Most buyers have a price ceiling they’re willing to look “up to.” Sometimes it’s purely subjective, i.e. “We promised ourselves we wouldn’t spend more than $200K, even though we’re qualified up to $300K .”
It’s cool… you set a limit and you’re sticking to it. I got no beef with that.
Sometimes it’s logistical, i.e. “We’re only qualified to borrow up to $200K! Period!”
Wherever a buyer sets the bar, though, I’ll often send them listings for up to 10% or a little more above that ceiling. It’s not that I’m trying to sell a more expensive house. It’s because sellers will usually negotiate AND/OR drop the price if no offers are forthcoming, and we may just get lucky with the timing. If the house is just “IT” and a little above the ceiling, it can be very worthwhile to try to make it work.
Taking a quick look at all Bellingham Listings priced between $275K and $325K that have sold in the past 6 months, we see that:
- There have been 91 sales, total.
- 73 of them — or just over 80% — sold for less than original list price.
- Some dropped their price more than 25% from original list price before selling.
So if you tell me you’re looking up to $300K, and I send you listings up to, say, $330K… it’s not that I’m not listening or trying to up-sell you. I’m just thinking ahead, statistically speaking.
Have a great weekend! Oh, and the data above was compiled from the NWMLS.
