Oregon Coast Real Estate Blog – Living on the Oregon Coast

It has been said for years that the three most important factors in selling a home on the Coast are Location, Location, Location.  This remains true with an added element that is often times overlooked.  This is the element of Pricing.  Buyers today are generally very sophisticated and come to the Oregon Coast prepared with information in hand — including market and sales trends.  Going back to the peak years of 2004 & 2005, we saw homes selling in our Coastal market for an average of 98% of the list price.  This meant that a Seller, working with their Realtor could list a home at 2% over value and expect to sell quickly for 98% of the list price.

This trend has not maintained.  The ratios have dropped to 90% in 2008 and for the first part of 2009 it has dropped further to 89%.  Just what does this mean to Sellers and Buyers? Great news for Buyers and not so great for Sellers.  While selling prices have declined to some degree, the average sold price in 2009 is quite close to previous years.  The big shift is the relationship between the list price  and the Selling price.  When properties are priced to sell they will move more quickly with less strain on both Sellers and Buyers.

One might ask, “What’s wrong with over pricing? Buyers can always offer less.”  While this may be true in rare instances, most Buyers are looking at very specific price ranges and typically will not pursue properties that are priced more than 10% over market.  My job as a Realtor is to provide accurate and timely data for Coastal properties to Sellers regarding accurate pricing of their homes on a continuing basis.  We all have our “wants and needs”.  The wants are an objective that may not be realistic or attainable in the short term.  Rarely does a Seller say, “List high and we’ll let the market come up”.  Most Sellers have motivation to move the property fairly quickly in order to get on with their lives.

In order to accomplish this goal, I present accurate pricing information for the current Coastal market.  If my Sellers can gain an understanding of the value of strategic pricing, we will more often than not have a successful and positive relationship.  If not, we end up in endless conversations as to why the property is not being shown and if it does get showings why no offers are being generated. All real estate is local and activity may be driven to some degree by market activity in other areas. However, when pricing your Oregon Coast home to sell, see me and we can get the job done.