An issue that our team experiences on a weekly basis is pricing properties and managing sellers’ expectations. This is an age-old battle of what the seller wants versus what the real market value is. A prerequisite to this is that the seller must firstly trust the property practitioner to give the so-called accurate market appraisal. As we know, this expectation comes from the property practitioner’s track record, through their testimonials and recommendations, and knowing that they represent an agency that values ongoing training and hiring property practitioners with integrity. In other words, a property practitioner that is not trying to undervalue the property in order to make a quick sale for their own gain. Assuming these requirements have been met, what do (or should) agents consider when providing market appraisals. Obviously, I am not talking about the evident items like comparables, rand per square meters etc. Let’s assume we have all that, and that we are now discussing pricing strategy and the approach behind this. The first mindset, and the reality, are that the seller wants the very best price. If a property practitioner gives a truly realistic price, they run the risk of losing the mandate. That is a fact. In fairness, sellers will often say they want a realistic price but that generally comes with the caveat of as long as the realistic price meets their expectation, and not necessarily what the market evidence shows.The second mindset is that the property practitioner also wants (or should want) to get the best price, or at least the right price for the property. Afterall, we as property practitioners want to add value, and we are also acutely aware that property prices, over the history of time, inflate. We are not, for example, appraising second hand cars.So, with these two realities in mind, the pricing strategy that ensues is discussing a range usually between a quickish sale and best case scenario, but still potentially achievable. Most sellers go for best case scenario, but quite a few do something else, and that is wanting to go on higher than that and this is where sellers run into problems. The reason? Remember the best-case price is already flirting with that number that could be too high and where getting activity on the property might be in jeopardy. I always implore sellers not to go above that best case price. A seller might want to add fat into our best-case price, but they need to be aware that we have already done that and by going higher sellers are now just adding fat to the fat, which is clearly counterproductive. If a seller is still convinced that the property practitioner has not accounted for the seller’s higher expectation, then they should ask this one question. “In all the property practitioners’ years of experience, how many properties do they know that have sold for higher than their valuation?” I personally have been doing this for 2 decades, and I can easily say that I could count those times on one hand and I’m sure other experienced property practitioners would say something similar. As long as you trust the property practitioner, then trust their price.Copy by Graham White Managing Director, Local Real Estate