The Highest Price Possible is a simple equation:
Multiple Factors = Net Outcome
In no particular order, the multiple factors are:
- Features of the home (buyers’ interpretation of what is desirable and what is not)
- Presentation: Short term presentation improvements over days (minor updates/styling) versus longer term presentation improvements typically over months (kitchen/bathroom renovations etc)
- Location & Block Size: What street is it on? What does the house back or front onto? How big is the block?
- Scarcity: how many similar properties are available?
- Buyer Engagement: Maximising the interaction with every qualified buyer
- Agent Experience: Each Agent has a different way or style about them. How effective is that when handling real world buyers?
- Price Expectations
- Responsiveness: Ability to be open to the live market feedback and adjust
- Timing: Top dollar over what period of time?
- Pricing: When to price and how much?
- Market Factors: Interest rate rises, inflation, media impact, buyer confidence, local supply levels
- Alignment: Are you and the agent on the same page from day 1?
Note that no matter how many factors one may identify, there are always unknown factors. You never actually know how the market will respond to a property until it’s on the market. This obvious statement lends itself to a simple but important early distinction for the seller to make: the owners price expectations are only an influence on the market and not a determinant unless the buyer’s level of desirability matches their capacity and willingness to pay it.The problem with pricing is the Agent wants the business and the seller wants to fulfil their price expectation. But the reality of pricing is based on the live market feedback (empirical data) which nobody short of a crystal ball will have.The correct perspective to begin with is aiming for the maximal possible price and seeing one’s expectations as an Influence on that outcome with an openness to respond to the live market data and feedback from week to week.