If you’re putting your home on the market, especially if you live in an area where prices are increasing and buyers are competing for homes, you may be tempted to try listing at a high price just to see if you can get it. Don’t do it.
Experienced brokers will tell you that pricing your home appropriately from the beginning is critical to getting it sold quickly and at the best price. Research shows that overpricing your home and then dropping the price several times while it sits on the market usually leads to selling it at a much lower price than what you originally should have asked for it. The longer a home stays on the market, the deeper the discount is likely to be off the original list price. Homes that lingered on the market for four months sold for an average of 9 percent below their original starting price.
Many homeowners want to set their list price based on what they paid for their home, the balance of their mortgage or on the profit they want to make so they can move into another home. In reality, your home is worth only what the market will bear. If you price your home too high, some potential buyers won’t want to look at it at all, while others will simply walk away without making an offer.
If you’re interviewing several brokers to choose a listing broker, you may be tempted to pick the sales professional who suggests the highest price for your property. But sellers, like buyers, need to beware. The broker who provides the best comparative market analysis and explanation of how your home should be priced will be more likely to sell your home quicker and for a higher price than someone who tells you only what you want to hear.
A comparative market analysis should include sales prices for similar nearby homes that sold in the last month or two. In addition, Seattle Area Real Estate Team brokers include prices for homes currently on the market that will be your competition, as well as homes taken off the market because they didn’t sell. Other data Seattle Area Real Estate Team brokers will use to suggest a price range include how many days homes were on the market at various price points and the average difference between the list prices and sale prices on homes that have sold.
Your Seattle Area Real Estate Team broker can help you estimate who might want to buy your home and what else those buyers are looking at so you can measure your price against the competition.
A knowledgeable Seattle Area Real Estate Team broker can factor in all of these issues in the context of your local market conditions, including whether home prices are rising or falling and whether it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market.
Choose the right professional to help you with your home sale and then listen to your broker’s advice and your transaction is more likely to go through quickly and smoothly from the beginning.
The Seattle area has had so many changes in the market over recent years that getting an idea of the value of your property can be a challenge. There are value estimates available for properties readily available online now. Consumer websites like Zillow, Trulia and Redfin offer these estimates as do many real estate brokerage sites. They compare sales data and property tax assessment values to create an estimate of what your home is worth. They’re also very inaccurate.
Online valuations are nice to receive and can be informative, but they’re nowhere near a real price evaluation. A computer algorithm will never be able to see and take into account updates or lack thereof, property condition, repairs needed, neighborhood makeup or other elements that can only be seen in person. Your Seattle Area Real Estate Team broker will work to find the best and most accurate comparable sales and competition in your neighborhood, examine their condition, location, similarities, and differences together.
When you review the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), you’ll see how homes similar to yours are being perceived by buyers in the current market, because what they actually are willing to pay is what the true market value of your home is. With this knowledge, you and your real estate Seattle Area Real Estate Team broker will arrive at a recommended price for your home that makes it attractive to buyers.
Most homes that are priced accurately and attractively continue to sell quickly. Homes that are overpriced will sit on the market, and over time as the days on market increase buyer perception of the property will degrade and become a concern. In a market where savvy buyers are taking into account all elements about a home and only going after those whose pricing is sensible and accurate means that overpricing a home can be a huge mistake.