Let's remember the buyer's frame of mind in setting the list price for your home. Most buyer's conduct on-line searches and use these to determine which homes they actually want to go and view. If you set the price too high, buyers won't pick your home for viewing, even if it is much nicer than other homes in your area. If you price your home too low, you'll short change yourself. We want to help you get every penny that you deserve, and sell your home quickly.
- If you set the price too high, your
house won’t be picked for viewing, even though it may be much nicer than others in
the area. You may have told your REALTOR® to "Bring me any offer. Frankly, I’d take less." But in that list of houses, yours simply looks too expensive to be considered.
- If you price too low, you'll short-change yourself.
Your house will sell promptly, yes, but before it has
time to find the buyer who would have paid more.
NOTE: Never say "asking" price, which implies you don't expect to get it.
We offer many professional services to help you determine the proper list price:
- Furnishing comparable sales.
- Analyzing market conditions.
- Helping to determine offering incentives.
- Estimating your net proceeds.
Using Comparable Sales
The best tool in determining a list price for your home is a record of what the buying public has been willing to pay for similar properties in your area. Together, we can analyze the "comps" and come up with a suggested listing price. A "Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)" is made up of the list of comparables we bring to you, as well as other homes presently on the market in your area. We will also bring you a list of homes that failed to sell in the past few months and their list prices.
Also we can furnish data on sale figures for those
"comps", and analyze them for a suggested listing price. The decision about how
much to ask, though, is always yours. The list of comparable sales we bring to you, along
with data about other houses in your neighborhood presently on the market, is used for a "Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)." To help in
estimating a possible sale price for your house, the analysis will also include data on
nearby houses that failed to sell in the past few months, along with their list prices.
This CMA and a formal appraisal are different in several ways. The one major difference is that the appraisal will be based only on past sales and costs a fee. The CMA is provided by us and may include properties currently on the market as well as those pending sale. Usually a CMA is enough in setting a proper price. An appraisal can be used if you have a unique property, or if there hasn't been much activity in your area. Appraisals can also be used if there is a disagreement between co-owners about price, or any other circumstances that makes it difficult for you to put a price on your home.
In the normal home sale, a CMA is probably enough to let you set a proper price. A formal written appraisal
(which may cost a few hundred dollars) can be useful if you have unique property, if there
hasn't been much activity in your area recently, if co-owners disagree about price, and
any other circumstance that makes it difficult to put a value on your home.
NOTE: If you do order a market value appraisal, make it clear you don't need an elaborate, or full narrative report--the kind that's complete with photos of the house and neighborhood. A map specifying the site, and floor plans is sufficient.
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