The art and science of PRICE (How does your home size up?)
One of the first and most important steps a seller must take before putting your home on the market is setting the listing price – or how much your home is worth.
Price too high and you might scare away eager buyers.
Price too low and you might have trouble negotiating a reasonable offer down the road –
Especially in a market where buyers feel they have the upper-hand and more sellers are bringing additional concessions to the table.
Many times your REALTOR® will walk you through this process with a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA). A CMA is the report
real estate agents use when they conduct an in-depth analysis of a home's worth in today's market. In nearly all cases your
REALTOR® is a trustworthy source to lean on when determining your homes’ value. At the same time, smart homeowners
should know just how REALTORS® come to their conclusions. Here’s a glance at what you should be looking at when setting
your initial listing price.
Comparable Listings and Sales
- Look at homes that were or are listed over the past six months and are within a ¼ mile to a ½ mile of your neighborhood.
- Compare square footage, number of rooms, size of the lot, and age of the home if possible.
- Watch for neighborhood divides. For instance, don’t pull homes from areas that
- might be considered the ‘wrong side of the track.’ That could drastically and incorrectly reduce the value of your home.
Sold Comps
- Compare original list price to final sales price to determine if any price reductions were applied.
- Compare final sales price to actual sold price to determine ratios.
Withdrawn & Expired Listings
- Pay attention to why these homes were taken off the market and learn from the seller’s mistakes. Take action to prevent your home from falling into this category.
- Check out the brokerage that listed the home. Do they normally sell everything and are having trouble with this one? Or is the brokerage skimping on marketing for the home?
Pending Sales
- Pay close attention to any price reductions and make note of how often they happen.
- Days on market could have a direct effect on your homes’ listing-to-sold time. This ratio will also allow you to set reasonable goals and expectations for your home with your REALTOR®.
Active Listings
- Many of these homes are your competition and it’s important to keep an eye on what they are doing.
- Tour these homes. What makes them appealing? What doesn’t? Try to recreate the feeling or learn from their mistakes in your home.
- Depending on the market’s current conditions you may need to price differently. For instance, in a buyers market you might set your listing price near comparable value with the knowledge that you might have to settle for less.
- The reality is, your REALTOR® is the expert on pricing homes in your neighborhood. After all, it is their job. Talk to your REALTOR® and ask for a free CMA on your home.
Have a great day!
Sylvia Howard
602-432-9246
http://www.facebook.com/SylviaHowardAZRealtor
http://sylviahoward.wordpress.com/
Keller Williams Integrity First Realty
Short Sale? Foreclosure? Know your options!
In light of what is going on in our economy and in the local housing market and with so many people facing foreclosure or finding themselves upside down in their mortgages, I 've taken extra training to help homeowners in distress. Please let me know if you or someone you know may need my assistance!
No comments:
Post a Comment