range priced homes in the Tucson Foothills

If you're looking to buy a home in the Tucson Foothills these days,
you've probably run across homes for sale that are Range Priced.

When you see a listing that says,
'SELLER WILL ACCEPT OR COUNTER OFFERS BETWEEN
$750,000 - $799,000'
OR
'Seller will entertain offers between $599,000.00 and $629,000.00'
or some variation of that language, you're looking at a house that is range priced.
Range pricing has become more popular lately, because it is meant
to limit the offers on a house to a specific price range that the seller is willing to accept. And to discourage low-ball offers, because it clearly implies that the seller will not respond to offers that are less than the range.  

So if you see one of these range priced homes, and you like it, and you want to make an offer, but you're only willing to make an offer that is less than the range, you may feel uncomfortable doing that, not wanting to have your offer rejected, and therefore you may decide not to make the offer, assuming that the seller will reject it. 
Don't assume that, even though it clearly states -
  'Seller will entertain offers between $599,000.00 and $629,000.00'
This one, sold for $550,000, $49,000 under the bottom of the range.

I looked at homes that have sold in the Tucson Foothills in the last few months and pulled the ones that were range priced.

Here's what I found,
-Seller will accept or counter offers $319,900-$332,000
                                        SOLD $310,000

-Offers entertained 480K-505K   SOLD $480K
                   
-SELLERS WILL ACCEPT OR COUNTER OFFERS BETWEEN
     $499,900 & $549,900    SOLD $500,000

-SELLER WILL ACCEPT OR COUNTER OFFERS BETWEEN
      $549000 -575000.    SOLD $530,000

-OFFERS ENTERTAINED $550-575K  SOLD $550K

-Seller will entertain offers between $599,000.00 and $629,000.00
                                                     SOLD $550,000

-Range Price. Seller to entertain offers from $745K-$765K
                                                     SOLD $680,000

-Range Pricing $695,900-$720,000
               SOLD $680,000

-SELLER WILL ACCEPT OR COUNTER OFFERS BETWEEN
$750,000 - $799,000    SOLD $725,000

A few years ago, at the height of the real estate boom,
I represented the buyer of a house here in the Tucson Foothills that was range priced from $799,000 to $849,000.
We ended up getting it without too much trouble, for $750,000.
Since then I've always taken range pricing with a big grain of salt. You should too.

see TheFoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

Comments

[John Schneider]

given the evidence, it seems that range pricing is a bluff that's getting called.
if at all, range pricing 'might' be more appropriate during a HOT sellers market. in that situation a seller could leverage their position and perhaps stimulate higher offers.

[Kelley Koehler]

Hi John - range pricing has never been a big favorite of mine. I always say we'll comp a home and offer accordingly, regardless of range. I wrote a post on the topic back in August, and it doesn't really appear to be a selling tactic with a huge impact.

[rebecca]

ah, interesting post. thanks, john. i've been curious about the range pricing and noticed, as you point out, houses selling for quite a bit less than the range so it seemed stupid to me.