Love Selling Your Home – Week 4

This is the fourth article in my series called, Love Selling Your Home: Minimize Your Stress, Maximize Your Profit. This series takes you through the entire home-selling process — from choosing the right agent (it’s not always me) to settlement day. 

If your home is on the market for than one week, it’s losing value every day.

It’s so important to price your home correctly when it first goes on the market so that it sells for the very most possible.

That means not pricing it too low, but also not pricing it too high (buyers will cross it off their list).  Even when inventory is low and buyers are eager to view any listing that comes up, you don’t want to make any mistakes with your initial pricing.  

Here are my 10 best tips to make sure you price your home perfectly. 

1. Look at recent comparables or “comps.” It’s a given to look at these but  how you interpret this information is what matters most.
2. Know what a comparable for your home actually is.  It’s a home that is similar in size, layout, location, and condition and sold within the last six months. 
3. Pay attention to homes that have actually sold as well as what is currently on the market—your competition. 
4. Don’t just look at the asking price, but also the net price.  Did it go up or down from the asking price?  Did the seller pay closing costs?  
5. How is the comparable home different than yours when you take out size, location, and condition?  Did it have a better or worse view; a better or worse street; a better or worse yard?  Be honest about the differences and how they would impact the price of your home. 
6. Only look at the most recent homes sold.  Appraisers look as far back as 6 months to arrive at a value, so you should look at homes that have sold within the last six months as well.  And, the more recent the better, especially if the market is rapidly changing. 
7. What you paid for your home a few years ago or what you could have gotten at one time is not relevant when pricing your home to sell today. Don’t ever get stuck with this thinking at all!
8. You can’t count on getting every dollar you’ve spent on your home throughout the years.  Unfortunately, sometimes what we like, not everyone likes. Every homeowner hopes any upgrades are solid investments with a good return. It’s time for some honest evaluation and understanding of how well your home shows to today’s buyers (not those from three or five years ago).
9. What’s the inventory now or in the next few months? If there is less inventory and more buyer demand, then you may be able to set your home’s price a bit higher. But remember to tread carefully here so you still attract buyers to view your home. That way, they are the ones who could push the price up due to multiple offers. 
10. Try to avoid putting your home on the market during a holiday weekend and/or the holiday season at the end of the year.  Homes always sell for less during these times. Don’t aim for Memorial Day weekend, but the weekend or two before it!

Pricing a home is both an art and a science.  There are many more factors that go into pricing that I’m happy to share with you!