I know home sellers want to sell their home quickly and for the highest possible price. The KEY is the asking price. Here are 8 tips to price your home right in 2014!
1) Consider the Comps. ”Comps” are comparable homes in your neighborhood that were for sale, recently sold or are currently for sale. Comps are the most important factor in pricing your home.
2) Don’t “Sell your Listing” to the Realtor with the highest price. HUGE MISTAKE! A Realtor who proposes a pie-in-the-sky asking price might be trying to flatter you to win your business, only to push hard for a price reduction as soon as the ink is dry on the listing contract. This tactic, known in the realty business as “buying the listing,” is a dangerous trap for sellers.
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Don’t talk yourself into liking the Realtor who came in with the highest estimate. Go back to the Realtor you trust is most knowledgeable about the market conditions.
3) Check out your Competition. We do this every time The Ayers Team lists a property for sale. For many home sellers, this is their first time doing so. Visiting currently for-sale comps can help you compare them to your home.
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4) Rule out Square Footage. It’s OK to consider price per square foot “as a general statement,” but this calculation shouldn’t be a primary factor because location, condition, and upgrades will make it difficult to compare two homes on solely this basis.
5) Disregard irrelevancies. Sellers commonly use these reasons to justify and inflated asking price.
- Price you paid for your house isn’t relevant
- The amount you want to net from the deal isn’t relevant
- The price your house might have fetched five or six years ago isn’t relevant
- The amount you’ve spent on repairs, maintenance and improvements isn’t relevant
The value of a major renovation might be relevant if it was a substantial upgrade. A new toilet doesn’t count. These items are a hard pill to swallow for home sellers. Contact Rich Ayers for more info on this topic.
6) No matter what, don’t OVERPRICE! You do want to sell your home, right? Sellers who push well beyond the likely sale price will end up not selling their home. Period. I see it everyday. Home sellers ask me for my professional opinion and feel like they need to do the opposite!! I am here to help, so please let me do that! We always promise to tell you the truth!
7) Don’t UNDERPRICE either! The Ayers Team will help you set a price that will sell your home quickly. If we notice the showings aren’t happening, it is priced too high. One reason a home seller might not reduce the price is that they are trying to avoid selling as a “short sale”. If that is the case, one has to ride the coattails of the market until the value catches up with the price desired.
8) Pick a Number, Any Number! The Ayers Team tends to start with “range pricing” to narrow down to a true asking price. Once the owner sets the final price, we like to change up the amount so it doesn’t end with “000″ or “999″. It makes the listing “pop” just a little bit and sometime draws a question which means we captured a new lead and that is what we want!! House pricing is a little art and a little science!
When you are ready to sell your home, call Rich Ayers at The Ayers Team. My cell is 630-430-5927. You can also Contact Rich Ayers via www.AyersTeam.com.
Rich Ayers is a licensed Real Estate Managing Broker in Illinois and lead real estate contributor for The Oswego Patch. He also writes a monthly real estate column for Inside Oswego magazine. Rich was selected as Oswego’s Favorite Realtor by the readers of Glancer Magazine! Ayers Realty Group has EXPERIENCED Brokers who specialize in Residential and Investment real estate in Naperville, Oswego, Plainfield and the surrounding suburbs of Chicago. Visit our website at www.AyersTeam.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Trulia, or Zillow.
