The Truth About Overpricing or Overvaluing that Most Home Sellers Ignore

You may think a higher asking price gets you more money, but it actually loses you lots of money and time. Every home has a price window where it attracts maximum interest.

Start too high and you miss the only moment that really matters. The first few weeks.

Here is what the data shows from the respected property analysts Chris Watkin of TwentyEA, Simon Gates plus Rightmove analysing millions of UK house sales.

FACT 1.

You only have a 1 in 2 chance of selling your home. Yes, only half of homes that come on the market (53.5% to be exact), will the homeowner sell and move home, the rest get withdrawn off the market unsold

FACT 2.

If a home hasn't sold by the 12th week, it only has a 14.5% chance of selling

FACT 3.

If a home has a sale agreed on it within 25 days of it coming onto the market, it has a 19 out of 20 chance (94%) of reaching exchange and completion. Wait until 100 days to agree a sale and that figure drops to 11 out of 20 chance (56%).

FACT 4

Since 2001, British homes have sold within 0.9% to 1.3% of their final asking price

FACT 5.

Homes that are overpriced need a price reduction. U.K. homes that are realistically priced from Day 1 and don't get their asking price reduced are 135% more likely to get a sale agreed on them, take a third of the time to sell and half as likely for that sale to fall through.

The truth most sellers do not want to hear that a realistic price at launch protects your equity and your whole move. An inflated asking price destroys it. And the only ones who really lose significantly in this scenario are the sellers, not the agent

Adrian Jones