Pricing for Success in the Sale of Your Home
Pricing for Success in the Sale of Your Home
It is axiomatic that the higher the price when you go to sell your home, the longer the sale will take. Despite this common knowledge, the mistake made most frequently by people who want to sell their home is aiming for too high a price. This can be really problematic if you have fallen in love with a new home you have found, since you will unavoidably feel mounting pressure to get on with life and get into your new dream home. Even without that, it’s no fun to watch the weeks turn into months with nothing happening, sitting by the phone in a too-quiet house.
Being Competitive Begins With Using the Best Available Information
If you want a quick sale, you have to price your home just below other similar homes in your area. Coming up with a competitive market analysis, which involves a bit of experience in addition to just looking at what other homes are for sale nearby, is something best accomplished by a Realtor if you are working with one on the sale. A good Realtor understands the overall market and can help you set an achievable price point that can be to your best advantage to get the sale made.
Quick Deal Versus (Maybe) More Money
If you are buying an item for your home, you would not likely spend too much time in deciding between an item you could get nearby and one that might cost less but you were required to spend a lot of time and energy researching, locating and hauling and making arrangements to obtain. Your time has a value as does the money you spend on your house while it is being sold. Taking these factors into account puts the subject into a different light. Another disadvantage, if you are in a period of slow turnover and lackluster sales (buyer’s market), is that dropping your price after a time of inactivity tells buyers that you might be in a vulnerable position. They may well respond too eagerly to any sign that you are in an unfavorable position, exercising their advantage against your increasing anxiety to sell.
Go with the Flow of the Market
If it happens that after looking at the case for not going for the maximum price you still have that goal in mind, you will probably just have to be willing to wait until you can get that best price; in other words, give due credence to market conditions. Now might not be the time to be out there, so you may have to yield on the idea of selling with speedy efficiency — but still, when the market makes a move you may need to act on short notice. The latter situation could be especially hard to deal with; although you may have options available such as staying with family or friends a time if you have to sell your home before you get another, more likely you would have to move into a short-term rental situation which could compromise the cash you might have made with your careful timing. This is not the usual situation but if it does you may be successful in getting the buyers to stay where they are longer. In most cases, though, once they know their mortgage is approved they will want to close within a week or two.
About That Repair Work…
It is also too easy to conveniently forget actual differences when you are deciding on a price for your home and you see other homes selling at what seems to be good prices. If you have not maintained your home in top condition, you will not be able to sell it at the same favorable price as the other homes even if they are similar. If this happens you may be able to price it to sell quickly by offsetting the price of any repairs that will be left to the new homeowner. This would result in a lower selling price but a lower level of bother and expense for you — meaning you trade time and effort for money (Nothing new about that deal; we have to make those judgments all the time.) Again, what is your effort and involvement worth? Serious repairs such as sagging beams, roofing problems, and malfunctioning heating and cooling units may not be eligible for this kind of treatment, although you can get away with it for things that only affect appearance. Jobs such as putting in fresh plants, replacing old gutters or shutters, and a new paint job can sometimes be overlooked as long as the buyers understand they will be taking on some physical work in exchange for the price break they’re getting. In fact, some people like the idea of buying a home that needs work because they can make it their own. Anything you can do to get through with the sale in the quickest time is your best way to go.
This article was presented by Automated Homefinder, the Longmont real estate specialists of Colorado.
Tags: Automated Homefinder, Colorado real estate, competitive market analysis, dream home, Financing, Home Pricing, Home Seller Info, InvestingRelated posts
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