If you’re planning on selling a house, you’ll have to decide what price you’re going to ask for the home. This is one of the most important and difficult decisions you’ll have to make. Buyers select by comparison shopping, so your home will have to have a fair market price in order for it to sell.

Setting the list price for your home, you should be aware of a buyer’s frame of mind. Based on a list of houses for sale in your neighborhood (which can be in the form of a printed list from me, or online search results that you’ve found yourself), buyers will determine which houses they want to view.

Consider the following pricing factors:

  • If you set the price too high, your house won’t be picked for viewing, even though it may be much nicer than others in the area. You may have told your REALTOR® to “Bring me any offer. Frankly, I’d take less.” But in that list of houses, yours simply looks too expensive to be considered.
  • If you price too low, you’ll short-change yourself. Your house will sell promptly, yes, but before it has time to find the buyer who would have paid more.

Some of the things to consider when choosing your home price are:

  • What is the age and condition of your home?
  • Does it need updating?
  • What have similar homes in your area sold for?
  • Have homes in your area been increasing or decreasing in value?
  • Are there a lot of homes for sale in your area?

To determine the proper list price, I can provide you with the following professional services:

  • Furnishing comparable sales.
  • Analyzing market conditions.
  • Helping to determine offering incentives.
  • Estimating your net proceeds.

Using Comparable Sales

No matter how attractive and polished your house, buyers will be comparing its price with everything else on the market. Your best guide is a record of what the buying public has been willing to pay in the past few months for property in your neighborhood like yours

I can furnish data on sale figures for those “comps”, and analyze them for a suggested listing price. The decision about how much to ask, though, is always yours. The list of comparable sales I bring to you, along with data about other houses in your neighborhood presently on the market, is used for a “Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).” To help in estimating a possible sale price for your house, the analysis will also include data on nearby houses that failed to sell in the past few months, along with their list prices.

This CMA differs from a formal appraisal in several ways. One major difference is that an appraisal will be based only on past sales. In addition, an appraisal is done for a fee while the CMA is provided by me and may include properties currently listed for sale and those currently pending sale.

In the normal home sale, a CMA is probably enough to let you set a proper price. A formal written appraisal (which may cost a few hundred dollars) can be useful if you have unique property, if there hasn’t been much activity in your area recently, if co-owners disagree about price, and any other circumstance that makes it difficult to put a value on your home.

Remember, your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. By working with a qualified real estate professional, you can ensure that your property will receive the needed exposure to attract interested parties who are willing to make an offer. For FREE help and guidance in selling your home, call Marchel Peterson directly at 832-721-8332.