Timing and Pricing

Although the Boston luxury real estate market is not an exact science, there are certain guidelines that would be helpful for most sellers to pay attention to. Even in an intense Boston luxury home sellers’ market where there are more buyers than supply, pricing is still very crucial. Most sellers these days, regardless of what their real estate brokers advise them based on comparative sales, they still would like to go above that price.

Granted that most Boston luxury real estate comparative sales that are recorded would be in MLS, but these days, there are many private sales that do not appear in MLS. A good Boston luxury real estate agent knows of these private sales in order to establish the pricing. MLS provides data on homes sold and/or on the market. Sellers will know, hopefully, that their homes are going to be compared to this data.

On the other hand, most Boston luxury home buyers in a intense seller’s market these days happen to look in all areas. They have a set budget and are willing to look at similar homes in that price range and comparable neighborhoods. They are no longer fixated nor dead-set on one particular location. They go wherever their money can get them the best value. I had buyers who only wanted to buy in midtown in a luxury building, but after looking hard and long, ended up in Cambridge in a totally different setting, location and criteria. This is a trend that I have seen more recently, in an upward market which we need to take note.

That’s what the sellers need to pay attention to when pricing their property. They can lose buyers to similar properties elsewhere in a totally different town and location.