PRICING YOUR HOME TO SELL
PRICING YOUR HOME TO SELL IS PART SCIENCE AND PART SKILL
To sell your home for the best possible price, there are several factors to consider:
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
Pricing your home to sell is simply 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 much competition to sell, making it harder for you to get the price you want. The more desirable a neighborhood is and the lower the inventory, the higher the home values will rise.
READY TO PUT YOUR HOUSE ON THE MARKET?
When pricing your home to sell, consult an expert or local real estate agent to ensure your house is priced competitively and well-staged. While there are always three factors to getting a home sold—location, price, and condition—only two are under your control: price and condition. Which of the two is more significant? Price. Remember that price will correct bad condition, but condition will never overcome a bad price.
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I will provide you with a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). This report can be the most critical tool in determining the listing price. Review the CMA carefully so you understand the current market. Studying past sales will help you understand the pricing strategy and give you a realistic expectation of how much your home might appraise when you go under contract. Remember, when pricing your home to sell, the listing price of a similar home is your competition, not a comparable for value. Active listings have not sold.
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The CMA reports usually contain:
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Active listings for your area with a similar home; age of construction, number of beds, baths, and square footage.
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Sold listings are homes sold within the last three months, plus pending sales likely to close by the time your home is sold.
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Off-market or expired listings. These are properties that were taken off the market for any reason.