10 TIPS ON PRICING YOUR HOME TO SELL

One of the most difficult parts of selling a home is determining a selling point. If it’s too high, buyers won’t even take a look. But if it’s too low, you lose money.

Pricing a home is a balancing act at every stage of the game, and knowing what to expect can help. Let’s look at a few of the most helpful tips for accurately pricing your home.

STUDY THE MARKET

While it’s very personal in nature, selling your home is essentially a business transaction. It’s probably the most valuable asset in your portfolio and is looked at as an investment rather than just a place you live. With that in mind, it’s important that you study the Colorado Springs real estate market and do your research before pricing your home.

Just as you would never take an industry test or exam without first studying what’s likely to be on it, it’s never advisable to price your home on your own without an extensive understanding of how the market’s moving and what’s happening. And because each individual market can differ so drastically, the more you focus on your local area, the better off you’ll be.

When studying the market, look at your potential competition. Will you be competing with newer homes? Does your home have advantages over other houses currently for sale? It’s also important to look at mortgage rates and local lenders’ willingness to shell out money. All of these issues and many more can play into how you price your home.

CONSIDER COMPARABLES

Have any comparable homes recently sold in your neighborhood? What about down the street? You should keep track of which homes in your area are selling and how they compare to yours. Things to consider include size, amenities, upkeep, and location. Thankfully, you don’t have to track comparables by yourself though. The final pricing tip will explain more on comparables and how you can gain access to insight-rich data before selling your home.

CONSIDER AN APPRAISAL

For a very small fee – usually only a few hundred dollars – you can obtain an official appraisal of your home’s value. Simply contact a qualified appraiser and ask for a market-value appraisal. You will receive a detailed valuation of your home, what its worth in the current market, and how that translates into the dollar value of your home. While an appraisal will not include all the important data like up-to-date market information, currently available listings and homes under contract, it can be a good starting point for determining the price range when listing your home.

TALK WITH LENDERS

In many cases, local lenders can provide you with some information that can be helpful on how to price your home. While they aren’t experts at pricing, they deal with home values on a daily basis. They are often a good resource for learning what price range is the most active in the local market, what the most used loan programs are and what the typical closing costs are in your price range. They cannot give you direct advice, but providing the information listed above can be extremely helpful when determining what price to list your home at.

BE PRECISE AND ACCURATE

Being accurate with your initial listing price is extremely important. By going too low, you risk leaving money on the table. By going too high, you may scare people away. In fact, studies suggest that homes priced more than three percent above their correct price take weeks longer to sell. That’s a pricey mistake that can be avoided with proper preparation. Be as precise as possible and understand that overshooting an accurate number can turn people off.

UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’LL TAKE

Before pricing your home, it’s critical that you determine an actual figure you’re willing to take. This is the lowest price you would accept if someone wrote you a check today. While you don’t want to list your home at this price, it’s a helpful gauge for where you need to start. In most markets, the eventual selling price is reached after some degree of a cat and mouse game. Starting well above this figure – but within an accurate range – will ensure your offers don’t end up below this threshold.

PUT YOURSELF IN YOUR BUYER’S SHOES

In any business transaction, it’s helpful to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Once you’ve developed what you perceive to be an accurate price, think about it from the buyer’s point of view.

What other comparable properties could he or she get at that price, and what would they consider a good deal? By running through this simulation, you may realize you’re too emotionally attached and your price is a byproduct of your lack of objectivity. When pricing a house that you call home this is a pretty common occurrence.

START LOOKING AROUND YOURSELF

One of the best ways to start thinking like a buyer is to begin your home search. While you may not want to make any deals before receiving an offer on your current home, searching for Colorado Springs homes for sale can at least provide some insight on how buyer’s see the current market.

BEING PATIENT AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR GOALS

One of the simplest yet most effective tips is to remain patient. If you’ve developed a fair price for your home in the market you are in, don’t rush things. If your situation or goals allow this then you can put your home on the market and entertain offers without compromising. If a certain amount of time passes without any bites, reassess the price and adjust it appropriately.

On the other hand, if your situation or goals require that you sell your home yesterday, you will want to consider pricing your home more aggressively to generate more traffic and ideally create a buyer bidding war to move the selling price back up.

USE A LOCAL REALTOR®

When attempting to accurately price your home for a quick sale at top dollar, a local agent is your best friend. Not only are experienced Local Realtors® knowledgeable about the current market conditions in the area, the information and data they have access to, known as the MLS, goes well beyond what any individual or national Home Value Estimate site has access to. This would include all comparable homes information, the average price per square foot, days on market, square footage, pricing history, condition and more. A Realtors® access to all of this real estate data and their ability to interpret that data, best ensures you are not leaving money on the table or pricing yourself out of the market.

Keep in mind when working with a qualified local Realtor®, they can handle all of the items listed above and guide you through the decisions you need to make in order to properly price and sell your home.

ASHFORD REALTY GROUP

At Ashford Realty group, we specialize in selling homes in Colorado Springs and surrounding areas, as well as providing access to all Colorado Springs homes for sale. If you are interested in learning the value of your home or selling your home, Contact Us Today!

Curious to know the value of your home right now? Use our Free Property Evaluation Tool.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us today with any of your Real Estate questions or needs! We would be happy to help in any way we can!