’s not going to be the same as it was before.