Every year when the Chicago Agent staff puts their heads together to come up with an editorial calendar, we purposefully keep a few spots open as our “To Be Determined” issues. As the leaves change colors and the warm weather disappears, we find ourselves looking to 2010 already, and, again, we have left numerous spots open in case there are important topics that sprout up as the year progresses that we feel need to be addressed. The issue you are looking at right now started off as a TBD, and it became apparent in the middle of the summer that pricing was a topic that we needed to explore. The timing was right and it seemed like a natural fit for the middle of October.

As summer slips away into fall, the selling season slows as well. Prices are being dropped around Chicagoland, which is good news for buyers, but maybe not as great for sellers. Also, the drops bring up questions that Realtors must to be prepared to answer. How do you ease the fears of first-time buyers thinking about new construction projects with prices that might indicate a lapse in quality? How do you explain to your seller that their home isn’t moving because the price is way off? These are just a couple of questions that might emerge. This is a sensitive topic, but in this current market it had to be covered. 



In our pricing issue, we spoke with a number of experienced agents and also a developer who knows the correct way to price units to sell. In this market, agents, and also your clients, need to adjust to the times. The name of the game is selling, and if changing the price is what needs to be done, then you need to convince your client to make it happen. The same is true when it comes to buying. There are some fabulous deals out there, thanks to the change in prices, so if your clients aren’t cashing in, then something isn’t right. 

Let’s work together to make fall just as successful a season as summer.