Many factors will determine your home’s best asking price. Our current real estate market has a lot to do with it. Using sound judgment, research, and experience, a good agent can help you determine the right price for your home. They will help you evaluate your location, the recent sold data, current market trends, and your home’s special features that set it apart from the competition.
Statistics show that the best opportunity to sell your home is often within the first few weeks of putting it on the market. This can be good news, or bad, depending on your motivation. Some homes sell right away, while others sit on the market for months without a single offer. To sell your home quickly for top dollar in today’s market, the best move you can make is to price the property at its current market value. When you set the right price on your home, you have an edge on your competition.
To maximize your selling opportunity, it is important that your home be priced right. What is the right price? Here’s how setting the right price helps you:
You tap the pent-up demand of buyers who have already seen everything on the market and are waiting for new home listings.
You target the right group of prospects — the ones who can afford your home and are looking at similar properties.
Your home will compare favorably with other homes potential buyers see because yours will look better than overpriced homes in your category.
Perils Of Overpricing
“What’s wrong with pricing my home a little high?”
Overpricing your home gives the advantage to your competition — the other homes on the market.
Prospective buyers who do see your home realize they can get a better deal elsewhere. If it’s your home they want, they may choose to wait until you lower the price.
Price your home too high and most buyers won’t even bother looking at it. As the house sits on the market, people will shy away from it thinking there must be something wrong with the home. And if you do reduce the price, other potential buyers wonder why the home has been on the market so long.
The right price is determined by the size, condition and location of your home, what comparable homes are selling for at the time you list yours, and the balance of supply and demand in your area.
Strategic Pricing
Setting the best price to list your home is part science, part art. There are several aspects of the home’s value we consider when making pricing recommendations.
1. Comparison. Where does your home fit in the marketplace? It should be priced to be competitive with comparable homes in the same area.
2. Negotiation. The price should allow some space to make concessions in order to close the deal.
3. Return. The listing price should be set so you net the most money possible from the sale.
4. Target. Ideally, the price is adjusted to the top of a multiple listing category, so the home’s features compare favorably with lower-priced homes in the range. (If it is placed at the bottom of the next higher price grouping, the higher-priced homes will look better and sell more quickly.)
Other Factors
Should I under-price my home?
Price it too low and you could lose thousands of dollars. There are times when you will attract multiple bidders making multiple offers, but this is only recommended when you need a faster-than-average sale.
Unfortunately, what you paid for your home is not a factor in determining its market value. Neither is what you would like to get out of the home. Some home improvements you’ve made may add to the market value, however. Having the home in picture-perfect condition from the first day of the listing may also increase the value of your home. But mostly, these will help you sell faster, and that could mean a sale price close to your asking price.
In most circumstances, pricing your home correctly from the very beginning will net you the best results in both time and money. To find out your home’s perfect selling price, contact me for a no obligation market analysis. We will take the guesswork out the entire process and suggest an accurate market price for your home. Melissa Conrad, Realtor, 772-240-2589.
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