If you have decided to sell your home for one reason or another, you want to make sure you set the price so the house sells but so you also come out ahead. In fact, one of the most important steps in the process of selling a home is setting the price. If the price is set too low, then you end up losing equity but if the price is set too high, people will not make offers.
When people shop for a new home, they will look at homes in a specific price range based on what they can afford to pay. Therefore, you want to make sure your home is priced in a range where people look for the size, style, condition, and location of your home. Remember, your home will be one among many being looked at so you want to price it to generate offers that can then be negotiated. The last thing you want is to drive potential buyers to the house down the street also for sale.
The good news is that you have an abundance of resources available to help you set the best price for your home, based on fair market value or FMV. First, consider comparative market analysis, which will compare your home to other similar homes in the general vicinity. With this, the home’s square footage, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, and amenities such as swimming pool, fireplace, outbuilding, and so on would be considered. You can get a comparative market analysis on your home by working with a real estate agent. With this information, you can strategize so the price is right.
Unfortunately, most sellers do not spend enough time in the pricing process. Therefore, we also recommend you work with a realtor that specializes in selling homes in your area. For this, you could call several real estate offices or actually drive around looking at homes for sale to find the one realtor with the most house. This is important since this real estate agent will be more familiar with details of the homes for sale in your area. With this, the real estate agent can play your house up to potential buyers.
Now, if you do not want to work with a real estate agent or are not ready for that step yet, you can get your hands on a comparative market analysis through a number of resources for a small fee to include HomeGain (www.homegain.com) or HomePrice (www.homeprice.net).