You need to sell your Durham home and you've been interviewing Realtors. Let me stick my neck out a bit and say you aren't exactly hearing what you'd like to hear...maybe it's what you expected to hear on some level but there was always that little glimmer of hope, right? Maybe, just maybe, you could hold out for a bit higher selling price than what you’re being told. After all we live in a wonderful, vibrant part of the country and of North Carolina. We have an enviable quality of life. We never saw the outrageous appreciation that some states saw so we couldn’t possibly be seeing the depreciation they keep reporting in the news. Surely there are folks looking to move here who understand this and will open up those pocketbooks a tad wider to accommodate the price you know your home is worth.
“What harm is there in trying it just for a while?” you ask. “Besides, don’t we need some negotiating room built in to the price? A little something to make the buyer feel like they got a good deal?”
You need to hear me say this: You are talking about over pricing and it is a very, very bad strategy. Here are the facts.

The red bars show the percentage of the original list price which was achieved at closing when the original listing price was the same as the final listing price at the time of sale for Durham County, NC homes. In other words, the listing agent and seller PRICED THE HOME CORRECTLY and did NOT have to lower the original asking price before accepting an offer.
The yellow bars show how much LESS homes in Durham County, NC sold for when the listing agent and seller OVER PRICED THE HOME TO START and were forced to LOWER the asking price before getting an accepted offer. The percentage achieved at closing was negotiated off the final list price, NOT the original list price.

The red bars show the average Days On Market for a Durham County, NC home when the original listing price was the same as the final listing price at the time of sale. In other words, the listing agent and seller PRICED THE HOME CORRECTLY, did NOT have to lower the original asking price before accepting an offer and the home sold significantly faster.
The yellow bars show how much longer it took to sell homes in Durham County, NC when the listing agent and seller OVER PRICED THE HOME TO START and were forced to LOWER the asking price before getting an accepted offer. The average Days On Market is significantly longer. Time is money and sellers who over price undoubtedly paid a few more mortgage payments than those who do not over price.
You can see that over pricing, as a strategy, has never been a good idea but in an unforgiving market like we are experiencing now it can mean the difference between the seller bringing money to the table or not.
The value of significant real estate experience can not be overstated in 2010. If you are serious about accomplishing your real estate goals, give me a call. I'll give you all the facts you need to make the right pricing decision.
~These charts reflect the latest data available from the T.A.R.R. Report. A subscription publication for Triangle real estate practitioners~
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It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!
SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential real estate agent in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina. She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home sellers and home buyers in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Northern Chatham County.
With over 60,000 hours of experience in NC real estate, SarahGray is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolinas #1 independent realty company. With exceptional relationships all over the Carolinas and the U.S., SarahGray is able to connect you with other professional Realtors in all areas who will make your search for a new home or your home sale the best experience you have ever had!
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'em, will end in 90 days. Over. Not coming back. You NEED to have your home under contract by then and the supply of housing in this area is more than triple that.
I have explained that the pool of potential buyers for your home is limited by several things beyond your control. First, they must have a job. Second, they must have some savings. Third, they must have good credit, not OK credit, good credit. They must be able to get an interest rate that allows them to afford the payments on your home. Those interest rates are available at least through March. But once the government stops buying mortgage backed securities (in March) they will have to get that loan from a bank. I think it is clear that banks have no intention of loaning money to home buyers at the current rates of under 5%. It isn't rocket science that rates are going to go up. An interest rate rise of just 1% will mean a potential buyer for your home must pay $10,000 less for it in order to have the same mortgage payment.
Just because you wait to sell in the spring doesn't mean your home is priced to sell.
Take a deep breath, look at the facts, and think about your motivations for selling your home. If you can't price your home at the price the market dictates now. Why would you want to wait until the busiest time of the year, with more competition, higher interest rates and then price it at the same as you did with less competition, better interest rates, and in a market that is heading into the unknown?
