Is The Price Right? How To Price Your Home

    What can I list my house for?  A question that is asked by every homeowner right before they decide to put their home on the market.  In my previous article, I discussed detaching yourself from your house, taking away that personal and emotional connection that you may have with your home.  Once achieved, this will allow you to see the value buyers will place on your home when it hits the market.  It will also bring you one step closer to start the search for a listing agent. 
    Once you start to interview agents, you begin to realize that each agent has different ways to market your home to the public.  You will hear about Trulia, Zillow, MLSLI and more. It is true that marketing your home will help in opening the door to new buyers, but the biggest factor is getting offers.
    Every agent coming in to present, should be showing you a Comparative Market Analysis, better known as a CMA.  The CMA will show you comparable homes in the area that sold, are under contract and currently listed.  The CMA is important to see what homes are going for and it can provide you with statistical data, such as days on market, average listing price, average sales price and more.
    A CMA can offer more information to sellers than they may realize.  Outside of what buyers may be looking for, this data is extremely valuable to see what banks will be looking at.  Remember that even after agreeing on a price for the home, the bank will need to appraise the value of the home (assuming the buyer is applying for a mortgage).  The same CMA used in providing the listing price, can also give you an idea on an appraisal price of the home.
    I have been a part of many listing presentations and hearing from sellers some suggested listing prices that other agents gave, could sometimes make your jaw drop.  Some realtors throw around numbers without providing any data so that they can get the listing. I refer to this as “buying” the listing, meaning they give a number that the seller wants to hear, without showing proof as opposed to what they should hear and see with a CMA.  Some realtors may also use a strategy I refer to as “shorting” the listing, providing the bottom line of the home, in hopes that it sells quickly with little to no work. My thoughts on pricing a home are simple, choose a price to list the home at that will provide traffic for the home, set realistic expectations among buyers and prove to you, that work is still needed to get that price.
    Finding the right price for your home requires an agent that will do the research to provide you with the right numbers and one that will continue to work after signing the listing agreement with you, the seller.