Almost every day it seems that someone asks me for my opinion about the market and whether they should sell their home right now.
First let me say that although we keep hearing stories about how bad the market is most of those reports are based on national statistics. Our local statistics, although not as good as they used to be, are still relatively stronger than the rest of the country. With that said, we do need to be a bit more diligent and aggressive in our approach to selling our homes. Pricing is probably the single most important factor when it comes to selling your home. You could be in the best location and have the home in the best condition but if you don't price it right, you won't sell it. Conversely, if it's in a bad location and in bad condition, pricing is crucial as well.
So, how do you find the right price? The first step as your Realtor®, is to provide you with a report called a CMA or Comparable Market Analysis. Normally you would analyze the previous six months but I recommend paying close attention to the most recent couple of months of homes that have sold AND the ones that are still on the market (these are your competition). The CMA will explain things like what price the homes started at, how many days they remained on the market, average price/Sq. Ft., and the final sold price. The software used to create the CMA will generate a price range for you to use as a guide when pricing your home. Here is where it can get tricky. It is natural to want to lean towards the highest price in the range but that is not necessarily what will sell your home. Setting the price too high in the beginning can be a costly mistake as you watch your home sit on the market and you keep paying the costly mortgage payments that don't even lower your principal balance while other homes are being sold. If you've had your home on the market and it hasn't sold, it may be time to get an updated CMA and reposition it for the best opportunity now. Don't let yourself fall into the category of what I term as "seller denial" where you are convinced that if you wait long enough an offer will come at the price you're hoping for. Take a close look at the facts that the CMA gives you including the number of homes currently on the market that are comparable to yours and how many sold last month. If there are 40 for sale and only 2 sold then you will have to take action to be one of the next 2 that will sell next month. How are you going to do that?.... stay tuned to my next blog when I talk more about price, condition and preparing your home for sale.
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