You've Decided to Sell Your Home - Smooth Sailing or Choppy Seas? #3 & Final.
Earlier posts in this short series have addressed seller mistakes. Physical characteristics of the property, agent selection, seller wanting to help too much, seller attitude, seller preparation and home availability for showings have caused homes to languish on the market, the sale at below market values or even no sale at all according to an ActiveRain survey of thousands of agents. But the.....
BIGGEST SELLER MISTAKE OF ALL IS.....
OVERPRICING YOUR HOME!
So many things come into play when the seller sets the asking price of their home:
They have often lived there for some time and have taken good care of the home. They have experienced many happy times, raised a family, put in upgrades and spent money on repairs. The emotional over-valuation of this home is tremendous. Nothing will cause them to give the home away at anywhere near the low price that their neighbors sold for..... even though their home was a model match.
A home that has been Upgraded to the MAX may satisfy the the homeowners desires for comfort, convenience and beauty, but when the owner becomes a seller, all of those Over-improvements likely won't translate to a higher selling price. Many wonderful features just do not return value on their investment. Read "A Man's Home Is His Castle.... Unless it becomes his Ball and Chain.
Some sellers simply want to test the market to see if they CAN get a higher price. They fail to understand that a great majority of the activity on their home happens within the first week or ten days. If the home is overpriced at that time, knowledgeable buyers will look other places. You only have one opportunity to make a first impression.
The seller has the final word on pricing, but a good Realtor will present him/her with an estimate of the Market Value of their home based on what buyers have paid recently for properties that are very much like the seller's home (comparibles) and in the same area as the seller's home. If you know what buyers are willing to pay for comparable properties in your area, you know what your home is worth. Today's savvy buyers won't pay more for your house if they can get basically the same thing down the street for less.
Pricing can get more complex if you have a "one-of-a-kind" home or are trying to sell in a time of either rapidly rising or falling market values. In all cases, I believe that you will be very well advised to seek the help of a real estate professional.
The survey mentioned earlier is well explained in the following infographic...
Data provided by ActiveRain.com. ActiveRain is an online community of real estate professionals who exchange best practices, write real estate blogs, and get free education from the industry and their peers.
There is nothing really easy about selling your home, but there are tried and true ways to make it happen..... Call me, Brad Rachielles at 909-816-7333, or e-mail me at BradRachielles@dslextreme.com with any questions or to start the ball rolling on the sale of your Inland Empire Home.
You've Decided to Sell Your Home - Smooth Sailing or Choppy Seas? Let's choose Smooth Sailing!
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