How long before lowering price?

Question

My partner and I recently completed our first rehab in South Philly (woohoo!) It's been on the market since mid-July, and it's priced in the range of nearby comps, though perhaps on the slightly higher side.

We've had a couple open houses and some interest, though not as much as we'd hope to see at this point. Our agent is thinking of lowering the price (from $300k to $289k) to generate a little more interest.

In general, especially for agents out there, how long would you leave the house on the market before lowering the price? And by what percentage?

Russell Brazil · Answer

Theres one on the same block at $279k under contract right now, and that took 10 months to go under contract. Id drop it to at least that. $10k price drop wont move it.

Troy Sheets · Answer

First off, beautiful rehab, you should be proud! The location isn't awful, but I noticed you don't have central air? That's a big miss I'd think.

In this market, two weeks and no offers, it's time for a reduction. My wife is an agent and her office policy is to drop the price after two weeks with no offers (unless you hit some holidays/awful weather/etc.). Also consider dropping the price to just below what it should sell for to really generate some interest. I don't know this area or the comps well enough to give an opinion on price but the silence from buyers speaks volumes. This was your first one, if you get out of it and don't lose money, you did great! Don't hang on too long, rack up a ton of holding costs, then end up selling for less than you could've gotten if you'd just dropped it to the right price in the first place. This market isn't picking up steam so it could be very easy to get behind it, which would mean you'll have to keep dropping your price even more to try and catch up.

Frank Wong · Answer

$289k and have it sit again. I drop it to $279k and lets really draw some attention to this thing and get it sold asap. Lots of things are important in selling a property but the bottom line most important is Price nothing else matters.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@Nikki Taylor I would have listed it at $299,000 instead of $300 to begin with. Almost no difference, but those $50K or $100K milestones seem big psychologically. So many buyers are going to try to stay under $300K for example.

At this point, follow your realtors advice. I would also plan to drop again in 3 more weeks. Keep dropping as we move into fall. Once you get past Thanksgiving it gets harder to sell as winter sets in. Price drops usually move the listing up in a buyers cue so they see it again. My guess is people liked it, but at $300k it was just out of their range. Price drops let buyers know you are motivated to sell and it helps attract offers.

Looks good in the pictures, so this seems to be all pricing that is stopping it from selling.

John P. · Answer

I'd start by lowering to $299k.  Then consider the $289k in a couple weeks. The inside looks great.  I don't really love that outside photo. Is the window reflecting something?  It just looks messy/sloppy to ME.  Again, the inside looks awesome though!

Jimmy O'Connor · Answer

@Troy S. and @Mayer M. nailed it, it shows super nice and looks clean but in this pocket that far south you need to finish fully the basement and add central AC to keep up. You probably saved a good deal on the rehab but as a result shooting for the 300k will ultimately make it sit longer and that can have a cyclical affect. I would make that drop even a little lower that the 289k to move it and invest into another project so you can still sell while the season is hot. I'll follow up in private messenger but your agent is really swinging for the fences on that

Mayer M. · Answer

@Nikki Taylor

Property looks great, but not going with central air was a mistake.

Charles Kao · Answer

@Nikki Taylor Depends on price range and interest but generally 100 percent of time its 2

weeks to 2 months and then 95 percent of time 2 weeks to a month on a flip.

On properties over 400k which is a higher end pricepoint in my market they take longer

to sell.

A 11k drop to me is nothing. It would have sold at that price with that long on market already if thats the price you wanted.

Mayer M. · Answer

@Nikki Taylor

In my opinion Philly is a softening market at the moment with lots of inventory and more hitting the market each day. I’m not an agent, but any agent will tell you that properties don’t sell for one reason and one reason only, the price.

Philly is still a hot market and for a “desirable” property to be sitting that long is odd. Perhaps it’s the price, perhaps location, perhaps the rehab.

It would certainly help if you posted the link to the property so that everyone can give an educated decision.

Account Closed · Answer

Prices are all over the map according to Redfin. Your property did not hit the 30 day mark but are the showing deceasing ? If there are not at least 3-5 showings a week a price cut is mandated.  I like your realtors suggestion and would reduce price every 2 weeks based on the amount of showings ... The fact that your location is a negative does not help your situation.. Do you have a loan to worry about?

How long before lowering price?

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