Selling your Home - setting a price

Use our Home Evaluation form to find out what your home is worth.

How much is my home worth and what price should I sell it for?

This question has many answers. The following are some suggestions that will help you make an informed decision. Every home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it and how much a lender is willing to loan on the property.

Because it is your home and you have put so much love and care into it, most homeowners are biased to it's value. We hope this information will help you when you and your REALTOR® set the price on your home.

The first 30 days of marketing are very critical. You have all the buyers who have been waiting for their perfect home to come on the market and the buyer who is new to the market. After the first 30 days, you have lost the largest portion of the market. Now we only have the future buyers that are coming into the market place.
Your real estate agent should provide you with a CMA. The Comparable Market Analysis will give you the history of what the homes in your area have sold for in the past 6 months to one year. This information is critical in making an informed decision. The CMA will provide data about the price of homes in your area have been listed for and the price they sold for. It will also disclose how many days the homes were on the market, the style, square footage, how many homes did not sell during the listing period and other important data. This data will show all the styles of homes that have sold in your subdivision. To be more detailed, it will be broken down to the style of your home.
Why is the CMA a critical part to listing your home? When you receive a purchase offer on your home and it has been accepted by both parties, the buyer's lender will send an appraiser to look at the property. The appraiser will give the mortgage company his or her opinion of the value of the home. The appraiser will arrive at a value based on the data the other homes in the area have sold for within the past year. The mortgage company will use this information to determine how much money they will loan on the home. The mortgage company must make sure that their investment in the property is solid, should the buyer go into foreclosure.
Most homeowners ask if they should list the home at a higher price, so that they have room to negotiate. You may actually lose several potential buyers. Most buyers want to stay within a certain price range or the amount they qualify for a mortgage. If your home is higher than the average for the neighborhood, that buyer will never view your home, because it is out of their price range, even though you would have taken less than the list price. If your home is listed according to the data, you should not have to take less than list price. Most buyers obtain a CMA from their REALTOR® also. They know if the home is listed at a fair market price. If the buyer has viewed several homes in the area, they know if they are getting a home that is worth the list price, compared to the other homes they have seen. Pricing your home higher than the market will only deter the buyer. Most buyers are going to make an offer on the home that will give them the best value for their dollar. If you are out of the price range for the area, other agents probably will not show your home because they know it is over priced. Of course any buyer can offer less or make a ridiculous offer, but you should be able to stand firm on your price if the home was priced based on comparables and the condition.
Condition is a large factor in determining your list price. Ask yourself the following questions. Have any of the major mechanics (if your home is 15 years or older, furnace, central air, roof, electric, windows, etc.) been updated or replaced? Has the carpet, paint, decor been updated in the past 5 years? Are the walls, woodwork and general condition of the home good? Are the colors throughout the home neutral? Will the colors match almost anyone's furnishings? Has there been regular maintenance to your home such as the gutters being maintained and cleaned, has the furnace and central air been serviced and inspected over the years, etc.? Does the home have good curb appeal? What items would you look for if you were purchasing your home? Every home has it's advantages and disadvantages, no home is perfect. But, the more you were able to answer yes to the aforesaid questions, the more reasons your home should be priced at the higher end of the comparable. There is normally three price ranges in the comparable.
Why you are selling is another important factor. The reason will have some bearing on the price you determine and how fast you want to sell your home. How much will the home you wish to purchase increase during the time your home is on the market? The time of the year you are selling in will have some bearing. What are the interest rates and the average time on the market in your area? All of these questions and many others will have a large influence on your list price.
What if you have a lot of showings and have not received even a low offer? Most sellers feel that someone can always offer less if they like the home. This is not always true. If the buyers are previewing several homes in the same price range, they are going to place an offer on the home that gives them the most for their dollar. Just as you would, if you were searching for your dream home. Normally, if you have a lot of showings and no offer, it is because your home is over priced for the location and or the condition of the property.
These are several reasons why pricing your home right, in the beginning is so important. Why go through the inconvenience of getting your home ready for a showing and leave your home, only to reduce the price of the home in the future? If you price your home according to the comparable, selling your home for the most money and in the least amount of time is very favorable. Buyers want to know how long the property has been for sale. If the home has been on the market for a long time they wonder if there is something wrong with the house. Remember when you purchase your next home it will be of no concern to you as to what amount of money the seller needs to receive from the sale of the home. You will only consider what the home is worth to you and what the comparables suggest it is worth.

Hopefully these tips have helped you make an informed decision. I do not want you to take less than your home is worth. I want you to be satisfied that the price you receive for your home is fair market value and that you feel your home is worth the list price. As your real estate agent I am responsible to give you the facts and represent your best interest. By providing you with a CMA, you can use these facts to determine the price you want from your home. Please call me with any questions you may have. There are no minor questions when you are making one of the most important financial decision in your life.

Prudential Platinum Realty is located at 121 Commerce Park Drive Westerville, Ohio 43082
(614) 794-1000 | 1-800-689-4777 | Contact

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