PRICING: Beat Your Competition To The Contract To sell your home quickly for top dollar in today’s market, the best move you can make is to price the property at its current market value. When you set the right price on your home, you have an edge on your competition. Here’s how setting the right price helps you: You tap the pent-up demand of buyers who have already seen everything on the market and are waiting for new home listings. You target the right group of prospects -- the ones who can afford your home and are looking at similar properties. Your home will compare favorably with other homes potential buyers see because yours will look better than overpriced homes in your category.

Perils Of Overpricing

Overpricing your home gives the advantage to your competition -- the other homes on the market. The buyers you want to attract won’t see your home because they are only looking at homes listed in their price range.

Prospective buyers who do see your home realize they can get a better deal elsewhere. If it’s your home they want, they may choose to wait until you lower the price. And if you do reduce the price, other potential buyers wonder why the home has been on the market so long.

The right price is determined by the size, condition and location of your home, what comparable homes are selling for at the time you list yours, and the balance of supply and demand in your area.

Strategic Pricing

Setting the best price to list your home is part science, part art. There are several aspects of the home’s value we consider when making pricing recommendations.

1. Comparison. Where does your home fit in the marketplace? It should be priced to be competitive with comparable homes in the same area.

2. Negotiation. The price should allow some space to make concessions in order to close the deal.

3. Return. The listing price should be set so you net the most money possible from the sale.

4. Target. Ideally, the price is adjusted to the top of a multiple listing category, so the home’s features compare favorably with lower-priced homes in the range. (If it is placed at the bottom of the next higher price grouping, the higher-priced homes will look better and sell more quickly.)

Other Factors

Unfortunately, what you paid for your home is not a factor in determining its market value. Neither is what you would like to get out of the home. Some home improvements you’ve made may add to the market value, however. Having the home in picture-perfect condition from the first day of the listing may also increase the value of your home. But mostly, these will help you sell faster, and that could mean a sale price close to your asking price.

Call us to find out more about how you can price your home to sell it quickly. We’ll be happy to conduct a FREE market analysis to find the best price for listing your home.