Setting the right asking price is a fine balance

Are you getting ready to sell your house?

Setting the right asking price is going to be challenging for vendors as spring volumes peak and the summer break looms.

It can be a tricky task, especially when the property market is displaying signs of movement.

Sometimes a home can be listed into a seemingly strong market, which then weakens during the marketing campaign.

Most asking prices tend to a little above what the vendor will actually take, as this allows some negotiating space between the buyer and seller.

Often vendors get a very realistic offer early on from buyers who've been in the market for some time. They might also get a cheeky lowball offer.

It is one of those ponderables as to whether it is best to accept a speedy sale, or wait for that desired higher price.

Higher discounting certainly occur longer into marketing campaigns when the asking price simply doesn't match buyer interest so a vendor eventually accepts a figure well below the initial advertised price.

At the moment Sydney vendors are typically accepting 5.1% discounts on their asking prices to secure their house sales. It was 4.8% at the start of the spring selling season according to CoreLogic.

Canberra is a hot market so its vendors need only to discount by 2.5%, while Darwin is ailing and it requires a 9.9% discount before most sales are done.

The national average sits at just above 5%, with peaks over the past decade seeing 8% required discounting across Australia.

Ofcourse you will have your own idea on the worth of your property, but it is important to canvas and listen to the professions.

Before you signup to one agent, for auction or private treaty, be sure you get two or three other local agents to come through your property.

They will happily provide a report on how they see the local market, its likely direction, and just where your property sits within it.

It is important to get these varied insights for the best way forward.

And don't necessary simply select the agent who promised the highest price outcome.

You have to be comfortable working with your agent all the way through the listing.

Ofcourse the lucky vendors will find a buyer as soon as the for sale sign goes up from someone who's always fancied your home from just along the same street.

The less fortunate will be nervously hoping they finally get that pre-Christmas buyer, forever grateful they had secured extended settlement terms on their next home purchase.

The key is ascertaining where the localised market is placed pricewise, and often that relates to the level of stock.

Overall there's some 25,000 offerings across Sydney - around 20% more stock than the same time last year, which means buyers have more choice. There were 22,000 listings at the start of spring.

Ask your prospective estate agents what, say, four bedroom house stock levels have been in your suburb over recent times, and also find out what sales they have actually secured. 

Asking prices can of course change throughout a campaign but if a vendor’s expectation was unrealistically way too high even this is unlikely to trigger any sale.

This article first appeared in The Daily Telegraph.