The most important factor that needs to be taken into consideration while selling a home is probably the price tag that you set for your home. You need to set a price that reflects the real value of the home. You might consider overpricing the home, but this is unlikely to attract top dollars, as the home is most likely to lose its appeal after the first two to three weeks of showings. On the other hand, under-pricing might not pose a major problem, as homes priced below market value often receive multiple offers, which then drive up the prices. You need to understand that pricing is all about demand and supply. For determining the existing market value of your home, you need to look at prices of other similar homes in the neighborhood that have been listed over the past six months. Prices of only those homes are to be considered that are within half a mile of your home and no further, unless you live in an area that has very few homes. You need to understand that although homes located in your neighborhood may be similar, their prices may vary depending on their exact location across major streets, freeways or railroads. Make sure that comparison is done with homes having similar square footage. Only those homes need to be considered that were constructed more or less at the same time when your home was build. For more information, you can look at past listings and compare the original list price with the final sales price in order to get an idea about average price reductions. Add the value of extra amenities or upgrades that your house offers to the average price for determining the gross market value of your home. While going through past listings, try to ascertain the reasons as to why some homes did not sell; whether it was due to the discount brokerage firm, the dilapidated condition of the house, the location or any other reason. Compare listing date with the date when a particular home was actually sold for determining the average number of days it takes to sell a home. You can tour some of the homes in your neighborhood that are currently listed and note down the things you like or dislike about them. Things that you like about these homes can be recreated in your own house for attracting the right kind of buyers who will be willing to pay top dollars. Always remember that other homes that are currently listed are competing with your home and you need to adjust your price accordingly. After collecting and analyzing home listing data, you need to adjust the gross value of your house according to existing real estate market scenario. For example, in a buyers' market, if the gross value of your home is around 150,000 dollars based on prices of other similar homes in the neighborhood, you can quote your price somewhere around 145,000 dollars. On the other hand, in a sellers market, the same home can be priced anywhere between 150,000 to 165,000 dollars. In a balanced market, you can set your price somewhere around the price of the last comparable sale after making adjustments for current market trends. For example, if the last comparable sale happened two months ago and prices have edged upwards at the rate of one percent per month since then, quoting a price of $153,000 would make sense. |
