How To Price Your Home To Sell

The past few years have been something else when it comes to selling your home. In a heavily weighted market, sellers were getting top dollar and then some for their homes with very few negotiations happening. As 2022 comes to an end, we have shifted away from a seller’s market and things have balanced out between buyers and sellers. What this means is there are more options for buyers and longer days on the market for sellers. This is what most would consider “normal” when it comes to buying and selling real estate.

Now that buyers have more options, pricing your home correctly is key when it comes to selling your home. Here are our top 6 ways to help you find the right price to list your home.

1. Consider the current market

Knowing what market you are currently in is important as it allows you to set your expectation of how the process will go. As mentioned before, it is very important to understand that we are no longer in a seller's market. Selling a house now versus selling a house 6 months ago are two very different experiences. For the past 2 years, house prices increased insanely fast meaning the value of your home could have increased tens of thousands of dollars within a matter of months. Now that the market has shifted, your home value will shift as well. The market is ever changing and knowing what kind of market you are in will help you create your strategy when it comes to selling your home.

2. What does the CMA tell you?

A CMA stands for Comparative Market Analysis or you may have even heard it referred to as comps or comparables. What all of these are referring to is how does your home compare to the surrounding houses that have sold. Let’s be clear when I say the surrounding houses as sometimes there can be a bit of confusion. The goal is to find comparable properties as close in proximity, details, and condition as possible. The further away from your home, the less accurate your comparable becomes. If you can find comparable homes within a few mile radius, great! Sometimes that isn’t always possible and you do have to go a little bit further out. This can be the case when you have a unique property or maybe the houses have a lot of land and/or are located in a more rural location. This also applies to the specifics & condition of your house. If you have a 4 bedroom house, you wouldn't want to compare it to a 2 bedroom house. In addition, if your home has not been updated since 1972, comparing it to a home built within the last few years would not be an accurate comparison. By comparing your house to other properties that have recently sold, this will help you determine what is a high price point, average price point, and low price point for your home. 

3. Condition of the property

Another thing to consider when pricing your home is the condition it is in. To start, take a walk around your home (inside and out) and try to put yourself in a buyer’s mindset. Are there repairs or work that needs to be done? Do you see any cracks or water damage? What is the condition of the roof? Do you see any holes, rot, or loose items like handrails? These are things that can add up quickly in a buyer's mind. Taking the time to inspect your home will help you find items that need to be repaired prior to listing your home, which can help your house stand out above the others. If a buyer walks into your house and finds that there are a lot of repairs or updates to be made (even if they are minor), they may decide to buy another home that requires less work. What may seem minor or not a big deal to you (or maybe you’ve had it on your to do list and just never got around to it) looks like work to a buyer. When trying to stand out above the other houses, the less work for the buyer, the better. If you are unable to take care of any work that needs to be done to the property, it is important to take those details into consideration when pricing your house. 

4. Prepping & staging your home

Along with making sure the condition of your home is in tip top shape, another important detail when it comes to selling your house at the best price is prepping and staging. It’s now more important than ever to showcase your home in its best condition. When buyers walk into a house, they're picturing themselves living there. A buyer can easily be distracted and overwhelmed if they're focusing on cleaning instead of where their couch would go. Ask yourself, would you rather buy a home that has a to-do list once you close or would you rather buy a house that has been well maintained and simply needs your personal touch? Now that buyers have more options, you have to consider what they are seeing at other properties and how you can make sure your home stands out.

Staging is also incredibly helpful as it allows the buyer to visualize how to utilize the space best. Some areas can even look smaller if it's just an empty space. 

5. What is your goal when selling your house?

We all have different reasons for moving. A growing family. Downsizing. To be closer to work. Moving to a specific school zone or out of state. Need more space. The list goes on. It’s important to know your overall goal when it comes to selling your home. Do you need to move as soon as possible? Do you need to make a certain amount off of the sale of the home in order to purchase another? This will help you know where you need to be when pricing your home as well if an offer is a good offer once you begin negotiations with the buyer. When a buyer submits an offer on a home, they are not just offering a price and that’s what you get. There are a lot of factors to consider. Who is paying closing costs, title costs, etc? If there is an inspection period, a buyer can ask for repairs to be done to the home or offer a lesser price for the home. Does the closing date work for your needs? These details are important to understand as they affect your profit as well as your timeline. For example, if your goal in selling your home is to make $300,000 and a buyer offers you $305,000. You may be thinking, “Great! I'll make an extra $5,000. I’m definitely accepting that offer!” However, their offer may be asking you to pay closing costs or for the title policy. What about the realtor’s commission? Or maybe they have a home sale contingency. All of these details can potentially change your profit to well below $300,000 and even delay your closing. Which leads me to the next and arguably the most important factor in selling your home. 

6. Working with an experienced real estate agent

Working with a reputable real estate agent is incredibly important when it comes to selling your home. An experienced and knowledgeable agent is there to help you with understanding the current market, provide you with a CMA so you can price your home to sell, advising on the condition of your property, how to prep and stage your home, and guiding you through the contract process to help keep you on track with reaching your real estate goals. In this market shift, experience matters especially coming out of the previous market we were in! When meeting with an agent to discuss selling your home, it’s important to ask them questions like what their marketing plan looks like and have they ever worked in a market like this one before? It’s not as simple as sticking a sign in your yard. An experienced agent will walk through what you're looking to accomplish in the sale of your property and what is the best strategy to achieve that. 

If you've been considering selling your home, we would love to talk to you about the process and how we can help you! Fill out the form below and we will reach out to you to discuss the next steps.