23 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

• Gail
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:35 AM

  Hi Norm,

  I have been reading your blog with great interest for some time now. I lost sleep last year worrying that I had paid too much for my home so can commiserate with buyers out there, I am however relieved that the market value of my home has increased.

  I found it interesting that this week area 3′s average list and sale price were so low compared to other weeks – even the overbid price was lower than all other areas. Can you tell me what caused this?

  Thank you

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:35 AM

  Hi Gail. Last year hey? You must be sleeping like a rock now.

  The weekly averages provide little more than a snapshot of the week’s activity and they aren’t that reliable for tracking value growth from one week to the next. Area 3 showed just 20 sales so a few unit sales at the area’s upper end could skew the numbers up, and an unusually high number of sales at the low end can skew the numbers down. As it turns out most of the sales in Area 3 last week were smaller houses and condominiums (9 units) so that brought the averages down lower then what is truly representative of the area.

  Thanks for reading and I appreciate your comment.

• Rae Smith
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:35 AM

  We are buyers from out of Saskatoon, looking for a 2-bedroom townhouse. We have located one in silver springs area and are wondering what the average price for a 2-bedroom townhouse in that area goes for.

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:36 AM

  Rae, average selling prices serve as a vehicle for monitoring trends and getting a feel for what’s happening to a market in general, but they don’t provide anything reliable which would assist you in determining a realistic offer price for a particular property. Given the fact that you are from “out of town” and generally unfamiliar with property values in the area you may want to seek the advice of a real estate professional who can view the property and provide you with access to a variety of recently sold townhomes which are comparable to the one you are considering. You could also consider hiring a professional appraiser for a fee of around $250, a small price to pay given the serious nature of this transaction. Good luck.

• Daryl
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:36 AM

  I have a word of advice for sellers… don’t get cocky. Just because it’s a seller’s market does not mean you can slack off when presenting your property. When my partner and I were looking around for houses to buy, it was obvious that some sellers had put little effort into their property’s presentation. Some places were dirty, smoky and/or smelly… not a favourable impression at all. It really undermined our confidence about the condition of the house, and dissuaded us from putting in an offer. A clean, decluttered house in good repair is what most people want to see, regardless of market conditions.

• Jeff
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:36 AM

  Hey Rae,

  I’m not an appraiser or an agent, (So take this with a big grain of salt) but a 2 bedroom townhouse in that neighbourhood should go for about $240,000 or so at the moment (probably a bit more with a decent finished basement, and assuming there is a garage).

  Daryl – you are so right; Another thing sellers should do, if they can, is leave the bloody house when their agent is showing it! There’s nothing weirder than the family hanging around while you are in their bedroom!

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:37 AM

  Daryl, what excellent advice. Many sellers believe that they don’t need to look after the little things in this market. In most cases, even poorly presented properties are selling but there are generally more offers and better offers on the ones which are properly prepared.

  I recently heard an agent say, “Marketing plan? Who needs a marketing plan in this market?” Sad really. Yes, throw it on MLS and it will likely sell, but put a little effort into finding the most motivated buyer and the results are likely much better. I am still finding that attention to the small details really adds to the marketing effort.

  Rae, further to Jeff’s comments, please keep in mind that there was a $73,000 spread between the high sale of a Silverspring townhouse and the low sale last year. I don’t think you want to take a wild guess on this.

• Gail
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:37 AM

  Thanks Norm!!

• Justin
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:37 AM

  Hi Norm.

  I’ve been keeping an eye on Saskatoon real estate for the last few months and the only thing that seems to remain consistent that if there is a decent property, it is almost sure to go overbid.

  Are realtors keeping list prices low to encourage buyers? I’m sure that most selling agents have a decent idea of what a property will go for in this market, yet we are still seeing unbelievable overbids (62K on a 210K property?!)

  It seems like the logical thing to do would to be to raise the asking price, but especially in the lower end stuff I haven’t seen a lot of movement in the prices. ie) some condo’s still are listed for 109,000 etc. These typically would sell for 130-140K, so why not ask that in the beginning?

  It must be an advantage to the seller to keep the price lower than market value, and to let the buyers “judge” what it is worth?

  Thanks

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:37 AM

  Hi Justin, what you’re saying makes sense and it would be nice if we could start to get asking prices sorted out. Some listings which have been priced at “market value” have failed to attract offers. It seems that buyers are judging a listing by its list price plus 20-30k. If those two numbers don’t make sense to them, they pass on it.

  It seems that the only pricing error that a seller can make is to be perceived as being “too high.” If you go somewhat lower and give the property a couple of days to show the market does seem to provide its opinion.

