When is the right time to reduce the price

Six months.

If you can look at comps and can realistically say that your price is fair, then dont cut it. A true buyer will find you if its a fair price.

when you say that the first two offers didn't work out, what does than mean? how important is it that you sell quickly?

We're not in a huge rush but would it would be nice to be in contract by end of May. The first offer was just too complicated and on the second we agreed on a price about 4% below ask but got held up on the timing of closing b/c we need time to find something to buy.

dylan..of course the broker wants you to lower the price. duh, I need someone to tell me that? Why doesn't he say.."hey ya know what I'll double my marketing efforts to get this sold". Any 5 year old could lower the price.

I love that.."lower the price"....double duh!
do some work salesperson! Wow he really had to work hard in his job by lowering that price. He had to work nights and weekends to get that job done of lowering the price.

"Hey he deserves that 6% you know what he did!" "he fraeken lowered the price and what a job he did of lowering that price!" "let me tell ya it was outstanding work lowering that price! best lowering of price I've seen in 20years" "guy near lost his family working that hard!!!?

joke

"got held up on the timing of closing b/c we need time to find something to buy."

How much time do you need between contract and closing.

I wouldn't get too hung up on timing, once you close, you're essentially a tenant of the next owner and possession is 9/10's of the law.

RealEstateNY, don't most contracts specify delivered "vacant and broom clean"? Why would the buyers close if the premises were not vacated?

Realestate - are you serious that a seller can stay in an apartment which has sold and closed without having a prior agreement with the buyer? "Posession is 9/10th". Are you on drugs?

got held up on the timing of closing b/c we need time to find something to buy."

I think this could be a problem. You don't want to make your buyer wait for you to find something to buy. Maybe consider a rental &/or put furniture in storage.

dwell, you're probably right but I hate to have to move twice over a short period. I couldn't believe the deal fell thru b/c the buyer wasn't willing to wait an extra 30 days to close. I'm willing to rent if need be but I'd like to give us a shot at finding something to buy.

If you haven't yet found something to buy, your prospective buyer was probably thinking 30,60,90,120 days? While it is not pleasant to have to move twice, renting after you sell might take lot of pressure off you and let you really check out the market.

deal fell thru b/c the buyer wasn't willing to wait an extra 30 days to close.

Yeah, that seems fishy; maybe buyer wanted out & used that as an excuse. But, dang, selling & buying simultaneously really increases the stress.

I hope you don't make the mistake of blowing a deal by not getting out/closing when the buyer wants to next time.

given that you already have a free option to extend by 30 days, your request may have sounded like 60? Anyway, given all you've said, I wouldn't cut the price. You had a couple serious offers, the weather isn't even nice yet. I'd wait for another 6 weeks.

when your ready to actually sell.

Maly's probably right: it doesn't seem that a price cut is strictly necessary at this point.

You still might consider a cut, though, if it would move your asking price into a different search range. For example, if you're at $1.525MM, a reduction to $1.495MM might catch the attention of buyers who cap their searches (literally or emotionally) at 1.5. As your broker implied, the purpose of a price cut is to bring fresh buyers, not to give those who are already interested a whiff of blood in the water.

Buy low, sell high. The rest is commentary.

Sign a contract that allows you to move within 30 days after closing and than I go back to my original statement "Possession is 9/10's of the law". By the time they go to court and evict you, you'll have found your apartment and be long gone.

RealEstateNY: If the buyer's attorney isn't incompetent, she will insist on onerous per diem financial penalties for overstaying the stipulated leaseback period, with the money held in escrow until the seller vacates.

if you want to sell, sell. moving twice in short period of time is better then getting $100K+ less then would have.

as you can see on this board, people take time finding a place to buy. there's plenty of inventory out there. the problem is that a lot of it is in disrepair and most of it is overpriced.

by renting after the sale, you'll have time to find the right place for the right price and renovate if need be without having a gun to your head.

How do you know you will find something you want to buy in the closing time frame? Inventory is pretty cruddy right now. I would plan on moving out, renting, and then look for your ideal place. Last thing you want is pressure to settle for something you don't really want based on some closing window.

if inventory isnt good right now, then wont it be worse as sales pick up? I think the people that had to sell, have been takem out already...at this point I think alot of people who own in the city, are probably in it for the long haul.

I'd also take a look at how quickly or slowly other comparable listings are moving. This is something that your broker may know better, as the time between an accepted offer and "in contract" on Streeteasy can be as long as three weeks, depending on how fast or slow the attorneys are and how much back-and-forth there is. E.g., our listing says 30-odd days on the market, but in reality, was 6 days and a lot of time waiting for attorneys.

This will also be very dependent on the sub-market. Last year in our sub-market (sub-$1mm in Chelsea), anything nice and correctly priced moved within four weeks. That said, there were a number of sideline-sitters jumping in all at once, and this year or your particular sub-market could be different.

Dylan, what are you selling? Is it on the UWS?

"at this point I think alot of people who own in the city, are probably in it for the long haul."

marco, I strongly agree. A good % of activity over the last few years were people that owned in Manhattan trading up in Manhattan. With the slight dip and then stabilization of prices two things happened 1) sellers waited out the negative equity period and 2) a lack of rapid appreciation dried up the funding sellers used for trading up.

by renting after the sale, you'll have time to find the right place for the right price and renovate if need be without having a gun to your head.

I agree

I'm not saying that I must buy something but I would like to give myself that opportunity. I'm prepared to rent if we don't find something we like during what will be a relatively short window but if I can avoid selling in one market and buying in another all the better. I appreciate the opinions but my original question was how do you know when a listing is getting stale so you need to lower the price?

dylan, I think you did get the answer to your question, many times. Comps are the best indicator and I would go to a bunch of open houses in your area and shop the competition. Take an objective friend along that isn't afraid to tell it like it is. If you still feel like you are fairly priced after that exercise, get a new broker.

two things to consider: you turned down one offer because the timing didn't suit you and the other was too complicated (whatever that means). have you set up a situation where the vibe is that you're a difficult seller?

on the positive side, if the offer you turned down was legit, then it tends to support your price.

"2) a lack of rapid appreciation dried up the funding sellers used for trading up."

JuiceMan: Doesn't that bode ill for the apartments they would have traded up to? In good or bad markets, Granny still dies; Mommy and Daddy still split up. If fewer people are in a position to trade up to those classic eights, shouldn't the spread narrow between them and more ordinary product?

i think you may be correct but the volume of these types of situations is so small that it will take more time to see it actually develop.

You can't predict the market.

Possibly w81st, my point is there is less inventory trading hands between people who live and want to remain owners here. The demand for lager apartments is following a different trajectory based on limited supply and plenty of demand. Difficult to separate the two

JuiceMan: Agreed. I think sideline cash may have simply replaced trade-up equity in the competition for truly excellent apartments.

Dylan621 - I thought you would find this article interesting. It's totally on point: http://www.villageconfidential.com/guest-post-dont-mess-up-in-here-by-noah-rosenblatt-of-urbandigs-com/