Or why it is important to price correctly: of the 337 properties actively listed for sale on Nantucket right now, 5 of them have been listed for 7 years or longer. The average time on market for these 5 listings is 2,648 days. One might ask why someone would choose to list their property for so long? One possible answer is that the seller is hedging their bets that a buyer will come along for whom the property is perfect and who will pay more than the current market supports. The other possible reason might be that the seller is willing to wait until the real estate market catches up to their price (which, as we well know, can take years depending upon the situation). This type of approach happens more frequently when the rate of return on the capital tied up in real estate is less in other investment vehicles.
We have all dealt with seller clients who say “I don’t have to sell but would if I got my price”. Sometimes a property owner believes their property is worth either what they have invested into it or how much they need to move on. This is, at best, wishful thinking.
We often say that we are in the business of listing and selling, not just listing. Here is the list of the properties on the market for the longest as of today: