Being married to your business partner means you need to make business decisions with your spouse. Usually, this is not a problem since Ed and I have finally determined who does what best. EXCEPT when it comes to pricing homes. Ed is a numbers guy so he puts a ton of faith in what the numbers say. I on the other hand think that sometimes, no make that most times the numbers lie.
For the past 19 years we have worked together listing homes, I being the women would usually win the price war. It would go something like this - Ed would say "your home is worth X" and I would say "Z". Of course, my price was typically higher and based on the numbers. But I also took into account the curb appeal, the decor, the condition, the feel when I walked in the door, how clean the home was, if it was staged right ect ect.
Well this worked well until 2006. Up until then, I would say price it at Z, we would put the home on the market, start to market it and then if it did not sell I would say "I was wwwwwwrong". Boy I hate that word. Then we would reduce the price. This usually was not a problem because the market was going up. The sellers of course always agreed with me since they were getting more money and Ed would give my price about 2-3 weeks.
However, today when someone says "What's my home worth"? We have to try and beat the market down and that is not an easy task. Years ago we did not deal with rentals, bank owned homes or short sales in the comps, so that made our job much easier. Today I can not use the things I did in the past to raise the price. Those things may get you a faster sale but not more money. Also, today you must take into consideration who you are competing with in the market place.
Keep in mind your competition is no longer your next door neighbor, the couple from chuch or the Jimmy's parents from school. NO now it is a bank and they do not have feelings you do. They do not care what the house is worth - they just want it SOLD. The bank unlike you does not remember
- walking in the door after the honeymoon to your new home
- bringing little Johnny and Susie home from the hospital
- the family gatherings like birthdays, Christmas, graduations
- all the hours of sweat equity you put in the home
- the fact that you remodeled this that and the other thing
- they did not hear the laughs, see the tears or feel the losses
- nor do they know about the money you spent into making your house a HOME
- or the equity you may have lost
NO now your competition is an Entity. They do not bring with them feelings like you do. This is not their Home and when it comes to selling the house it will not effect the entity like it will you. The house they are selling is a bad asset and they will simply write it off at the end of the year. When an offer comes in it is presented to an asset manager, who is just doing his/her job, they usually live in another state and never even attend the closing.
They are not the same as you. So when you ask "What my home worth"? be sure to ask "Who's my competition"?
