Real Estate is not a precise science, nor is it rocket science. We do however, have historical data and current market data that will help us determine a price for your current home. We will use this same data to determine pricing for your purchase as well in order to verify asking prices. We can calculate quite accurately, in most cases, a selling price for your home.
More often than not when I begin work with a seller I will hear one or many of the following comments:
- I have put "x" amount of dollars in to this home, so I have to get it back!
- I paid "X" so I need to get my real estate fees and cover my costs.
- I saw a similar house in a different area that went for "X"
- Another agent told me I could get "X"
- I want to purhcase a home at "X"...so I need to get..."Y"
- I want to make "X" so I can pay off some bills
While all these are common...unfortunately they have nothing to do with the price one should list at. The only significant determiner, is the price homes have sold for in your neighbourhood within a resonable period of time.
Over and over I encounter sellers who have had other realtors® in, who will promise them a great price. What does the seller do? They pick the realtor® with the highest price...even in the absence of supporting data. Your home will sit on the market, and you will lose valuable time in your selling window.
I will provide you with a valuable large document called the Comparative Market Analysis. I will show you current market competition, but more importantly I will show you what comparable homes in your immediate area have sold for. In other words, what buyers are willing to pay for a home like yours. From there we will make some adjustments and we will arrive at an area for your home to be priced at. My purpose is not to inflate that number to get a listing...but rather to show you where your selling price will probably end up at. If you are moving on to another home...this is a valuable number, as you, no doubt base your future purchase on this number. What good is it if I give you an inflated number...and you proceed to look at homes based on that figure, only to find out later that your numbers don't match up. We will aslo look at "expired" listings. This might show us what Buyers are not willing to pay for similar homes. We will look at time of year and other factors as well.
Most Buyers are receiving listings online. An inflated price will only keep you out of those valuable searches with the very market you are trying to entice.
You want honesty in your realtor®...and you deserve real prices. A high price will only lose you valuable selling time and audience. First impressions and accurate pricing are key.