Part 1: Setting the Price on Your House or Condo

Setting the price of your property is the most important thing to do.  You want the most money for your home, right?  Then, you have to price your home to get offers.

• 80% of the marketing of your home is done when you decide on the price to list your home.

It’s all about the price in the real estate market. Every buyer wants a deal and every seller wants to get the most money for their home.  

So the question is what is the real value of your home?

Determining Your Home or Condo’s Value

Determining the value takes many factors into consideration including location, condition and size of the home by square footage.

Appraisers and Realtors don’t use online websites like Zillow or Trulia for estimates of your home’s value and neither should you.  

There market values have been up to 30% off.  Now, they say it is an estimate but we have a lot of clients that believe those numbers over what we research.

Let’s examine each one in detail.

Where is the home located in the city?  Your home’s location and setting influence its value.  A home inside a quiet subdivision sells for more than the identical home on a busy street.  Remote areas typically sell for less than closed-in areas.

Do your home have a view?  Views, streams and trees enhance value. You obviously have no control over location at this point.

What is the Condition of Your Home in the Eyes of a Home Buyer?

New homes enjoy a marketing edge over resale homes because they are shiny and clean.  And builders enhance their appeal by offering model homes (clean, bright, decorated in current colors and amenities) for buyers to examine. 

Get your camera. 

Go out to the front of your home and take pictures.   Then, print them out if you have a digital camera or view them on your computer or tablet.

Look at your home through the buyer’s eyes…perhaps adding some landscaping to the front yard, moving the lawn a little more or trimming the trees will make it more appealing to a home buyer.

• Curb Appeal Counts BIG TIME

According to the National Association of Realtors®, 92% of all homes are sold…from the CURB.

Curb appeal is critical part of selling your home. Take a few minutes to take photos inside too. Your goal is to make your home look like a model home as much as possible. We have several professional home stagers that can give you some pointers and tips to making your home standout from the competition. You have complete control over condition.

You can increase value and decrease marketing time by being sure your property is in the best possible condition.

How does the Appraiser Really Appraise a Home or Condo?

There is a difference…if your own a home, then the appraiser, sent out to your property from the buyer’s bank during escrow, will search for comparable properties to yours in the same neighborhood with a similar square footage of 100 square below and 100 square feet above your actual square footage.  Now, this measurement does not include the garage.  They only includes the living space.

If you own a condo, then the appraiser will do the same square footage search but his or her focus are recent sales in your condominium building not the neighborhood.

• Plus, the appraiser looks at recent home sales within the last 6 months or less.

• Do Not look at Zillow, Realtor.com or Redfin for property values.  They are all not accurate.  Appraisers for a bank and Realtors do not use those sources for values and near should you.  I’ve seen home values on Zillow off by 30%.  That can be a lot of money.

Important Pricing Tips to Consider

If IBM stock is trading between 104 and 108, it does no good to insist on selling at 112. Likewise, your home must be priced within the appropriate range. You must actually “sell” your property 3 times: first to Agents representing buyers (65% of all homes sold are sold by an Agent from another real estate firm), second to the buyer and third to the appraiser.

Now, the buyer is more subjective and compares the amenities of your home to those of other homes in the same price range. The appraiser is more objective and compares age, size and cost identifiable features in your home against other properties that have sold to determine value for the bank.

We will provide you with a price range for you to choose the best listing price…..Stay tuned for Part 2 on Pricing Your Home to Sell

Home Tour of Your House?

Your home is more than just numbers.  It’s something that you love.  So, let’s do this….take me on a tour of your house, pointing out all of the upgrades that you have done to the home and share with me what you like most about the home.

Then, I will go back to my office and research recent local home sales that are similar to your house.  Then, we will meet again and go over the information.  This will be no hassle, no pressure to list your property meeting.

Whether you decide to list your home or not, at least you will know how much it is worth now and we get a chance to get to know each other.

Simply fill out the quick form below to get started.

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