Boston Condos for Sale and Apartments for Rent
Boston condos for sale and my philosophy on pricing
Boston condominium sellers and agents need to decide on a pricing philosophy.
Do you price it high, and hope for the best? Or do you price it attractively and sell it promptly?
During the Covid, pricing high was recommended because you couldn’t go wrong – everything was selling, and the worst case was settling for list price. Many Boston condos sold over. But it’s different now, and you don’t want to be sloppy about your listing price.
Lets face it, if a Boston condo for sale doesn’t sell in the first month on the market, the buyers will think the price is wrong, and will lowball – and you can’t blame them (wouldn’t you do the same?). The longer on the market, the worse it gets for the seller, unless of course they don’t care if it sells.
Let’s discuss it openly, for everyone’s sake.
If the list price is within 5% of being right, a downtown Boston condo will sell in the first 30 days on the market. There is 5% of slush in every market, and there aren’t enough other sales nearby to say otherwise.
Let’s work it backwards. If the property for sale doesn’t sell in the first 30 days, we know the price is at least 5% wrong, probably a lot more. Because Boston condo buyers in this market are going to be conservative, they will want an additional 5% discount to feel secure.
After 30 days on the market, expect a 10% discount on Boston condos
Sellers can object and try to fight it, but it will take luck to beat the odds – because the quality buyers are paying attention now, and without rising prices forcing them to make hasty decisions, they would rather wait, than to jump – especially when no one else has submitted any offers in the first 30 days.
After 30 days on the market, expect a 10% discount.
If it were a widely-publicized fact that pricing attractively avoids future peril, and if we all agreed that the 30+ day penalty was identified as -10%, then sellers could properly calibrate their expectations.
