Back in August I wrote about the sellers who received 7 competing offers on offer-night, and said "no" to all of them (read it here). (Update: That house didn't sell and is now off the market.)
This month I'd like to take a look at what happens when a seller receives no offers on offer-night...
I was recently out with some clients, viewing houses for sale in the west-end of the city.
We saw six houses in total, and each one had a scheduled offer-night for the following week.
Four of those houses ended up selling on offer-night (with multiple-offers, and sale prices well above what they were listed at).
The other two houses didn't sell.
In fact, those two houses didn't receive any offers at all!
So, what options does a seller have when they receive zero offers on offer-night?
Generally, a seller will respond in one of three ways:
Response #1 - Hold Your Ground
In this case, the seller believes that the property is priced where it should be. Despite the fact that they received no offers, they're going to hold their ground and keep the list price where it is.
Response #2 - Raise The Price
Here, the seller believes that the property was underpriced initially (as part of a strategy to create a multiple-offer scenario, and an above-list sale price).
The strategy didn't pan-out on offer-night, so they terminate the listing on mls and re-list the next day at a price that's more in-line with what they're hoping to sell for.
Response #3 - Lower The Price
Here, the seller believes that receiving no offers means the property is over-priced.
They don't want to waste any more time on the market, so they respond swiftly with a reduction in price.
Truthfully, we don't see this third response very often. A seller will usually hold their ground for a few more weeks before considering a price reduction.
Response #2 (raising the price) is the one we see most often. But it doesn't always work (take a look at the greedy sellers from my August blog post as an example).
Keep in mind, these are only the three most common seller responses. There are actually others as well.
I've even seen listings receive zero offers on offer-night, then turn around and try the exact same strategy all over again: re-list the next day, at the same price, with a new offer-night...
...and it worked!
If you’re thinking of making a move and would like to know how I can help, feel free to contact me for more info.