The Best Price for your Home
The hardest part of putting a home up for sale may just be determining the right price for it. A lot of people want to sell their properties for a price similar to what they paid for it, or maybe they want something that balances out their mortgage. However, the reality of the situation is much different. The price for your home is not determined by you, but by the market. Before even putting up a listing for your home and thinking about viewings and buyers, it’s important to do your research and see what the market has to say.
Information is the key here and that’s why employing a good estate agent becomes very important. An agent with the right amount of experience knows the market, and can point you in the right direction when it comes to pricing your home, particularly if they have sold comparable properties to yours in the past. Don’t be afraid to look around yourself, go and look for houses similar to yours and see what the asking price is, that way you can get a little bit of extra insight that you can use to compliment the information given to you by your agent.
How much do you know about your neighbourhood? If there are positive developments occurring on the area, such as a shopping centre or new companies moving into the area, then the price of your home may be on the rise. The same applies to negative developments. If shops are closing down and everybody is moving out, then this is has to reflect on the price of your home and could lead to selling the property for a lower price that you expected. Being aware of your surroundings is crucial in order to determine the price of a house, so keep an eye for everything going on in your neighbourhood.
You can also learn a lot from comparable properties that have recently been taken off the market because they didn’t sell. Most of the time pricing was the reason the properties didn’t change hands. If your home is priced similarly to these houses, then bringing the price down is most likely a great business move.
It is a common myth in the real estate business that you should always price your house higher than it should be. A higher price tag will often result in a long period of negotiation and bartering and could delay or cause the sale of the house to fall through. Buyers are looking for properties with price tag perceived to be fair. Plus, if a buyer likes the price of a house, negotiations will happen faster and this will help expedite the deal.
Does the house need any repairs? Ideally you’d take care of all the home improvement before putting the house on the market. But, if that’s not the case then it’s important to take into account any maintenance the house may require when pricing it. A house that’s overpriced and is also a “fixer upper” is going to have a hard time selling in any market.
Talk to your estate agent and determine the best price for your property. A house that’s properly priced benefits both buyer and seller and results in faster and better sales.
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