1. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Pricing Your Listings to Sell
Version: 3
Revision Date: August 2008
Note: For maximum impact all attendees should have their own copy of SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

2. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Main Ideas
Perspective on Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market
Approach Sellers
Get the Right Price!
Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market
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3. Perspective on Pricing Strategies
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Perspective on Pricing Strategies
When the market shifts toward a buyers’ market, the listings sit! Don’t let that happen to your sellers.
In a buyers’ market, real estate becomes a commodity.
Only properties in good condition and priced right will sell in a buyers’ market.
Price can correct bad condition—but condition won’t correct bad price.
Correct pricing represents 80% of your marketing effort.
Make the point that without the correct pricing to attract buyers to the property, you’ll never have a chance to show off the location and condition.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

4. Perspective on Pricing Strategies (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Perspective on Pricing Strategies (continued)
Your Role in a Buyers’ Market
When houses sold in a matter of days, agents were undervalued, but now customers need you for your
Pricing strategies
Market knowledge
Buyers
Fiduciary commitment
Knowledge of financing options
Negotiation skills
Elicit stories from participants. Share your own stories on how your sellers now value your skills more.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

5. Perspective on Pricing Strategies (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Perspective on Pricing Strategies (continued)
What Are the Opportunities?
Opportunities for Agents
Opportunities for Sellers
Refer to page 9 of the guide for opportunities. Ask participants what they think the other opportunities may be. Share your own ideas.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

6. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get Ready, Get Set, Go!
SHIFT happens!
Maximize your effectiveness as a consultant to your sellers.
Get Ready! – Study your market
Get Set! – Prequalify your sellers, update your listing presentation
Go! – Get the right price
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

7. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market
Be the Local Market Economist
Be more knowledgeable than the headlines—research the local conditions and trends that will affect them.
Preview more properties to get a better understanding of what is on the market.
Refer to the chart on page 12 for specific methods on how to research the market and preview properties.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

8. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Analyze the MLS
Use your local MLS to track market numbers in their price range.
Take the shifting market into consideration when evaluating the comparables.
Get the big picture. Buyers will prioritize the deal, rather than the area. Your sellers are competing with homes in their price range all over town.
Refer to chart on page 14 for specific methods on how to analyze the MLS. Assign the “Stop and Think” exercise on page 15 for homework. If you use a total market overview, demonstrate your own.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

9. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Analyze the MLS
Take time to study and internalize the statistics that are reflective of your market and which matter to your sellers.
Choose numbers and statistics from the MLS and use the data in a sentence later that same day.
Choose a partner from your team or Market Center with whom you can practice the numbers. Meet weekly.
Depending on class size, have students use some current numbers in a sentence. Demonstrate your own.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

10. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Use Formulas and Graphs
Enhance the raw data from your MLS by using formulas and graphs to illustrate the market to your sellers.
Tip!
Practice the math before your listing presentation until you are confident with the numbers, but for a powerful presentation, take copies of the MLS data and work out the figures together with your sellers.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

11. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Use Formulas and Graphs
The Activity Index
The number of properties going under contract compared to the number of active properties on the market.
Actives + Pendings
Pendings
= Activity Index
A high index indicates a sellers market, a low index indicates a buyers’ market. Follow the numbers on page 18, or use your own market statistics to demonstrate. Point out the importance of tracking the numbers consistently every month to note significant trends.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

12. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Use Formulas and Graphs
The Absorption Rate
The absorption rate will tell you how many months of inventory you have on the market. It demonstrates how long it would take to sell all the homes on the market if no other homes were to come on the market.
Number of active homes on the market
Number of homes sold in the last 30 days
= The Absorption Rate
Follow the numbers on page 19, or use your own market statistics to demonstrate. Point out the importance of tracking the numbers consistently every month to note significant trends.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

13. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Use Formulas and Graphs
Graphs
Many people respond well to visual information. Show your sellers the MLS statistics by using vivid, clear, and colorful graphs.
Tip!
Use Microsoft Excel when plotting your graphs, or get help from your Market Center. There are also online services and software programs you can use to create graphs
If your Market Center offers graphs, direct participants to this service.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

14. Study Your Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Study Your Market (continued)
Use Formulas and Graphs
Discuss graphs.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

15. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers
Find the Motivated
You can only afford to work with the very motivated.
Prequalify your sellers before you make the listing appointment.
Refer to chart on page 22. Go over questions. Add any of your own, and ask participants if they have other questions they routinely ask.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

16. Approach Sellers (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers (continued)
Update Your Listing Presentation
Tell the Truth
You are not doing your sellers any favors if you are tempted to soften the blow in order to get the listing.
Care enough about them to be strong up front and get the right price.
Discuss the importance and benefits of truthfulness.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

17. Approach Sellers (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers (continued)
Update Your Listing Presentation
Leverage the Media
Clip out articles from the newspaper that support your position and send them to your sellers.
Back up the news stories with your own hard data.
Discuss how the media can actually help when working with sellers.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

18. Approach Sellers (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers (continued)
Update Your Listing Presentation
Listen for Responsiveness
Return to their motivation if you sense they are not receptive, and determine whether or not you want the listing.
Some sellers may not be able to face reality and won’t be able to list their home at the price needed to sell it.
Discuss the importance of motivation.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

19. Approach Sellers (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers (continued)
Update Your Listing Presentation
Learn New Scripts and Dialogues
To present MLS data effectively, you will need to speak with confidence to educate your sellers and vividly illustrate the new reality of their market.
Take the time to learn new scripts so you are confident and polished during your presentation.
Choose a partner from your team with whom you can practice.
Time permitting, have different participants read the scripts aloud. Share your own scripts. Ask participants to share any of theirs.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

20. Approach Sellers (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers (continued)
Update Your Listing Presentation
Communicate Effectively
Practice scripts and dialogues.
Focus more on your sellers’ need to express themselves.
Keep them talking and LISTEN to what they tell you.
Discuss the importance of effective communication during this stressful time.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

21. Approach Sellers (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Approach Sellers (continued)
Update Your Listing Presentation
Be Prepared to Answer Objections
Address objections before they come up. Send out a thorough CMA in your prelisting package.
During the listing presentation, bring up objections yourself and then sweep them away.
Discuss the most common objections. Time permitting, have different participants read the scripts aloud. Share your own scripts. Ask participants to share any of theirs.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

22. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price!
Don’t Miss the Window of Opportunity
Original Price is Critical
If a buyer believes a house is poorly priced, they will write it off from the start.
Even if the price is subsequently reduced several times or home improvements are made, the best chance for selling is lost forever.
For homes that have a price reduction, the time to sell increases by two to three times.
Discuss the importance of price and the window of opportunity. Pricing the house right is the key to selling it during the window of opportunity.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

23. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price!
Allow Your Sellers to Self-Discover
Ask simple questions:
“Looking at all the comparables here in the MLS for your neighborhood, how much would you be willing to pay for your house if you were a buyer today?”
“Given what I’ve shown you about the market, what do you think your house will sell for?”
“Look, what do you think we need to do? Here are the numbers.”
Time permitting, have different participants read the questions aloud. Share your own success stories using questions like these. Ask participants to share any of theirs.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

24. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
Tell the Tale of Two Markets: Sellers’ Market
Great
Poor
Condition vs. Comps
Above
Below
Price vs. Comps
In the
Market
Out of the
Over the next three slides, point out what it means to be IN and OUT of the market.
In a strong sellers’ market, it all sells! Virtually every property is IN. Listings will sell even if prices are above average and condition is below average to comparable properties.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

25. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
Tell the Tale of Two Markets: Buyers’ Market
Great
Poor
Condition vs. Comps
Above
Below
Price vs. Comps
In the
Market
Out of the
The number of homes IN the market shrinks because many houses are overpriced and/or are in fair to poor condition. In a buyers’ market, most properties are OUT. Properties that are priced correctly and are in good condition are IN the market—but they represent only a small segment.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

26. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
Tell the Tale of Two Markets: No-Man’s Land
In order to sell, your listing must be in the top 30 percent in condition and in the bottom 30 percent in price. In some markets it may be 20/20, or even 10/10. The real danger lies when sellers price their homes so they are no longer OUT of the market, but do not price them low enough to be IN the market. These sellers are destined to languish in NO-MAN’S LAND.
If you have experienced the “Tale of Two Markets,” tell your own story here.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

27. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
Tell the Tale of Two Markets
Fill in the chart on pg. 38 of your guide
Think of current listings in your market that you consider “IN the Market,” “OUT of the Market,” and in “NO-MAN’S-LAND.”
Now think of what price adjustments would have to be made to the listings that are in “NO-MAN’S-LAND,” and “ON the Market” in order to get them “IN the Market.”
Ask participants to think of actual listings they have or know of in your market. Have the class recommend what the right price should be.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

28. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
The Law of Supply and Demand
When pricing their home, sellers need to obey the law!
Sellers’ Market
A market which has more buyers than sellers.
High prices result from this excess of demand over supply.
Buyers’ Market
A market which has more sellers than buyers.
High prices result from this excess of supply over demand.
Discuss what the law of supply and demand means in real estate.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

29. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
The Law of Supply and Demand
How can you use MLS Statistics to explain the effects of supply and demand in your market?
Discuss this question in class.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

30. Get the Right Price! (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Get the Right Price! (continued)
Don’t Chase the Market
Whether the market is going up or down, you want to price your listings ahead of the market—ahead of it on the way up and ahead of it on the way down.
“You’re in a race against time. The best price you’ll get is the one you get now. If you wait, it will be lower.”
Jackie Ellis
Boynton Beach, Florida
Discuss use of graph on page 40.
Point out the “Stop and Think” exercise on page 41.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

31. Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market
Offer Phenomenal Customer Service
Increase frequency of communication.
Increase frequency and unique timing of open houses.
Send your sellers regular market information updates.
Refer to the chart on page 43 for specific ways to offer phenomenal customer service.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

32. Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
Get Price Reductions
Overpriced Listings
There are very few overpriced listings that are too overpriced to take. If you take overpriced listings, three elements will help you get the right price.
Time
Your strengthening relationship
Market statistics
Have a frank discussion on the pros and cons of taking overpriced listings. Refer to the chart on page 45 for specific methods for handling overpriced listings.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

33. Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
Get Price Reductions
Schedule your reductions
Get into the next bracket
Keep carrying costs low
Mind your language
Know when to call it quits
Refer to pages 46 and 47 when discussing each of these methods. Share your own experiences.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

34. Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
Auction Your Listings
Create desire for your listings by marketing well-priced and staged properties as “Coming Soon.”
Establish correct market price
Have property inspected and staged
Put up “Coming Soon” yard signs with the date of the MLS opening
Wait a week to ten days without showing the house
Announce the opening
Sell the house!
Go through auction techniques. Share your own experiences. Ask participants to share any of their own.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

35. Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Manage Your Listings in a Buyers’ Market (continued)
Offer Seller Concessions
Learn about the seller concessions and real estate financing concepts that create a competitive edge.
Work closely with a trusted loan officer who is knowledgeable about the details.
For more details about seller concessions, see SHIFT Tactic 10: Financing Solutions, from Keller Williams University.
Discuss seller concessions that are common in your market.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

36. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
The Bottom Line
There may be no single factor more important to getting a home sold than its price.
Your local expertise and market knowledge are the key to getting your sellers to price their homes to sell.
Let the numbers do the heavy lifting. Arm yourself with the facts and figures and use formulas and graphs to explain the current market to your sellers.
Recap the most salient points of the course.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

37. Productivity Boosters
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Productivity Boosters
Analyze the MLS
Update Your Listing Presentation
Keep Your Sellers Informed
Buyer Seller Matching
The ProManage/TOP PRODUCER contact management system has many tools to boost your productivity.
For more information visit the ProManage site on the KWU Intranet: Click on the eAgentC tab, and then click on ProManage/TOP PRODUCER.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

38. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
My Action Plan
Don’t put away this guide without developing a plan to put what you have learned into action!
Refer to the Action Plan on pages of the guide to assess your strengths and areas for improvement.
Write down steps you will take to improve your skills—complete it, share it, and commit to it!
Direct participants to fill out their Action Plans on pages of the guide. Ask them to share their commitments with the class.
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

39. Take the other courses in the SHIFT Tactics series!
SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
Take the other courses in the SHIFT Tactics series!
Gaining Mind over Market
Upshifting Your Lead Generation
Seller Staging Strategies
Lead Capture and Conversion
Internet Lead Capture and Conversion
Creating Urgency to Buy
Bulletproofing Transactions
Expense Management
Effective People Leverage 
Short Sales, Foreclosures, and REOs
Financing Solutions
V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

40. SHIFT Tactic 7: Seller Pricing Strategies
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V3.2 ©2008 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.