Pricing your home for the market is always a dilemma. You don't want to price your home so high that it doesn't sell, but at the same time you don't want to lose out on money by pricing your home too low. So how can you be sure you are getting a good deal while also not scaring off any potential buyers?Get a Professional Opinion
This is very often the most accurate way of ascertaining the worth of your property. Talk to a realtor and arrange for them to take a look at your property and give it an expert valuation. These are people who spend their professional lives valuing homes and making sure they sell, so spending money on acquiring their opinion is certainly not a waste.
However, such real estate agents do not come cheap. If you are operating on a budget and want to maximise your profits, you may decide to conduct a valuation yourself. Declining the services of a professional appraiser is risky but just might make you some serious savings in the long run if you know what you’re doing. If you do decide to go it alone there are several things you should bear in mind.
Do Your Research
Property markets are incredibly regional, so make sure any research you conduct is relevant to your own area. Look at homes similar to your own and make a note of what prices these homes are going for. It could be that property prices in your area are above the national average, in which case you will be able to price your home higher without fear of deterring potential buyers.
On the flip-side to this, if property prices are lower in your area, don't expect to sell your home for any more than its market value. The key is to recognize the house price trend in your area and value your property accordingly.
Many people do not realize just how regional these property markets can be. Prices vary so much that homes over .75 of a kilometer away from your own might as well be on Mars; to gain an accurate picture of your home's worth, restrict your research to properties within a half kilometer radius of your own.
Think Tactically
If you want to sell your house quickly, there are some tactics you can adopt to make that quick sale without losing out on too much cash. Examine the trends of house prices in your area; you may notice that they are falling by 2% each month. In this case, knock 4% off the value of your home.
This might seem like madness, but chances are if you price your home at the same rate as other homes in your area, it will still be on the market in three months thanks to the competition, by which point its regional value will have dropped below the initial 4% discount rate.
Pricing your home in this way makes a quick sale likely and could save you money in the long run.
Another way to accelerate your sale when valuing your property is by rebating your commission. This involves evaluating how much commission you would be receiving from your sale – usually about 6% of the total price – and subtracting a portion of that from the total.
This gives your home a head start in what can be a devastatingly competitive market.
Get Into Detail
If you decide to speak to a professional appraiser, make sure you ask them the right questions. Asking about local absorption rates is a good place to start. This refers to the amount of homes currently on the market in your area and how long it takes to clear the surplus.
If you live in an area of low absorption, you will need to ask your expert appraiser about the sorts of techniques you can use to get around this disadvantage. However, if your area has a high rate of absorption, the tables turn dramatically in your favor.
A high rate of absorption leads to a seller's market and bodes well for the selling value of your property, but it is still worth asking an expert just how you can take advantage of this to make sure you're getting the best deal possible.