At best YOU can only guess what your home is worth. If you guess too high, you will discourage many astute prospective buyers who will consider the property to be over price. If you greatly reduce the price, buyers may wonder what is wrong. On the other hand, if you guess too low, you will sacrifice money you should have had. And a “bargain” price may even seem suspicious to cautious prospects. It is a delicate balancing act to select a listing price that is both fair, but does not elongate precious time on the market.
Value is not absolute. It is based on availability, usefulness, desirability, and need. Modern, clean, well maintained homes with efficient use of space and attractive street-faces will sell for higher prices than properties in similar locations that have none of these features.
Homeowners often confuse cost with value. Buyers are not interested in what you, the seller, have spent on your home…buyers look for value to them. Several factors should not influence your asking price:
- Your Cost. Suppose you had received the home as a gift, without your personal monetary investment.
- Must you then give it away?
- Your Investment in Improvements. You put in a purple kitchen because you enjoyed it, but you aren’t likely to find anyone who feels your home is worth $15,000 more because of it. They may, instead,be calculating the cost of taking it out and replacing it with something in turquoise.
- Assessed Value. This figure is set by the taxing authorities…but even in areas where a sincere attempt is made to keep it at market value, it is almost never a dependable guide to what buyers will pay.
- Your Needs. You may require $50,000 net to use for the down payment of your next home, but that is not the Buyer’s concern, nor does it affect the actual value of the physical property.
- Emotion. Watch out that you do not ask too much for the place because your daughter took her first steps in the living room, or you love the flavor of the oranges on the orange tree. On the other hand, do not let stress, or the need to settle an estate quickly, lead you to under price the home.
According the Real Estate Encyclopedia, market value is: “the highest price, in terms of money, that the property will bring to a willing seller if exposed for sale in the open market…allowing a reasonable time to find a willing buyer…and with neither buyer or seller acting under necessity, compulsion nor peculiar and special circumstances.”
When a property is listed at a price which reflects fair market value, the greatest number of buyers will see value in the property within a reasonable time. You need an expert evaluation of all the market conditions; in other words, you need a Professional Market Analysis. Beware of “front-porch” value estimates that are simply computer selected properties…
LOOK FOR A REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL WHO HAS THE DEPTH OF
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN YOUR AREA, WHO KNOWS
HOW TO INTERPRET THIS DATA AND HELP YOU UNDERSTAND
THE BEST LISTING STRATEGY FOR SUCCESSFULLY SELLING YOUR HOME.
