There are many factors that go into accurately pricing a home for sale. The overall value of your home will fall within a range. Then, the buyer and the seller will negotiate a price that is within that range, and the final agreed on price is the exact value of the home.
Pricing your home competitively from the beginning is essential to how long your home stays on the market. Unfortunately, the longer a home stays on the market, the less it will ultimately sell for.
In fact, it has been statistically proven that if a house doesn’t sell within the first two months on the market – it will sell for up to 5% less than listing.
This is important information because the more competitively your home is priced when it is listed, the better chance it has to sell before the two month mark.
Be mindful of these various circumstances when it comes time to price your home for sale:
Try Not To Cause Friction With Your Listing Agent
An experienced and well-trained real estate agent will be able to use their breadth of knowledge and years of experience to formulate a fair and competitive price for your home.
Things like current market conditions, comparables in or around your neighborhood, and how popular your style of home is are all factors that are considered when a real estate prices your home for sale.
If you have done your homework and you are working with a trusted and respected real estate agent – you should never assume that he or she is undervaluing your home if their number is less that what you thought.
Consider What Type Of Impression Your Home Makes
Statistically, you will get the most interest about your home within the first few weeks of listing it. For this reason, it is important to make your home as attractive to new home buyers as possible.
Talk with your agent and discuss what he or she recommends for making a great first impression. The listing price is going to be the first thing that your home is judged by. So, it is important that the aesthetics of the home support the amount that you are asking.
You want potential buyers to feel that there is a lot of value in your home: the location, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the condition of the carpet and paint, etc. Anything that you can do to improve those things is going to support the price that you are asking.
Keep Your Mind Open To A Price Reduction
If your home is not priced competitively when it is initially listed, you run the risk of it becoming stale on the market.
This happens when a home has been listed for at least two months, though, depending on how fast the market is moving, two months might be a lifetime for one listing.
If this happens to your home, you do have the option of submitting a price reduction. Talk with your agent about how much the price reduction should be, based on all of the elements that should go into the initial pricing.
Also, the length of time that the listing has been on the market must be taken into consideration when giving the price reduction a number. If the seller is unable to sell their open after a price reduction – it may take several months before there is any interest in the property again.
The Market Can Change At Anytime
Another reason to price your home competitively is to respect how quickly the market can change. If your home is under or overpriced when it is initially listed, it could sit for several months.
During that time, the market could change, leaving your home even less desirable. It is very important that you work with a qualified and experienced real estate agent when you list your home, to ensure that the property is priced competitively and has the absolute best chance for being sold.