The Strategic Importance of Setting the Right Price
A serious error made by many home sellers is demanding too high a price. The higher your price, the longer it will take for you to sell. Even if you need the cash out of your home to buy a new one, it may be the best plan to set the price for a faster sale in order to get a buyer quickly, particularly if you already have your heart set on another place to live.
Use an Analytical Approach
The key to a quick sale is to price your home just a little less than similar homes in your neighborhood. Getting a market analysis, which involves a bit of experience in addition to just looking at what else is for sale in the area, is something best done by the Realtor. Your Realtor knows the market and can help you set a realistic price that will be to your advantage to get the sale made.
Quick Deal Versus (Maybe...) More Money
You have to start off with the understanding that the best selling price is not the highest price you can get from your home, but the highest price that you can reasonably get in the shortest amount of time. Your time is a valuable asset, and that applies as well to the time it takes to find the perfect buyer, or rather having the right buyer find your gem of a home. If you look at it with this in mind, you can start to see it from a different perspective. A further disadvantage, if you are in a slow market, is that if you have to drop your price after a time of inactivity it communicates the idea to buyers that you might be getting desperate or at least anxious; they may well respond too well to any signs that you are in an unfavorable position.
The Market Guides the Timing -- Work With It
Market conditions may not only set the price you can get for your home as outlined above, but when the sale can best be undertaken as well. It might not be the right time for you to go on the market for that top dollar price, but still, when the situation changes you may have to go quickly. You might have to be willing to wait, or go in on a shift in conditions and sell more quickly, depending on the market environment and momentum. The latter situation could be especially hard to deal with; though you may have options available such as staying with family or friends for a while if you have to sell your home before you find another one, it is more likely you would have to find a short-term rental situation which could whittle away at the cash you might have made with your careful timing. This does not work out often but if it happens you might be successful in getting the buyers to stay where they are longer. Most of the time, though, as soon as they know their mortgage has been approved they will be anxious to close within a week or two.
Home Condition Affects Not Only the Price but Also the Speed of Sale
Another thing some sellers don't consider when setting their price is whether their home is in the same condition as other homes that were sold for an attractive price. It's tempting for potential sellers to see a house selling for an attractive price on their block and think that theirs should go for the same amount, overlooking important features or obviously necessary repairs that would make the two homes two entirely different deals. You can, however, price it to sell even if it is not in prime condition by lowering your price to cover the repairs the new owner will have to do. You must realize, however, that this option only pertains to repairs of a cosmetic nature. Normally things like heaters and air conditioners must be fixed before the deal closes. Projects such as renewing landscaping, replacing old gutters and shutters, and fresh new paint can possibly be overlooked as long as it is apparent to the buyers they will be putting in some physical labor in exchange for the price break they're getting. Whatever you have to do to make the sale in the quickest reasonable time, looking at it objectively, will work out in your favor.
Be especially aware of this if your home is not clearly the most attractive of all the homes around. There are people who like to buy a home they need to fix so they can tailor it to their needs, and if your home is in need of any work at all then having too high a price will be especially deadly. Even if yours is the best, overly high expectations have a way of hurting when you fail to sell. From the beginning, your best bet is to price it smart.
This article was furnished by Automated Homefinder, your Denver real estate experts in Colorado.
54-624 Oak Tree
La Quinta, CA 92253
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Email: info@laquintarealestate.com