• Todd
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:38 AM

  I agree totally with Norm. When we were looking for a house, we automatically in our head added anywhere between 30 – 50 K. Keep in mind that we were looking for really nice properties, with little to change. So if something was already at its highest price, we just assumed we couldn’t afford it and wouldn’t even look at it.

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:38 AM

  Thanks for adding a buyer’s perspective Todd.

• Jeff
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:38 AM

  Norm, I think you are right; people are shopping with their ‘Bidding War Filters’ attached.

  Here’s a sellers perspective: We listed our place early this month (at ‘market value’) and had no offers on it when the time to review arrived.

  Kind of scary. Fortunately our agent came over the very next night with 2 competing offers. The final sale amount was over list, but not by a huge amount, simply because we priced it close to what we expected to get.

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:39 AM

  Thanks Jeff and congratulations on the sale of your home. Sounds like you’ve got your real estate adventure almost wrapped up. Best wishes for a smooth move.

• Kris
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:39 AM

  Do all buyers figure they have to add 20-30,000K over the asking price? Our house has been on the market for 10 days now and not one offer??!! We thought it was too risky to put our house up at a low price so we decided to keep it a little high…

  Any thoughts?

• Todd
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:40 AM

  Hi Kris,

  I don’t think all bidders do anything. Some people will be turned off by higher prices. I truly believe it’s good to list your house on the low end of the range and let the market determine the true value of your home. If you’re having problems with getting offers and you’re not with a real estate agent, I’d say get one and work with them. In fact, I’d reccommend Norm on here.

  If you already have an agent, talk with them about it and if they’d think it prudent to lower the asking price to stimulate more interest. An open house too might help if you don’t have too many people coming to look at the property.

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:41 AM

  Kris, I would agree with every bit of advice that Todd has given you. Thanks Todd!

  Here’s a post which details one seller’s experience regarding asking price and results. It pretty much sums up my feelings on the topic.

  http://www.teamfisher.com/blogs/norm_fisher/archive/2007/04/06/pricing-your-saskatoon-home-for-the-greatest-return.aspx

  Thanks for stopping.

• Kris
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:42 AM

  Hi, we have an agent and he suggested our list price for us. He told us to list higher just so we can be sure to get the minimun that we need out of it. We are on the higher scale for pricing. But no one (that I’m aware of) has compained that we were too high.

  I think we may have made a mistake listing. I am not sure what to do now.

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:42 AM

  Hi Kris, as Todd suggested it would probably be best to discuss this issue directly with your agent. Good luck.

• Jason
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:42 AM

  Like others have said, when looking at listings I don’t usually spend much time looking at a property unless it is about $25,000 under my pre-approved amount. For example, if I was working within a budget of $150,000 for a starter home, I would only consider properties priced at around the $125,000 mark. I agree with the other posters that it would be nice if at some point there was more continuity being the asking and selling price. As the market currently stands, it is sometimes more than a little bewildering trying to figure out what a person should be looking out for.

  I do know from talking to my friends who listed their house earlier this spring that some realtors are intentionally listing the house lower than market value to attract more buyers. In their situation, they listed their home in Greystone for $209,000 , and sold it for roughly $265,000.

  Quite frankly, I am to the point where I am getting too exhausted looking for the right home and am considering waiting till at least the bidding wars sort themselves out. I guess part of what makes things so difficult for me is that I absolutely love my current apartment and location, and although I am not getting equity by renting the place, I look at what I would now be able to afford buying with the market the way it is now and know that I wouldn’t be nearly as happy living and working out of the space. I guess it is a classic catch 22 situation; short term happyness and lifestyle, or longterm equity in a questionable neighbourhood in a house that is going to need a lot of TLC to feel like home.

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:42 AM

  Hi Jason, Thanks for sharing your experience. It does seem that this is the more typical way of thinking for most buyers that we’ve been working with. As a seller’s agent, I am sharing this with my sellers and suggesting a list price which ensures that we are reaching the right group of buyers for the home. It’s not so much about attracting more buyers (though that does seem to benefit the seller) as it is about attracting the right buyers. As your illustration suggests a $150,000 home, priced at $150,000 runs the risk of missing the buyer who would actually be most interested in the property as it is perceived to be out of his or her range.

  Hope you can hang in there a little longer. I know it’s very frustrating but if you keep at it something is likely to stick for you soon. Good luck.

• Tracey
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:43 AM

  I agree with Jason. My husband and I have only been looking at houses in the $189,000 area while our true budget is $230,000. Still after five unsuccessful offers and being outbid all five times, even this strategy isn’t working!

• Norm Fisher
  April 7th, 2009 at 9:43 AM

  Thanks Tracey, this is good information for sellers to know.