If you play the odds based on probability, then sellers should drop their home price every 10 days to secure their home sale quickly, and most likely, for more money.
Did you know that at any one time there are tens of thousands of prospective home buyers already in the Multiple Listing System with their specific search criteria? These buyers are informed daily of new listings to the marketplace AND listings that drop-in price.
Typically, if a home becomes available for purchase or falls into desired price criteria, prospective buyers contact their Realtor and their Realtor will arrange to show the property right away. However, sometimes there might be a delay to view the property because of circumstances. But even with a postponed showing, interested parties usually see the home within 10 days of the MLS notification.
By the end of the 10-day period, most, if not all interested parties would have had sufficient time to view your home. If you have no offers or 2nd visit inquiries within this time period, then it is time to drop the price!
If after 10 days you have no bites, the objective is to find more potential buyers for your home. The most effective way of securing new candidates is to drop the price of the home, which will effectively place you in a new price criteria window i.e. $280,000 - $290,000, $300,000 - $325,000.
SELLERS BEWARE: If you keep the home at the same price after 10 days, all you are doing is waiting for new people to enter the market place, which is a tiny fraction of the percentage of people ALREADY IN THE MARKET PLACE!
Finally, homes that are on the market for less time, tend to sell for a much closer figure to the asking price than the homes that sit for a long time. Homes that sit for a long time tend to attract “low ball offers.” Additionally, homes that sit on the market for a long period of time are often negatively stigmatized.
The bottom line is because of the easy accessibility of all listings, homes are quickly discovered and often viewed by the majority of buyers within the 1st week of a listing. In reality, if you are initially priced “in the ballpark” of reason, and you drop the price quickly and consistently, your home should sell within 30 days for fair market value without the worry of a sale hanging on your conscience.