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An Important Consideration In Pricing Your Home For Sale

By
Real Estate Agent with Premier One Properties 7471

 

When offering your home for sale there are a number of concerns to be addressed.  Topping the list is your motivation-what is driving your desire to sell? You're one step closer to planting the for sale sign in front of the house and moving forward with efforts to entice would-be home seekers.  Before that happens determining your asking price is the next order of business and the asking price hinges on your motivation as well.  How best do you make that determination?

The process by which you determine the  value of your home begins by researching your geographical neighborhood for recent past sales of homes similar to yours, which ideally should be no more than six months old.  It's easy to see that the house down the block just sold and "they said they got what they wanted so, mine must be worth...".  Part of the research process involves interviewing at least one of the relevant parties to the transaction.   There are often circumstances that play into why a home sold for the price it did and often explains the motivation of the buyer and/or seller, which may be the home characteristics, features or unknown improvements and included items such as furnishings or personal property that might've been included but not disclosed.  If your real estate professional is truly on the job he/she has looked into these "conditions of sale".  Often times there's a good reason for why the neighbor's house sold for X and it's important to know the answer or you may be well out of the park on your home value.

As you and your real estate professional review the "comparables" and "competing" homes in determining your value, it's important to look at the "days on market" of the comparable and competing properties as well as when the last price adjustment occurred relative to the sale date of the "comparable homes.  Basing your offering price by comparing it to homes currently on the market seems reasonable as you consider how your house is "measures up" to current offerings.  Just how long have they been on the market is important to know. 

Your  home in any economic climate can sell in ninety days , the key is pricing.  And it's not just a matter of giving it away!  Determining your home value is crucial and that value can be higher or lower than the competition depending on curb appeal, quality of construction, interior staging as well as location to name a few obvious characteristics.  Evaluating the days on market of the comparables will take you a long way toward placing the proper price on your home.   You can choose not to delve deeply into the selling information and watch your home sit on the market, or you can do a bit more homework and very likely be the next home SOLD!  Strategic pricing is critical in any market and very certainly in the current market.

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Allen 2222
Austin, TX

Hi Steve - you've explained this very well, in accessible language. I wish this weren't such a mystery to so many - gotta know what's out there to know what to do to get a house sold!

May 11, 2011 07:07 PM
Jon Solomon
Owners' Ace - Tampa, FL
Owners' Ace | The Homebuilder Guru

Great point.  It's critical to have a pricing plan or strategy in place and key to that is knowing how long you want to have the home on market as you make decisions on price changes.

May 11, 2011 11:00 PM
Steve Schwind
Premier One Properties - Wenatchee, WA
Steve Schwind

thanks for your positive comments.  I've found those in my local MLS are quick to accept listings at the seller's preferred price for fear of losing it to another agent.  I"ve come to find sellers who are willing to give you the time to really help them understand tha market are very appreciative of the effort to help them "understand".  Thanks again.

May 12, 2011 03:23 AM