Every parent truly believes they have a genius (kid) in the lot. And guess what? I’m no exception. I have 3 of them in fact. All genius in their own special way. But this post is specifically about my 4 year old son. Sometimes I see or notice 
things in him that leave me in complete astonishment. It could be that he was reading at the age of 3, or that he can write his whole name perfectly–in fact he can write everyone in his class name’s too, or that he can name a dinosaur for every letter of the alphabet. But it goes even further than just his grasp of the alphabet or even mathematical concepts. He’s actually managed to wrap his little brain around regular every day behavioral actions that I wish some adults would grasp. The kid is fully aware and present when he’s getting upset, realizes that he’s about to cry and begins breathing exercises to calm himself down. (He does have his moments) Or that he can describe what Onomatopoeia is. Or better yet that he can use a grammatical expression in its proper context–my favorite thus far. Let me elaborate….
My son does not like to disappoint his parents. When we ask him to do something he doesn’t want to do like clean up his toys or taking a bath, my son doesn’t jump around yelling and kicking like most kids his age. Oh no! He simply comes over to me, with a straight face, and calmly says, “Daddy, lower your expectations“!
Which brings me to my point about real estate and home sellers. When you ask an agent to price your home to sell in this market and you disagree (that never happens by the way), you should take note from my son…Step 1, before you get angry and upset, begin breathing exercises to calm yourself down. My son likes to count backwards from 5. Step 2, lower your expectations. The real estate market has changed drastically. This is not a seller’s market anymore. Homes are selling. That’s never going to stop. However, even the homes that are priced at “market value” are sitting for a very long time. These days, you have to price a home 5% – 10% below market value. The truth is that your agent also needs to reset his/her own expectations about the market as well throughout the listing period. I admit it, I’ve fallen for this trap too.
The mind is a powerful thing. If you tell yourself the same version of the story, even if it’s not true, eventually your mind will interpret that story as fact. Even worse, if your agent supports your story, well then, it must true. There’s also such a thing as having the lowest overpriced home in your market. Did that make sense? Let me explain. Even if your home is the lowest priced home compared to the surrounding competition, it does not mean that it’s not overpriced. Trust me, I have a couple of those listings. A listing used to be referred to as an asset in the good old days. Today, they’re more like a liability if they’re are not priced aggressively.
Perhaps my next post should be about introducing my son to some buyers
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! Well said. Homes are selling in my area, too. But the homes that make the cut are those that are terrific values. No buyer has to buy any one house, there are a lot to choose from. Unless sellers price a home ahead of the curve, buyers won’t buy.
i agree, i think i’m most impressed by his reaction to uncomfortable situations. I wish i had his demeanor. Again, he does have his moments–but he’s 4!
selling/buying a house is not exactly rocket science. the science is convincing the sellers that the market is worse than they think and convincing the buyers that it’s really not that bad!
Man,
This is one of your best posts. It holds so true in this market and other aspects of life if you really think about it.
I always knew your son was a genius but this post shed dome light to how smart he is. I need to work on Bee. I thought she was hot stuff because she could walk, and talk in full sentences and knows her shapes. But now I realize she needs to learn her time tables right now. lol
In any event, great post. I just think sellers are stuck in the glory days of real estate and it’s hard for them to come to grips with the reality of the market. But the market corrects that mindset right away when your house isn’t selling. So even if folks choose to ignore the sound advice of your son, no worries. The market will continue to bring it home to reality.