Price is key factor when selling your home

In this market – and possibly this very moment – sellers across the country are asking themselves one question: why isn’t my home selling? While each client’s situation is unique, and we all think our homes are special, there is one underlying factor that makes or breaks a buyer’s decision to settle on your home: PRICE.

Pricing your home correctly in this market is one of the most critical actions you can take to sell your home faster; it’s also one of the most difficult decisions you’ll have to make as a seller – which is why so many people won’t do it.

What sellers have to realize is that by making the decision to price correctly from the beginning they may be staving off further financial damage. For some that means getting creative about finances, for others, it can sometimes translate to taking a small loss. In some cases, taking a small loss may be the best scenario.

Let’s look at it another way:

John Seller paid $300,000 on his home that is now worth $250,000. Many realtors would tell him to come down on his price at the beginning, by say $20,000. Now his asking price is $280,000.

Scenario One: A buyer comes along after one month of the home being on the market. They know, based on the CMA, that Mr. Seller’s house is worth $250,000, so they put in an offer for $245,000. Mr. Seller decides to counter with $255,000, and sold! Now Mr. Seller can move on, knowing that he is lucky not to have lost any more on his home.

Now Scenario Two: Mr. Seller actually decides not to come down on his price at all. As a result, his home sits on the market for the first month with only a few bites from buyers but no official offers. An experienced realtor would recommend that Mr. Seller come down 10 percent each month that his home doesn’t sell. He does it. Two months later Mr. Seller’s home is now at $243,000. Finally, in the third month, a buyer comes along and offers $237,000. At this point Mr. Seller is considering, but feels it’s too low, so his home sits another month. Frustrated, Mr. Seller decides not to come down on his price any more.

At this point Mr. Seller is in trouble. He is underwater on his mortgage, and every additional dollar he loses on the home sale must come out of his pocket to pay off the loan. By starting at a higher value than the market will support, he stands to lose more than if he had factored in a small loss up front.

These two scenarios demonstrate the increasingly critical point of pricing your home correctly from the moment you decide to sell. While it may seem exaggerated, there truly are sellers experiencing situations similar to the ones described above. The good news is that by teaming up with an experienced real estate agent, who knows your market well, you have a far greater chance of making informed decisions about the price of your home.

Your realtor wants you to get the most money possible out of the sale of your home – and these days – that means reducing from the start.

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