Price? Condition? Presentation? Now Tell Me Again Which One is King?

Several weeks ago there was a flurry of activity here on SIF about the King of Real Estate. Price is King! No, presentation is King! No, price and presentation don't matter if it's in poor condition, condition is King! It occurred to me that when you look at the whole picture, everyone is right.  

There are three key steps along the way to the successful sale of our client's properties.

At the point in time that an agent and home owner agree on the list price, Price is definitely king. If the price range is in line with the comps then you're on your way to a successful sale.

Next, when a property presentation specialist (Stager) and an inspector advises the home owner of any and all condition issues that must be addressed and action is taken by the owner, at that point Condition is King.

Then when the home owner or agent has the home staged to increase the marketability of that home, Property presentation or Staging is at that point the King.

So it would appear to me that there are really three Kings. Three Kings that when working in unison, increases the marketability of a home to move it ahead of the competition. In an effort to have the quickest and most profitable sale for any home with-in its price range, all three Kings have to be in place and in alignment. An absence of any one of the Kings would seem to reduce the speed and profitability of a successful sale.

So why do we attempt to debate who the one and only king really is? Well, I think it's all about marketing the value of what we each provide. If any one of the three, Price, Condition or Presentation is proclaimed the undisputed King, that King becomes all important in the Real Estate world. Being the undisputed King gives us ultimate power in our world and we can then sell the fact that in the absence of me, the King, the kingdom would crumble.

So why three Kings? The price King has always been good enough! People never use to care about anything but the price! Well, as Bob Dylan sang, "The times they are a changing!"

My belief is that homes have historically sold based on these same three factors. But with everything being equal, price was the defining ingredient. As time has passed, experts, professionals if you will in the areas of property presentation and condition have been added to the mix which is re-defining what being competitive means. In the busy world we live in there is a value placed on being able to buy a new home, one that fulfills all of our desires and then instantly we can get back to our hectic lives. A home that does that is ultimately the most competitive. In many arenas this debate has become parallel to a heavy weight boxing match. It's time to unify the title.

Predicting our future, I see the time coming that there will be two ways to dictate the destiny in the successful sell of a home. Either by being lucky or by being good. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than it is to be good, but it's a big risk to count on luck for success. Being good is by accepting that all three Kings play a unified role in the success and that luck is for those lucky few that win lotteries. Do you feel lucky? Well do you?