The Danger of Pricing Your Home Right

Sellers BEWARE! Price your home right and it will sell!

A properly priced home is key to getting buyers to view the home and result in an offer to purchase. Price your home right and an offer may happen sooner than you expected. Does that mean the home was priced too low? Absolutely not! The idea is to target buyers at the right price point with value that triggers showings and offers. The idea is to sell the home quickly for the highest and best price.

Pricing is the MOST important decision when putting your home on the market. It is a frequently debated topic. Many factors go into pricing a home. The “fair market value” of any home is not a number that the real estate agent or owner determines. BUYERS decide what fair market value is. The price that a buyer is willing to pay is the magic number. Other factors enter in to the mix with appraisal and assessed value, but those are not the determining factor of what a home is worth to a buyer.

Consider sellers that purchased their home twenty years ago and what it would be worth today. The home is actually fifty years old. Three different owners purchased, renovated and lived in this home over time. Each home owner put money into the home for maintenance, renovations and repairs.  The current owners are getting ready to list and sell their home as they want to move to another part of the county. They have added a pool, new carpet, purchased new tile for the baths, and replaced an old air conditioning system. They put in some wonderful upgrades to keep the home pristine as did the previous owners. When they add up all the numbers of what they paid and what the cost to live there they came up with a number way over what the true value of this home will be. Why? The home value is now going to be based on age, condition and location. It is not based on cost to repair and maintain a home. Not all upgrades give a great return on investment either. Many unique quirky features give very little value to a new buyer.

When selling your home the goal is always to sell for the most money in the least amount of time. Pricing a home properly and still getting the highest price can seem like a major challenge. It takes an understanding of the current market in your neighborhood. The idea that your home may not be “seen” by the buyers, or an appraiser the same way you would like, is a hard thing to grasp.

If you are looking for a better understanding of what your home is worth and how to get the best price I’d be happy to help. The real estate market is a moving target. The numbers that were accurate last summer may have changed for the better or dropped a few thousand dollars. Knowledge is power and staying current with all sales in the area helps. It doesn’t matter what your neighbor listed his home for, it matters what a buyer purchased it for. While all the information is available to the public, it is not as easy to find quickly. Let me discuss the details with you. It is what I do for my clients every day.

I look forward to speaking with you soon. Let’s talk more about the local real estate market.

Need a comparative market analysis of your home? I can provide a free report for you, just ask.

The Danger of Pricing Your Home Right