As we approach the spring, many homeowners who want to sell in the next few months begin to get everything ready. The ones who succeed in selling for the best price they can achieve, do a number of things right. We have covered some of them in previous blog posts. They include, for example:
Bring your home’s condition up to a level that makes it easy for a buyer to see it as ‘move-in-ready’
‘Stage’ everything, so your home looks as attractive as possible when potential buyers look at it, and
Price it right.
In this article we will look at ways to price a property well. There are, basically, three ways to price a home properly:
Have a licensed appraiser prepare a comprehensive appraisal
Do the research yourself
Ask a licensed real estate agent to prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for you
If you do not do this work accurately and in enough detail you risk over-pricing or under-pricing your property. Over-price it and it probably won’t sell because people who view it will end up buying a similar one that was less money. If you do get it under contract and the new buyer applies for a mortgage, if the lender’s appraiser does not approve the agreed price, the loan will not go through. Under-price it and you will probably lose money.
It really helps to be experienced in pricing properties if you want to do it well. Here are some points to either help you set about the task yourself, or to use as a basis for asking a professional how they would price your home. You want to know things like:
The asking price of homes like yours that are currently on the market, are under contract, as well as the selling price of sold homes. The term ‘homes like yours’ includes – similar location, size, age, floor-plan, condition, and features (type of roof, are marble counter tops worth more or just more sought after in today’s market than another material? What about hardwood floors compared to carpet, etc)
How long have the ‘For Sale’ properties been on the market, and how long were the others on the market before going under contract
How much have their prices changed – if at all – while they’ve been for sale
This information enables you to do several important things:-
Compare your home with others currently on the market. These are your competition for the same buyers. How well do you want to compete?
How do those prices compare with those under contract? This can tell you where to position your home on the price ladder
How do the sold price and asking price compare for those which have gone to completion? This tells you a lot about seller versus buyer attitude
How much did owners change their prices before those properties went under contract?
When you have this sort of detail you can refine your thinking and position your home so it sells in your preferred timescale, and you walk away with the most proceeds the market will allow.
When you do put your home under contract, there is a lot of work to do before you hand over the keys and walk away with your proceeds. A lot of this work is where we come in. As professional and experienced title and escrow agents Liberty Land Transfer, Inc will handle that part of the project. You are bound to have questions about title insurance and what we do to assure a smooth completion. Please feel free to contact us with your questions, and to raise your title order once you do have your home under contract