| Setting the Price |
What is your home worth? To set the right price on a home, you should combine an objective evaluation of your property with a realistic assessment of market conditions.
In good markets and bad, you are more likely to benefit by determining a fair value and sticking close to it than you are by asking an unrealistic figure and waiting for buyer response to sift out the "right" price.
Underpricing can deprive you of money that’s rightfully yours. Unless you are in a hurry, aim for full market value.
Study the Comparables You run the risk of either overpricing or underpricing if you settle on a price based on less-than-solid information. Shop your competition. Learn the offering and selling prices of similar properties. Find out how long each took to sell.
To be comparable, a house that sold has to be close to yours in age, style, size, condition and location. Timing is all-important too. If you are offering your home when sales are brisk and demand is high, you should be able to increase the price.
Try to find at least three comparables no more than six months old. Sale prices of homes are published in local or regional sections of newspapers. If you are listing your home with an agent, this kind of market research should be prepared and presented to you.
Get an Appraisal
Real estate appraising is part art, part experience and part science. As a result, opinions are subject to honest dispute. Nonetheless, an appraisal prepared by an experienced, licensed professional comes as close to an objective evaluation as you can get. |
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