Selling a home involves many moving parts working together to get you the price and closing terms you want within your timeframe.
Your list price is a critical part of your success.
While staging, marketing, and negotiations are all critical parts of the home sale equation, you could be left sitting on the market without the right price.
Here is some guidance on how to list at the right price.
First, know your goal
This is obvious, but we’ll say it anyway: your goal is to sell. For top dollar? Of course. Quickly? Even better. But either way, the goal is to sell and move to the next step in your real estate journey. And many sellers need to pay more attention to the importance of listing at the right price to achieve their goals. Here are some common oversights.
Pricing too high
By listing high, many sellers believe they’ll be able to negotiate a sale price higher than they’d have achieved by listing more competitively.
Wrong. Here’s what happens.
Listing your home too high is a bad idea because you’re pricing your home out of the range your likely buyers are searching in. So, instead of considering your home, they will look at other homes within their budget. And buyers who are looking in the range you’ve priced your home will expect more features and amenities than your home may have.
In short, you’ll attract the wrong buyers and miss out on qualified and interested buyers willing to make an offer. And, you also lose…
Momentum
Momentum is critical when selling a home. Getting a lot of showings from qualified buyers quickly creates the urgency for buyers to act. This puts you in the best position to get an offer or, even better, multiple offers.
But, if your home sits on the market for too long, buyers may see an opportunity to negotiate and have more bargaining power. As a result, you may end up with a lower selling price than you anticipated.
So, how do you know if you have the proper list price?
First, compare your price against other listings in the market. Look at the competitive landscape as your homebuyers will. Is your home priced in the ballpark of similar active or recently sold listings?
It really shouldn’t get to this point. Your agent will provide a competitive market analysis that does the heavy lifting for you. You should arrive at a fair market price if you leverage their analysis.
Are you getting showings?
You’re in the ballpark if you get steady showings within the first week. Of course, this doesn’t mean getting 20 showings daily. Still, you’ll want to see activity within the first 24-48 hours, especially if your home is listed for less than $1,000,000.
If you’re not getting showings, it’s a dead giveaway that your home is overpriced.
Are agents telling you that their clients are interested?
Many agents will provide showing feedback. Ideally, they’ll tell you their clients are considering making an offer. You may need to reconsider your pricing strategy if you’re getting showings but nobody’s showing interest.
In conclusion, pricing your home is a critical aspect of the home-selling process. To sell your home quickly for top dollar, you must avoid listing high and create momentum that compels buyers to action. Of course, this doesn’t mean pricing LOW and doesn’t even mean you can’t price a touch higher than the market – but you can’t be in outer space!
Your best bet is to trust your agent’s market analysis, increase your home’s value through pre-list enhancements like staging, price for momentum, and have your agent negotiate the best possible deal.
