When a property is new to market, Sellers are excited at the prospect of garnering a swift sale at maximum dollar, encouraged by the fact that showing activity is high since the new listing is “fresh” on the market.
Often, an offer to purchase materializes from an interested buyer in the first days of the listing, posing a critical juncture which has the potential to alter the path of the seller’s journey to success.
If the offer is good- asking price or slightly below- at this early stage, Human Nature steps in and we hear from sellers words which often go something like “I’ll wait until something better comes along”. Here’s the problem: sometimes a better offer never comes along.
A property is most marketable in its first 14 days of listing. Buyers are receiving daily updates from their agents, seeking new or “fresh” listings as they hit the market. Those are the ones which are most desirable, receive the most attention and as a result, traffic and showings hit their peak in those first days. After that point, the freshness wears off and buyers are looking elsewhere.
At the very least, consider countering the early offer to keep the ball in play. A role of the agent is to negotiate every offer to terms acceptable by their client. Sometimes an acceptance is not possible. But if the offer is good, or one that you’d take in future, consider the ramifications of not acting now. We’ve seen too many sellers later regret that they didn’t take “the one that got away”.
Listen to The Whole Home Show with Tony Joe Saturdays 12 noon on CFAX1070.com