Have you been wondering how much your home is worth in todays market? With all that has been going on with the recession, and with the many foreclosures and short sales, many people that I talk to all have the same question. Can you tell me how much my home is worth in todays market? I answer this question very carefully, and it goes something like this.
First off, no one truly knows how much your home is worth except for a willing and able buyer. See, I really can't, nor can any other real estate agent for that matter, tell you exactly how much your home is worth. Your home is only worth what someone will pay for it and it's hard to know how much someone will pay for it until you test the waters yourself. That being said, what I can do is run a free market analysis on your home.
What exactly is a market analysis?
A market analysis is a report that we, as real estate agents, use to determine a range of value on your home based on recent market activity. We will compare your home to recently sold homes that are similar to yours. From that we can determine a price range that your home might sell for. Again, the analysis gives you only a range, not an exact number. It is then up to you as the homeowner to decide where you would like to price your home.
Pricing your home is crucial in any market and even more so in todays market. Home buyers are more educated today then they have ever been when it comes to prices. More then 90% of home buyers start their home search online, and with all of that information, they are more educated on the market when they start viewing homes in person. They know if a home is priced unreasonably, and won't think twice about moving on with all of the inventory available. You have to price your home to stand out amongst the competition, or you may be waiting quite a while to sell.
How do I decide where to price my home?
Everyone wants their home to sell fast, but they also don't want to sell for less then what the home is worth. It's a never ending struggle between homeowner and the market. After reviewing your price range from your market analysis, talk to your agent about what they feel would be a reasonable price for the time frame you need to sell.
It's important for you to choose an agent that you can trust when it comes to pricing advice. Some agents will tell you whatever they think you want to hear in order to get a listing. It's called 'buying a listing'. Buying a listing means, the agent will give you a price that is unreasonable just to make you happy and won't tell you what you really need to hear. After your home sits on the market for an extended period of time, they will then ask you to reduce your price, and sometimes you have to reduce it multiple times.
The problem with this scenario is you can lose a lot of money by not pricing your home right from the get go. It may take many months to sell your home, when it would have taken just a few weeks to sell if you had priced at the price you are forced to reduce later on. You will lose out on the payments you pay for those months, the interest, and you may find that 6 months down the road the market has declined even further forcing you to 'catch up' with an even lower price.
Instead, price your home correctly, and statistics show your home should be under contract within the first 21 days of being on the market. This isn't true for all homes, but if a home is priced aggressively, you can sell it in any market within a reasonable amount of time.
When you first put your home on the market, that is the time you are going to get the most activity, and your chances are much higher of selling in those first 3 weeks. If your home is over priced, all of that traffic is going to be wasted on an unreasonable asking price. Even if you reduce your price, you've already lost out on the best traffic your home is going to get.
Pricing your home to sell fast means being reasonable, considering market conditions, and ensuring your home is in proper selling condition for the price you're asking. If your home doesn't have a contract within the first couple months, consider reducing your price aggressively, and soon you will know just how much your home as worth.
Happy Selling!
Want a free market analysis?
Call me @ 435-881-3022 or Email Lisa@LisaUdy.com
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