The Risks of No Price Marketing When Selling Your Home

No matter whether you have been a passive observer or an active buyer/seller, you will have noticed how many properties for sale are advertised with no price listed in recent years.

The traditional theory behind this is that it removes pricing as being an issue getting prospective buyers through the door. You avoid overpricing and let the ‘market’ determine the range of what they will pay.

Personally, I think there is a big whole in this approach.

Extensive research from realestate.com.au and other property related services over the last 10 years have found that up to 50% potential buyers may not make further enquiries on a property if there is no price guide listed. The absence of a price can lead to frustration and uncertainty, causing many buyers to avoid the property altogether.

The aim for any sale campaign should be to engage with as much of the buyer pool as possible. It can best be explained by the below formula

More Buyers + Emotionally Connected + In Competition = Premium Price

MB                                  EC                                            IC                           PP

Think of each part of the formula like parts in a car. If one part is not working, it affects the running of everything else that is linked, and ultimately it final output.

Dilute MB (more buyers) and the chance of you realising the best price possible is heavily reduced.

This topic came up for me this week because of the number of sales results  I have seen come in where the listing was advertised with no price at any time during its campaign. And when the sale result came through, my immediate response if I thought it would have gone for more than that. Was an opportunity missed for a better result but some buyers missed out seeing it, thinking it was not in their price range?

There are instances where it might be challenging to price a property accurately. In such situations, not listing a price during the first week or two can help gauge the market's reaction. However, even in these cases, it’s advisable to set a price guide once you have a clearer idea of the market’s interest and before accepting an offer. Failing to do so might mean missing out on qualified buyers who could have driven the price higher.

The difference between the top two buyers for a property can be $20,000 to $30,000, or sometimes even more. The presence of just one additional buyer can spark competition and drive the price up. I recently had a sale where one buyer showed interest in week one, and another in week four. They both competed in an auction, pushing the final sale price up by an additional $55,000. If one of those buyers missed seeing it, the result would most certainly be a lower price.

Like any strategy, there are pros and cons to every approach. In today’s world, transparency and ease of doing business will produce the rewards.