Post written by Kim Cedarstrom, REALTOR®, Roche Realty Group, Inc.
The number one goal of any marketing strategy is to get noticed. Until you get a customer’s attention you can’t begin to tell your story and market your product. Using a pricing strategy as a way to get noticed can be a great way to make your property stand out. Most successful marketing strategies today are price dependent. Car dealers all tout their prices as the lowest. The largest most successful company in the world–Wal-Mart–bases their entire appeal on being the low price champs. So how does this translate into the world of real estate?
In speaking with several of my colleagues from other market areas, there are some interesting and unique strategies being tried. Everything keys on each particular situation and I don’t propose any of these approaches as being universal; but, again, the goal is to get noticed and these might work. They are:
1. Underprice to create urgency, hoping to get into a bidding war to drive up price.
This is risky. My take on this strategy would obviously be dependent on the situation of the seller. Do you have to sell? Then I might hybridize this by pricing at the absolute lowest price you can accept, lower than what you would like.
2. Closed bid auction.
The theory with both these concepts is to create buyer frenzy, making customers feel that if they don’t act someone else will and they’ll lose out on a good deal. This is a really basic retail tool. If everybody is buying, shouldn’t I be doing the same? I’ve seen this work on very desirable commercial locations in a hot market. This gives you the option of not selling if you don’t get your price, but costs money to get a company to run the auction. Also, if the property doesn’t sell, it will have the stigma of going to auction burdening it.
I’d like to hear how these approaches sound to you. Email me at kcedarstrom@roche.g.corvida.com with your thoughts and feedback. There’s one thing for sure—getting noticed in this market is crucial. Over pricing your property and expecting offers is the sure way to doom it to hiding in the background and not being noticed. In this market new, aggressive ideas are necessary to stand out and be noticed. You can’t get a hit if you’re not in the game!
