Pricing Your Home in This Market

The two biggest factors that determine whether a home sells or not in this market are Pricing and Motivation. Never has the professional experience and knowledge of the agent you choose to represent you been more important in getting your home sold. They are the ones that will not only give you the right advice and guidance in accurate pricing, but also give you honest feedback as to whether your motivation - your reason to sell now - is authentic enough to put your home on the market now or just wait.
 
This is a buyer's market which means the buyer is looking for "a good deal". In the last market, emotion played a huge part in whether a buyer would submit an offer on a home. In this market, they also need to be assured that they are making a sound financial decision. Are you the seller, looking for the maximum price now or the maximum price possible? In this market they are the same, meaning the maximum price and minimum time are the same strategy, but getting the maximum price now doesn't mean getting the maximum price possible. In a seller's market with prices going up, one can price their home at the maximum price possible since a rising market can sometimes forgive an overprice on a highly desirable property. That strategy is a huge mistake in this market.
 
Given the amount of choices a buyer has and the belief that home values still have a way to settle before the bottom is reached, it is imperative that you stand out as a home with better value than the other choices that are available. We understand that buyers are placing themselves in the future and sellers are placing themselves in the past when it comes to pricing. It is important to price your home ahead of the market. When everything is priced the same the buyers become uncertain about value, but when they find a comparable home priced ahead of everyone else, they will jump on it. The overpriced homes help the well priced ones to sell and sellers need to understand that a home has the most value when it first hits the marked. After viewing a home that a buyer sees has value, the first question is "How long has this home been on the market?" If it has been on for a while then buyers will either make a low offer or just wait for a price reduction. Buyers see everything that comes up, either because of their agent or on line and they have a sense of what's fair value and what's not, and if they don't sense value in your home they just won't show up. When you sell and put on the buyer's hat, you will be doing the same.
 
Time is not your friend when it comes to selling. Yes you can wait until prices come back to where they were two years ago but it could be a long wait of several years. We do see a leveling off in the coming months of Marin prices unless the banks unload a ton of foreclosures as many have predicted, but even then, it is going to be a long climb back up and as that happens, you can bet on an increase in interest rates. A 2 to 5% interest jump can mean a huge difference in payments, especially if one is in the home for many years.
 
So what's the bottom line? If you have any need, either personal or financial, to move out of your home, don't wait. Call a professional Marin Realtor who is going to help you make the right decisions regarding pricing and getting the home ready to maximize that price. He is going to walk you through "value pricing" the home whereby you make the market instead of chase it.