Choosing A List Price For Your Home
June 18th, 2009 categories: Seller Resource
“We plan to list our home with you, and given the current market, we are curious how you will price our home. We want to have an idea of how much cash we will have at closing, so we have an idea of what we will be able to purchase. Can you give us some guidance on how you plan to price our home?”
When choosing a list price for your home, we suggest pricing FAIRLY. If the comparable sales are showing similar properties are selling for $300,000, there is little reason to price at $350,000. Our suggestion is to price your home fairly; If a lower offer comes in then counter the offer to a price that is fair. This may be hard for some, as it takes emotion out of the decision, however Business decisions should be based on facts, not emotion.
When we sit down to discuss listing your home, we will cover comparable sale, competition, pricing, expected costs, home staging, helpful tips, and expected Net Proceeds (”Net Sheet”) you will have at closing.
Some people may suggest pricing high and planning to negotiate, however this rarely works well in our experience. If you price your property too high, your property may sit on the market and become stale. When Realtors and buyers see a property that has not sold and is just sitting there, they think it is overpriced…once this thought has set in, and as Days On Market grow, studies have shown people ALWAYS consider it overpriced…this is just human nature according to the studies. So even if you drop your price to match market value, the property is still viewed as overpriced and unsellable. This is a huge risk…one that in our opinion is too big to take.
Pricing your home is extremely important. This is precisely why it is best to use the services of Sonoma County Real Estate Professional.
So what can you do to help your cause? There are ways to make your home stand out from the rest. Choosing the services of a home stager can really help. A Staging professional will come into your home, and optimize the room presentations, declutter your home, and if your home is not furnished can provide furnishings to show what your home can look like furnished. This is important to many potential buyers, as they can then see your house as a home…one they would ultimately like to live in. This is the first step in their decision to write an offer. This is why staging your home is so important.
Visit us at WineCountryMoves.com to learn more about pricing your home correctly.
