The Best Real Estate Marketing Is No Match For an Overpriced Home
Sometimes it can, but often times it cannot. At the end of the day, if the price is too high, the best 
marketing cannot overcome the price objection. Yes, more people and showings may occur as a result which may increase the chances the property may get sold, but at the end of the day, those are not great odds. Why would someone pay $3.00 for a dozen eggs at the fancy store when they can walk down the street and pay $2.50 for the same eggs ? In Philadelphia as well as throughout the country there is too much inventory for a seller to have a listing price at the high end of the market. Or even worse, above market value.
The sellers that are under the most pressure are those that purchased in the years 2005 and 2008. Those folks purchased at the height of the market. On top of that, when someone sells a property, they have their closing costs to deal with - real estate commission and transfer tax. In Philadelphia, the transfer tax alone for a seller is 2 percent of the sales price. So what happens is that sellers may list a property 20 to 30 percent higher than their acquisition price hoping to make money after paying their closing cost when in fact the market has declined slightly. This strategy will only work if their purchase price was a great deal or if significant improvements were made to the property or perhaps the neighborhood has gone through an amazing appreciation spurt.
Bottom line, it is difficult. We have seen many sellers go through 3 or 4 Realtors. In 2 cases where we recently helped sellers sell their properties, one in Point Breeze and one in Northern Liberties, both sellers opted to do a short sale on their property after going through Realtor after Realtor trying desperately to break even. Both sellers had great cases of hardship. Why the prior Realtors did not recommend going the short sale route I have no idea.
Either way, we like to say there could be gold in the basement but if no one comes in the door, they will never see it. And in this market, sometimes you need twice as many showings as you did in 2005 and 2006 to get that written contract that is acceptable. Even with the best marketing, properties still need to be priced in line with the market if they are going to sell. Otherwise, an agent may be able to pull a magic trick, but if the buyer is not paying cash, chances are the buyer's mortgage company, when they order the appraisal, will end the illusion quickly anyway.
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