💵 How do I find the best price to list my home for?
“How much is my home worth?”
That’s the first question most homeowners consider when the time comes to sell. Pricing your home correctly can be the single most important factor when you're selling your home.
Pricing a home is both an art and a science. Here are a few of our tips to help you find the best price when listing your home:
1. WORK WITH YOUR AGENT
Your real estate agent will provide you with a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA). The best way to get a handle on your home's sales price are the prices of similarly sized homes in your neighborhood.
But what exactly is a CMA?
A comparative market analysis estimates a home's value based on the recent sales of similar real estate in the area. When your real estate agent creates a CMA they look at every similar home that's been sold in the same neighborhood as your property over the last 3-6 months.
Similarity is key, since it gets you closest to an apples-to-apples comparison. For example, if a house near yours with the same square footage and numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, and in similar condition, sold for $250,000 within the past three months, your price will be in that price range as well.
Pro tip: Don’t looking at the listing prices of homes and assume those are realistic comps. Those numbers may be inflated based on home sellers' hopes of what they'll get rather than reality.
Most real estate agents will provide you with a CMA for free. In fact, comparing CMAs is a great way to find the agent you want to work with.
2. WHAT IS THE MARKET DOING?
The housing market can greatly impact your pricing strategy.
If it’s a seller’s market, where demand from buyers outpaces the number of homes for sale, you may be able to price your home slightly higher than market value.
However, if you’re in a buyer’s market, where buyers have the advantage, you may have to price your home slightly below market value to get people interested.
3. CHECK ONLINE, BUT DON’T RELY ON ZESTIMATES
Before meeting with an agent to talk price you should check internet sources to have a ballpark idea of what your home is worth.
Sites might include the following:
Your local assessor’s website
Zillow
Realtor.com
These property websites let you to plug in your home’s address to see approximately how much your house is worth. They base their estimates on your home’s square footage and real estate data they’ve collected, such as recent home sales in your local market.
But those results are estimates based on generalized factors, not your unique situation. While these will give you a ballpark idea on price, but don’t rely on them to be accurate.
4. Should I have an appraisal done?
While an appraisal is an important step in selling your home, there's a reason it typically doesn't happen until much later in the process.
Getting an appraisal done too early is likely to end up costing you money than making you money. Appraisals generally run about $400-$500.
Home appraisals are actually meant for the buyer’s lender. If a buyer needs a loan to purchase your home, the lender will require an appraisal toward the end of the loan application process just to make sure the home is actually worth its agreed upon value.
Furthermore, a lender isn’t likely to even accept your appraisal for its purposes. The lender will want to choose their own appraiser to ensure it’s a truly unbiased third party assessing the property.
Pro tip: Consider the price range your home will fall into on online real estate websites. Buyers have a price range they are considering. A buyer looking at homes in the $180,000 to $200,000 range probably won’t see your home it it’s listed at $205,000. But, if you choose a home listing price of $199,000, it should show up in their search.
Bottom line:
Rely on your agent’s expertise during this process.
Throughout the pricing process, a good agent will:
Listen to your needs
Take into account your research
Use his or her knowledge of the local market to help you pick the best asking price
You’re a team. It’s in both of your interests to price your home correctly — a timely, profitable sale is win for everyone.
📨 Questions about pricing your home? Contact us anytime!