Pricing the Home
To get your home sold as quickly as possible while still getting what it is worth out of the sale, it is important for you to price your home properly. If you price it at below market value, you will not get an offer that is fair to you. On the other hand, if you ask too much, your house will sit on the market for a very long time and will become increasingly more difficult to sell. Fortunately, there are many resources available to help you with pricing your home.
Checking Out the Local Market
The first step in pricing your home is to check out the local market. One quick and easy way to do this is to simply look at the homes in your neighborhood and see how much people are asking for those homes. Another option is to check with your local tax assessor or use a tax assessor website to learn the value of the homes in your area. Many tax assessor sites have free tools that allow you to research neighboring sales. There are also several websites available to help with assessing the value of your home. Some of these include:
- Zillow http://www.zillow.com
- Electronic Appraiser http://www.electronicappraiser.com
- Realtor.com http://www.realtor.com
- Trulia http://www.trulia.com
As you compare your home to other homes in the area, be sure to consider which features in your home are similar to those found in homes that have recently sold in your area. This will help you better determine the value of your home while also helping you determine a competitive price. Although many factors are assessed when comparing one home to another, location is typically the most important. The closer a recently sold home is to yours, the better it can be used as a gauge to determine the value of your home. When it comes time for buyers to get a mortgage, their lender also looks at recent sales near to your home. Other factors to consider include square footage, lot size, age of the home and any upgrades or special features that make your home stand out from other homes in the area.
Setting the Price
Once you have a general idea of the value of your home, set your asking price 5 to 10 percent higher than the market price. This will allow you to have some negotiation room without setting the price so high that it is outside of its ballpark value. Another trick is to set the price so that it is slightly below a round number. In other words, rather than asking for a flat $250,000, set the price at $249,900. Although the actual difference between these two prices is minimal, the psychological impact of setting this lower price can be huge when it comes to attracting potential buyers.
Getting the Best Price Possible
If you are not in a hurry to sell, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to get the best price possible. First of all, you need to consider the current market. Timing is everything in the real estate market. Therefore, you are more likely to sell your home at a higher price when the market is up. In other words, if the housing inventory is low and the demand is high, you can set a higher price. If inventory is high and demand is low, however, you are less likely to get a high offer. Of course, if you are not in a hurry to sell your home, you have the option to sit and wait for the price you want.
Watch the Market
Most real estate markets are in a constant state of change. Monitoring your neighborhood with some of the free tools mentioned above will help you adjust your price accordingly.