The BIGGEST Mistake a Seller Can Make

Ok, you've decided that it's time to sell your home.  And you know how much it's worth.  You've even sifted through the hundreds of Realtors available to you and narrowed it down to three that you will interview for the job of selling your home.  It's easy to get caught up on deciding the sale price of your home.  Obviously, walking away with more money is the ideal solution.  Maybe you'll be able to buy a bigger, better home next time.  Or maybe you'll finally get to take that European cruise you've been thinking about.

The truth is it doesn't matter how much money you think your home is worth.  Nor does it matter how much money your agent thinks it's worth, or the ten other agents competing for your business.  The person whose opinion does matter, is the buyer purchasing the home.  Correctly pricing a home for sale is part art, and part science.  It involves comparing similar properties, making adjustments and deciding an estimated appraisal value for the differences between them, understanding and tracking market trends and taking stock of present inventory, all in attempt to come up with a range of value and form an educated opinion.  This method is similar to what an appraiser does but when a Realtor performs this task, it's called a Comparative Market Analysis.  No two appraisals or market analyses should ever be the same, but they should be relatively close.  It's wrong to try to slap a fast price tag on your home.  It's only an educated guess but the market will truly dictate the worth of your home.

There is little danger in underpricing a home.  If a home is priced too low, then the seller should receive multiple offers, which will drive the price of the home up, almost like a bidding war.  The danger lies in overpricing your home and selecting your agent on opinion of value.  What I mean by that is, would you rather someone present a price to you based on facts and statistics, or because they are agreeing with everything you say and have suggested the highest sales price of all the other Realtors?  

Pricing a home correctly from the beginning can save the homeowner thousands of dollars, months- possibly years- of time and stress.  Think about the homes you've seen that have just sat on the market for sale.  That homeowner is in a constant state of stress, maintaining their home for any possible showings, they've had to pay the mortgage payment and all the utilities while it's been listed, and they're stuck.  They can't move on.  Whether they've decided to sell their home because of relocation, they're trying to buy a bigger house, or maybe they need to unload the debt.  They can't because their home hasn't sold.  It becomes a stale, dated, market-worn listing that everyone bases their homes and listings from.  Another agent will list a home right down the street from the one that has been sitting for four months and price it less- only to be competitive and properly service her clients.  The market-worn listing will eventually expire, and the homeowner has to start the entire process over again.

Don't be that seller of an expired listing.  Price your home correctly and competitively from the beginning and work with a Realtor that brings you information based on facts and statistics.  You're hiring this individual to perform a very expensive task for you.  Be sure they know what they're doing!

Call me today for all of your real estate needs!  I'd love to get to work for you!  And if you have a friend or family member interested in buying or selling a home, I would love to talk with them!