In today’s housing market, price is everything. Price a home right and it’ll sell. Price too high and it’ll sit on the market, passed over by savvy buyers for the next property that fits their needs. So, if you’re wondering how to use price to your advantage, here are my two cents on pricing strategy:
Most L.A. neighborhoods are leaning into more of a buyer’s market because of the selection, and although interest rates have started to tick down, it’s simply not happening fast enough. As soon as rates get closer to 6%, the market will have a resurgence but we’ve been waiting for that to happen for two years.
I say don’t wait to buy. Don’t wait to sell. Nobody knows when or if interest rates will drop to 6%, and it’s hard to predict the timing. It’s better to be sitting in a house you love watching the rates drop than to drive by and see it out your car window, regretting that you missed purchasing the property. Date the rate, marry the home, remember?
My hope is that interest rates do come down closer to 6%, and in that scenario everyone will go wild with refinancing and business will pick up for lenders. With lower rates, buyers are going to jump back into the market, especially those millennial buyers who are the ones sitting on the sidelines in wait-and-see mode.
In fact, everyone is kind of on hold right now and with the increase in inventory, they think they have plenty of time to make decisions. As someone who watches shifts in the market very carefully, I think the market is still moving fast for those who make strategic choices in alignment with their real estate goals. For example, there’s a seller I recently worked with where we cleaned up the property, made cosmetic changes, painted it, staged it, remodeled … the whole works! We love to do that for our clients and this time, it really paid off in a big way. After pricing the home correctly, the property just received ten solid offers, and there you go. Magic! That will happen in this market for most price ranges but it’s all based on the choices you make and really, on your pricing strategy.
For instance, by putting a house that’s worth $1.1 million on the market for $999,999, you’ll get many more offers and the property will probably sell close to $1.1 million. If you listed the home at $1.1 million, it would probably still be sitting on the market as I write these words today. That’s the difference pricing strategy can make. I call this strategy “event pricing.” You need it more than ever in a market like this, defined by rapid, rapid change.
If you’re looking at statistics from six months ago to determine your correct price, you may run into a problem. In my experience, for this type of market, you need to look at the last 60 days. Things are moving and trending so quickly that you’ve got to know what happened in the last two months to successfully strategize on pricing.
So, here’s hoping that as interest rates come down a little bit, it’ll spur us into a busy fourth quarter. And speaking of busy, I was so grateful to learn that after a hectic start to the year, I was ranked among the Top 100 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Agents in Los Angeles for January – June 2025, placing No. 3 in transactions and No. 6 in production. What an honor! That kind of recognition is simply not possible without the support of my hardworking team, trustworthy clients and incredible California Properties family, and makes me so excited for what the rest of 2025 will bring!
As I said to our manager the other day, “The more negative noise I hear, the harder I work,” and I hope that applies for whatever professional challenges you’re facing or successes you’re experiencing today. I am a big believer in blocking out the negative noise and focusing on what you can control, which is the experience you possess and the knowledge you acquire. Statistics don’t lie. You can’t look at comps from six months or a year ago; you’ve got to be on top of what the numbers are for the last two months, which will tell you where the market is trending. Pay attention to those numbers, not the negative noise. When you do, you’ll stay focused and ready for the bright real estate future ahead!
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Andrew Manning • REALTOR® • Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties • DRE: 00941825 • 818-380-2147 • andrew@andrewmanning.com