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Sellers – Be Ambitious, But Don’t Be Foolhardy

It’s been a remarkably robust selling market for home sales in the US Virgin Islands. Show me a Realtor who didn’t exceed their typical annual income in 2021 and I’ll show you a Realtor who’s either new at the trade, or…

In taking listings, Sellers would ask me the obvious question – what is my home worth? I’d ask them what THEY thought it was worth, and the answers were sometimes staggering. My answer again and again in that soaring market was simply, that none of us knew for sure what properties were truly worth because they were gaining value so rapidly. Listings were suddenly selling for list price if not more – a phenomenon that hadn’t happened in more than a decade here in the US Virgin Islands. Ambitious list prices flooded the market, often times with great success.

Realtors were used to properties sitting on the market for months, and months. But, suddenly if a property sat for a couple weeks, there was something wrong. And that something was price. Even in a Seller’s market, where competition is fierce and Sellers can reap terrific rewards, there is still such a thing as an overpriced property.

Sellers – listen to reason. If your home is sitting – put down the Kool Aid, grab a bottle of water, and ask your Realtor for comps – comparable sales – presuming he or she has not already plyed you with plenty of comps in hopes you’ll actually take notice. Keep in mind, your Realtor goes into homes every day, sometimes multiple homes. Your Realtor sees it all. You, however, are looking through rose colored glasses, and understandably so. You love your home. Its value may be unquantifiable for you. But for us – it’s very quantifiable, and that’s why you hire us – to bring objectivity and education about the market, to your effort to sell.

If it isn’t selling – lower the price.