As a Real Estate Consultant, my job often requires me to have hard conversations. This is especially true as the market changed from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market over the past couple of years. In a seller’s market, everyone seems to celebrate all stages of the buying & selling process. Sellers receive multiple offers within days of their home hitting the market and buyers are just happy to have been able to purchase a home. Values soar and everyone seems to win!
However, in a buyer’s market, sellers are faced with the sobering reality of what their home is currently worth versus inflated values they may have seen at the peak of the market. As their agent I must convey to them that difficult truth. Allowing my sellers to think there home is worth more than fair market value will not only do them a disservice, but it also sets them up to discover the hard lessons of a down market by having their home sit on the market. We NEVER want this to happen with one of our clients. We obviously want to sell every house for the most money possible. And we will do everything possible to get it sold from a marketing perspective, but if the price is not close to fair market value it won’t sell. And no matter how much we and our sellers may love the home….our opinions on the value simply don’t matter.
Our current market conditions are a harsh reality that we must face both as agents and sellers. Buyers, on the other hand, have more opportunity now than ever before with low prices, historically low interest rates, and a good inventory of homes to preview. The good news for Sellers is that houses ARE STILL SELLING and the number of homes sold per month in Nashville was up 23% in October and 50% in November from the same months last year. So be assured that homes priced at or below market value will sell. It is just a matter of being realistic with the market and pricing. In the mean time, I will just continue to have these hard conversations.
Allen Perry
allen@nashvilleonthemove.com
615-738-1550