Here's a startling

statistic from the multiple listing service. Approximately 62 percent

of the home sellers in Fayette County that wanted to sell their home last

year were successful. That sounds pretty good, but the flip side of that

is 38 percent were unsuccessful. That means over 1,000 home sellers in

Fayette County wanted to sell their home last year and couldn't do it.

They were unsuccessful. So, to cut straight to the chase, the main reason

why these homes didn't sell is because they were over priced. Now, some

people might say that the reason some of the homes didn't sell was because

maybe they were in a bad location or in bad condition. Yes, but if they

were priced low enough, someone would still have bought them. Price is

king!

I have heard

so many home sellers say either "we'll ask a little higher price

for awhile and come down later" or "we can always come down

but we can't go up." This is a terrible mistake, especially in our

current soft real estate market! It is critical to price your home correctly

when you first put your home on the market. Nationally, approximately

40 percent of all the homes that do sell actually sell in the first 30

days. Besides, after your home is on the market for months it becomes

market warn and buyers may wonder ... what's wrong with this house? Why

hasn't it sold? So, price your home right from the beginning. I have also

found that you can't fool the buyer. What I mean by that is by the time

a buyer gets ready to make an offer, they are educated buyers. They may

have already looked at 10 to 15 homes or more so they know if your home

is priced competitively or not. Price your home correctly and you'll get

more prospects through your home. And, it's a percentage game. The more

people that see your home the better chance it has of selling.

And, here's

a rough rule of thumb. If 10 to 12 people view your home and you don't

get an offer, then something's wrong. Yes, it's probably your price. If

10 to 12 people look at your home and they all go buy another home that

they thought in their mind was a better value, what does that tell you?

You don't want buyer prospects walking in your front door and going out

the back door and buying the house down the street that's more competitively

priced.

What if you

are not getting any showings while your house is on the market? If your

property is not being advertised and marketed properly, and no one knows

your house is for sale that could cause a lack of showings. But, if your

home is being heavily advertised and marketed and given the exposure and

there still is a lack of activity, then the market is a not accepting

your price. No amount of marketing and advertising will sell an over priced

listing. As a matter of fact, more advertising of an over-priced home

just lets more people know the home is over priced.

Realtors want

you to get as much for your home as the market will bear. The key is to

not overprice your home.

Gary Marshall

has written a much more in depth 24-page Pricing booklet called "Price,

the key to selling your home fast and for top dollar." This booklet

is full of strategies, charts and illustrations. "It's what you don't

know that could cost you thousands when you get ready to sell," says

Gary Marshall. Gary is making the Pricing booklet available to the public

free of charge. Simply call Assist 2 Sell at 770-487-9195 and they'll

get the Pricing booklet right out to you.

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