Thinking about listing your home for sale? Today’s buyers will appreciate more inventory and your home is likely to sell shortly after hitting the market. While it’s easier to get top-dollar for your home in today’s market, setting an appropriate listing price still matters. Below are some tips on how to price your home to sell in any type of market!
The housing market is always changing and it’s important to focus on three things when determining the price to list your home. Please take a SEC (yes, an acronym: Statistics, Environment, and Condition) and consider a few things!
1. Statistics
99.9% of all real estate professionals will check past sales when determining a listing price for a home.
In a fast-paced market, past sales alone won’t cut it, as the data that is available today is most likely from negotiations and deals that were put together over 30 days ago. In addition, your broker will need to look into comparable properties that have recently gone pending and dig a little for info. Fellow listing brokers will usually provide the details on what they went under contract for, how many offers they received, etc. This helps to further refine a listing price.
Lastly, you need to keep an eye on your competition and their pricing. When potential buyers are touring homes they are searching in their desired neighborhood, price range, and home specs (bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, etc.). If your home is priced too high, it may take longer to sell.
2. Environment
Have you ever seen a listing online and said “WOW, I need to go see this home — I think it’s the one!” Then, you arrive and find out there is a 12-story building blocking the view that they conveniently “shot” around during the marketing process. Environmental factors need to be factored into your list price. Buyers are usually making the most expensive purchase of their life and they are going to notice and analyze everything. Just because you don’t mind the 12-story building, buyers may see it as a negative if your competition doesn’t have the same issue. Some other examples of environmental issues are:
- Busy streets
- Interstate noise
- Distressed neighboring property
- Loud neighboring commercial property
- No street parking
Most homes have something environmental that could affect the final sales price.
3. Condition
The condition of your home will have a huge impact on list price. If you are considering making updates or repairs before you list, consult with your real estate broker for sound advice. By taking needed repairs and updates into consideration, you will have already addressed items buyers will most likely push back on. Pricing your home accurately based on its current condition will be apparent when buyers search online. There are a ton of buyers out there that are looking for homes that aren’t updated and are willing to pay a fair market price for them.
In Conclusion
You only have one opportunity to make a good first “pricing” impression on the market! There are a million articles on overpricing and how it’s a bad strategy. Taking a SEC to come up with a solid list price will ultimately net you more at the closing table!
