PRICING YOUR HOME

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Pricing Your Home is Part Science and Part Skill

In order to sell your home for the best possible price, there are several factors to consider:

Autumn Leaves

Time of Year

In our area, the Spring is usually the hottest market to sell a home. It’s warming up, school is almost out, and families prefer to move in the summer before the new school year. The second-best season is the Fall. Summer vacations are over, families are back in a routine, and folks have the time to put into the home buying journey. Summer can also be a pretty good time to market a home in our area. There may be a different type of buyer in the Summer months, those singles or families without the concern for school years. The winter months are usually considered a Buyer’s Market because those that are selling during the holidays are generally highly motivated by life events to sell.

Supply

It’s simple supply and demand. If you have more buyers than homes for sale, then houses will get multiple offers and higher sales prices than if there are lots of homes for sale and fewer buyers. Even if inventory is low in the area, some neighborhoods may have a lot of competition to sell, making it harder for you to get the price you want. The more desirable of a neighborhood and lower inventory, the higher home values rise.

Seller’s market

In a seller’s market, you may get a little more than a comparable sale, since inventory is limited and buyers are competing for fewer homes. In this market environment, it’s not uncommon to get multiple offers and offers over asking.

Neutral market

A neutral real estate market, means just that… there’s a balance of homes on the market to the number of buyers making offers. In this market, it’s imperative to keep an eye on the comparable homes sold, that the appraiser will use to compare your home to recent sales and make sure your pricing is in line.

Buyer’s market

In a buyer’s market, where there are a lot of homes competing for the buyers, you may want to strategically price your home according to the competition in your area.

Getting ready to get into the real-estate market?

Consult with an expert, local real estate agent to ensure your house is priced competitively and well-staged. Why? Because while there are always three factors to getting a home sold—location, price, and condition—only two are under your control: price and condition. Of the two, which is more significant? Price. Remember that price will correct bad condition, but condition will never overcome a bad price.

Your Agent will provide you with a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). This report can be the most important tool in determining the listing price. Review the CMA carefully with your Agent so you understand the current. Studying the past sales will not only help you understand the pricing strategy but give you a realistic expectation as to how much your home might appraise for when you go under contract. Remember, the listing price of a similar home is your competition, not a comparable for value. Active listings have not sold.

The CMA reports usually contain:

  • Active listings for your area with a similar home; age of construction, number of beds, baths, and square footage.
  • Sold listings are homes sold within the last three months, plus pending sales that are likely to close by the time your home is sold.
  • Off-Market or expired listings. These are properties that were taken off the market for any reason.
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