Pricing Your Home Right

A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is the tool I use to figure out the value of your property. Performing a CMA, I consider
▪ Location and characteristics of your property, including size, floor plan, improvements and condition.
▪ Improvements which you can and are willing to make to increase the value or appeal of the property.
▪ Similar properties in your area that are under contract or have sold recently as well as properties in your area that are currently on the market.

My goal is to determine a price that will easily attract a suitable buyer in a reasonable amount of time. My goal is not to make your feel great about the home you are selling by giving you a false sense of what it is worth or encouraging you to have unrealistic expectations. Ultimately you want to sell the home, not watch it languish on the market.

Once we have arrived at a range of values for your home, you can decide on an offering price based on your goals. Do you want to sell your home quickly? Or are you comfortable waiting months if necessary.

It is important to price your house right from the beginning to achieve maximum price in the shortest amount of time on the market. Remember that what you paid for the house or the profit your desire is not a factor: The market is what determines price. All in all, setting a fair price is the best marketing strategy.

Pricing Your Rental or Investment Property for Sale

is a specialized process which involves analyzing that property as a business utilizing figures relating to the gross rental income and operating expenses to establish the net operating income, and then extrapolate a market value for the property. This approach is combined with more traditional market analyses to determine the best price at which to offer your investment property for sale.

What will happen if you overprice your home?

You will lose the excitement that a new listing generates. Most activity on a listing comes within the first 30 days on the market. An initial high price can discourage buyers, causing you to miss out on pent up demand.

You will lose the most qualified prospects. Buyers are not likely just “make an offer” on your home, because it is probable they will never even see your property: they will tour properties listed within their price range instead.

You will help the competition instead of yourself by demonstrating to potential buyers the good value of other properties.

Your home may become “stale”: the longer a home is on the market, the more people wonder why. There is a tendency to presume that there is something “wrong” with the home even after you lower the price.

If you do get an offer at the higher price, the deal may fall through at appraisal. A lender will not give your buyer their mortgage if they feel the home is overpriced and they cannot justify the loan to value ratio.

All these factors combine to increase your frustration and to ultimately undermine your negotiating position!