Issue Date: August 23, 2006

Greed Gets in the Way

By Jody Zink
Licensed Realtor in Ohio & Michigan

When you're thinking about selling your home, it's easy to start calculating how much you'll get at closing. You figure a reasonable price in your head and then begin subtracting closing fees, commissions, title work, etc. You come up with a number that sounds pretty good. Plus, we all like to think if we've lived in the house for several years or more, the value of the property would be sky high. And it always sounds like a lot of money.

Until you hear what a neighbor got down the street.

The greed factor starts kicking in. We decide that if the Smiths got $180,000 for their house, we should try for $200,000 or $220,000. While we get disgusted when we read news stories about corporate officials and CEO's earning millions at the expense of shareholders and employees, we love to hear when our neighbors get tens of thousands more for their home than anticipated. And when it's time to list the property, a seller can suddenly become price-conscious.

Typical thinking is, “they can always make an offer.” But an unrealistic price does a seller no favors. More is expected for a higher priced home. Other homes in that higher price range that are reasonably priced will make yours look sub-standard. That is---if they even see your home. If a buyer is searching online for a home at a maximum price of $180,000, or even $199,999 and yours is listed at $200,000? Your home is invisible.

Sellers sometimes dig their heels in the sand because they think they were taken advantage of when they bought the property and feel it's time to get even. But it may cost them the deal.

Deals die because sellers won't do a minor repair or give a $200 credit because of the “principal” of it. Yes, buyers sometimes ask for the world. And sellers sometimes forget that it's a buyers market. In and around Toledo, Ohio in the summer of '06, buyers have options. Thousands of them. More than 9-thousand For Sale signs adorn our city. If buyers aren't happy with how negotiations are going with one home seller, they've got other sellers who will likely entertain their offer and be thrilled to have one.

Another note. I realize that sometimes it's not greed that gets in the way of selling, but need. Sometimes sellers must get the list price in order to break even. This situation is very unfortunate and is not uncommon. It kills me to say it, but the need for money does not increase the value of a home. Would you pay more for a home because you knew the owner needed the money?

A high, unrealistic price can scare a buyer off. A buyer knows there's the chance of infuriating the seller or insulting them if an offer is way lower than the asking price. I never quite understood this. Wouldn't anyone in a buyer's position do the same thing? It's common to be emotionally attached to your home and we all secretly (or openly) think our house is better than the others, but maybe...just maybe a “low” offer might be a reasonable one. The marketplace tells a seller what his home is really worth. It's not personal. It's just business.

Jody Zink is a licensed REALTOR in Ohio and Michigan with the Loss Realty Group. Her column appears every other week in the Toledo Free Press. She can be reached at jody@jodyzinkrealtor.com or 419-725-1881.