The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the onlyu sustainable competitive advantage – Arei De Geus

When the market shifts, it may resemble something like a monster truck crushing the cars on its path in one of those monster truck rallies. It has a stream roller effect on the market. The survival instintcs kick in and you end up with less and pickier buyers. Those who remain claim that if they can’t get a steal now, they’ll just wait a longer until the market ‘bottoms out’. Only properties that appear to be serious bargains get serious attention. 

This shift in buyer’s perspective is one of the most challenging aspects of pricing a property in a buyer’s market. Sellers must realize now that they must stand out or they’ll be chasing the market. However, Sellers naturally fear underselling their house, and rightfully so. But make no mistake, nothing is more detrimental to selling your property than overpricing your home in a buyer’s market. Unlike the golden ages, the market will no loger come to rescue on a declining market. Now you have to outthink the other sellers, the ‘tryers’ and speculators by getting ahead of them. The time is not on your side.

This figure below demonstrates the concept of pricing ahead.

Bottom line: Whether it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, you should always price to the market you are headed.

Some concepts and figure in this article are courtesy of the SHIFT from
Millionaire Systems.