List Your Charlotte Home to Sell...Not Sit! Pricing it Right!
So you've decided to list your Charlotte home for sale! In my overview last week, I discussed the factors all sellers must consider to get their homes SOLD! Although the process may seem daunting, by following the steps outlined in this blog series entitled "List Your Charlotte Home to Sell...Not SIT!" you can increase your chances of selling your home in this competitive Charlotte real estate market and hopefully maximize your net proceeds.
Today's blog post addresses the single most important decision you will make in selling your home - pricing it RIGHT! No amount of marketing or staging will sell an overpriced house, and today's savvy buyers and their buyer agents are WELL AWARE of your competition and recent sales. The damage created by overpricing your home can't be overstated - you will miss your likely buyer, stay on the market longer, and most importantly, ultimately sell your house for LESS MONEY!
Here's what typically happens...your Realtor presents a comparative market analysis (CMA) showing what your home is worth in today's real estate market. You balk, and say "Well, I put in granite counters and remodeled my bathroom - surely that's worth more than my neighbor's home." Or you say "But can't we just try for more? If we don't list it higher, the buyer will just negotiate us down." Or my personal favorite "Well, I'm just not going to GIVE MY HOUSE AWAY!"
Trust me...I don't want to give your house away, either! I work VERY hard on my CMAs, and I'm pretty confident that my market range is spot on. I am mindful that not only do we need to attract a qualified buyer, but your home must also APPRAISE for the contract price for the deal to go through.
Here's the deal. You NEED to sell your house. If you succumb to temptation to price your house HIGHER than market value, you just may miss the buyer who wants to buy your house. Buyers search in price ranges. If your realtor says your house is worth $290,000 and you decide to list at $339,000, you will MISS all the buyers looking in the $250,000 - $300,000 price range. If you are lucky enough to get a showing, your buyer prospect may be disappointed that this home isn't truly comparable to others he/she has seen in the upper price range. No offer, no sale.
If you overprice your Charlotte home for sale, you will very likely be on the market longer. You may get a few showings, but you may also just be helping to sell your neighbor's house which is priced at market value. The longer your house sits on the market, the more your buyers will start to question "WHY?" "Is there something wrong with this house?"
And finally, and most importantly, you run a serious risk of netting less money in your home sale if you overprice your house. As the graph below illustrates, you DO NOT want to chase the real estate market! Don't start out too high hoping that some uninformed buyer will make a high offer (even if he/she did, the home wouldn't appraise). Sellers who say they can "Just drop the price later" run the risk of chasing the market...lowering the price in increments that never equate with market value, and therefore never attract an offer.
The goal is to sell your Charlotte home, right? NOT SIT on the market for 9 months and longer! If you want to sell your Charlotte home, price it right from the beginning. You will sell faster, and most likely net more from your sale. Isn't that the goal? Plus, the silver lining is that you will be making up for your loss in the next home you buy, which is also suffering from a declining market.
So what do you think? Are you ready to list your Charlotte Home to SELL? If so, give me a call for a market analysis. It's better to know the truth of your home's worth, right? Check out my website for helpful seller tips! I offer a 21-point marketing plan with proven strategies to get your Charlotte home sold!
This blog is the second in a series entitled List your Charlotte Home to Sell...Not Sit! Here is a link to the previous two posts is the series:
List Your Charlotte Home to Sell...Not Sit (Overview)
Next post in the series: "List your Home to Sell...Not Sit! Getting your Home Ready for the Market!
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