Pricing Your Home

Pricing your home is not a heads or tails proposition nor can you just pick a number out of the air! You must do your homework and PRICE IT RIGHT. You can depend on your agent to do a CMA (comparative market analysis) to compare your homes to others like it in your neighborhood. This is a FREE service offered by most agents and is an invaluable tool to help you with your pricing. The CMA will research listing prices in the current market. Most buyers, if not all, are influenced by the listing price. How you set your price will greatly determine the number of interested buyers your house will attract. Buyers are comparing your home to others in the market and to others that have been sold. You need to do your homework by comparing other listing prices and recent selling prices within your neighborhood and other surrounding ones before setting your price. The current real estate market dictates what buyers are willing to pay. Pricing your home properly is the most important step in the selling process...... The listing price contributes greatly to the number of interested parties and offers you will receive. Ultimately, it is up to you to set the listing price. Take into account your agent’s advice, the current market situation, and recent sale prices before deciding upon your listing price. Also, know what your bottom price is. This will help you set a listing price that allows room for negotiation. But keep in mind that your bottom price should not be set in stone. During negotiation, you may find that what you might lose in dollars will be made up in other areas. It is important that you set your listing price at market value. Even a few thousand dollars above market value can influence how long your house will sit on the market, especially during a cold or normal market. Remember, you are listing your house so that you can sell it. It is better to have multiple buyers interested in your property at a market value price than few or no buyers interested in your overpriced property. The more buyers who are interested, the hotter your property becomes. And this can motivate buyers to make offers on your house. The consequences of not pricing your house right are:

less offers less showings less agent response less qualified buyers

In the end, your house will sell for less than you wanted and sit longer on the market.

Market Evaluation

A comparative market analysis is an informal estimate of market value, based on sales of comparable properties, performed by a real estate agent or broker. Your real estate agent will be happy to provide this analysis. Most agents offer free analyses in the hopes of winning your business. This analysis provides the background data on which to base your list-price decision. You also can research "the comps" yourself by checking on recent sales in public records. Be sure that you are researching properties that are similar in size, construction and location. This information is not only available at your local recorder's or assessor's office but also for a fee through private companies that specialize in real estate data and on various real estate Internet sites. Study the comparable sales material presented to you by the different agents you interviewed initially. If the analyses are more than two or three months old, have your agent update the report for you. If all agents agreed on a price range for your home, go with the consensus. Watch out for an agent whose opinion of value is considerably higher than the others.

A Comparative Market Analysis will provide you with the information you need to set a value on the home you own. CMAs are written reports comparing the prices of recently sold homes that are similar to yours in terms of location, style and amenities. CMA's often include information on properties currently for sale plus the properties which failed to sell. Knowledge is power!

A CMA, or comparative market analysis, is a report that provides all the information you need to make an informed decision as to how much you should list your property for in today's market. It should also give you an anticipated range for the final selling price. It is best to get your CMA AFTER a qualified professional agent does a walk-through of your home. That way, you will know that your agent can properly compare your property to others in your neighborhood. The CMA will contain information on properties that are comparable to yours that have sold in the last 6 months, properties currently on the market, and properties that have expired before being sold. It is not an appraisal. When you call to list your property, an agent should meet you at your home so that he can gather the information needed to prepare the CMA and to take measurements of the rooms. At that time he also can review any Marketing Agreements that he offers and answer any questions you may have. After the initial meeting, you should receive the CMA within a day or two. A CMA contains recent market information on properties similar to yours that are:

Active - These are properties similar to yours that are currently available for sale. These are the homes you will be in direct competition against for the buyer's attention. Take note however,that some of these homes are likely to expire. - and if you price your home in consideration that everyone of these homes are priced competitively, you'll probably end up pricing your home too high Expired - These are homes similar to yours that have recently expired. That is, they failed to sell within the listing period (typically 3-4 months). These homes will give you an indication of what is likely too high a price to list your home. Sold - These homes are similar to yours and have recently sold. These homes will provide you the clearest indication of exactly how much you should list your home for in today's market. They are a track record of proven successes. They also provide excellent insight as to how much your property will likely sell for and how long it will take.

A comparative market analysis (CMA) is not an appraisal. It is an estimated value of what your home is worth based on recent sales and market trends in your area. Unlike an appraisal, a CMA takes into account the current market and competition, not just past sales. When any real estate agent assigns a value to your home, you deserve to know how and why they have come to that conclusion. Why? It is important because different agents use different strategies to get your listings. If you choose the agent who quotes you the highest value, you may be doing yourself an incredible disservice. Your home has a value to a buyer. Buyers shop around and compare values. With that understood, I will show you how to get the highest value out of your house possible.

Every real estate transaction must be supported with detailed, documented, statistical data about real estate transactions in the area. As part of our Comparative Market Analysis, I provide:

A complete list of real estate sales, including private sales, on the subject property’s street over the last three years A complete list of similar properties that have sold in the area. A complete list of similar properties currently on the market in your area A computer-generated Comparative Market Analysis showing, among other details, the average asking and selling price for similar properties in the area A summary page, incorporating all the data we have compiled for your consideration, in a concise and easily understood format. A recommended listing and possible sale price for the property

Expireds: Out of Range Up to 35% of all homes put on the market don’t sell. The prices at which these homes expired represent the "out of reach" price. If you price there, then yours will also expire. For Sale: Upper End of Range These are asking prices only. They have not been attained in the market. Examine the number of days on market and if it has been a long time, the homes are priced too high. Solds: Lower End of Range These are actual sale prices and are your best evidence on which to base your pricing decision. Assuming the homes are similar to yours, you should be able to obtain similar prices. In a rising market these represent the lower end of the range. In a declining market these represent the higher end of the range.

HOW MUCH IS MY HOME WORTH! Please complete the following information which will be used to prepare a comprehensive report detailing all current real estate listings and recent sales activity in your neighborhood.

If you are planning to sell your home within the next 3, 6, or 12 months or even years from now, it is never to soon to know the market value of possibly your most important and valued asset!