pricing your home – Easy Agent Blogs

Selling your home can be exciting yet challenging. To ensure a smooth and profitable sale, it’s essential to avoid common mistakes that can hinder your progress and reduce your return. Here’s a friendly guide to help you navigate the home-selling process and achieve the best outcome.

Pricing Your Home Incorrectly

One of the most critical mistakes sellers make is pricing their home too high or too low. Overpricing can deter potential buyers and leave your home sitting on the market for an extended period. Underpricing, on the other hand, can lead to a lower return on your investment. Research comparable homes in your area and consider getting a professional appraisal to set a realistic and competitive price.

Neglecting Necessary Repairs

Minor repairs can significantly impact a buyer’s perception of your home. Ignoring necessary repairs like leaky faucets, cracked tiles, or peeling paint can make your home appear poorly maintained. Address these issues before listing your home to make it more appealing. Investing in small repairs can yield a higher selling price and a faster sale.

Skipping Professional Staging

Staging your home can make a big difference in attracting buyers. A well-staged home showcases its best features and helps buyers envision themselves living there. Skipping professional staging or not decluttering and depersonalizing your space can make it harder for buyers to connect with your home. Consider hiring a professional stager or follow staging tips to present your home in the best light.

Poor Quality Photos

In today’s digital age, most buyers start their home search online. High-quality photos are essential to make a great first impression. Poorly lit, blurry, or unprofessional photos can turn off potential buyers before they even step foot in your home. Invest in professional photography to showcase your home’s best features and attract more interest.

Limiting Showings

Making your home available for showings at convenient times is crucial. Limiting showings or being inflexible with scheduling can deter potential buyers. Be prepared to accommodate showings on short notice and keep your home in showing-ready condition. The more accessible your home is, the more opportunities you create for potential buyers to see it.

Ignoring Curb Appeal

First impressions matter, and the exterior of your home is the first thing buyers see. Neglecting curb appeal can make buyers hesitant to explore further. Ensure your lawn is well-maintained, add fresh mulch to garden beds, and consider a fresh coat of paint on the front door. Small improvements can enhance your home’s curb appeal and attract more buyers.

Failing to Market Effectively

Effective marketing is key to reaching a broad audience and selling your home quickly. Relying solely on traditional methods or not utilizing online platforms can limit your reach. Leverage social media, online listings, and professional networks to market your home. Highlight its unique features and create a compelling listing description to attract potential buyers.

Overlooking the Importance of Cleanliness

A clean home is essential for making a positive impression on buyers. Overlooking cleanliness can be a major turn-off. Ensure your home is spotless for showings, including carpets, windows, and kitchen appliances. Consider hiring a professional cleaning service to ensure every corner of your home is immaculate.

Being Emotionally Attached

Selling a home can be an emotional process, but letting emotions drive your decisions can lead to mistakes. It’s important to view the sale objectively and make decisions based on market conditions and professional advice. Detaching emotionally can help you negotiate better and accept reasonable offers.

Not Working with a Real Estate Agent

While it’s possible to sell your home on your own, working with a professional real estate agent can simplify the process and help you avoid common mistakes. An experienced agent brings market knowledge, negotiation skills, and a network of potential buyers. They can provide valuable advice on pricing, staging, and marketing your home.

Avoiding these common mistakes can make your home-selling journey smoother and more profitable. By being informed, prepared, and flexible, you can attract the right buyers and achieve a successful sale. Remember, selling a home is not just about getting the highest price but also about creating a positive experience for potential buyers and making the process as seamless as possible.

Conclusion

Have you ever lived in a neighborhood where one of the homes for sale seems to sit for an especially long time with fewer and fewer people viewing it?

It’s a nice enough home, right? Lots of curb appeal and you’ve seen the interior and it’s delightful.

So, why isn’t it selling?

In a word?

Overpriced

Even worse, if it was originally overpriced and has experienced a series of price reductions, the home is stigmatized.

What this means is that homebuyers think that there is something wrong with the home and most of them won’t even bother to look at it.

So, if you’re considering selling your home and want to “experiment” with pricing, beware of these 3 common home pricing mistakes.

1. Pricing too high out of the gate

It’s common knowledge in the real estate industry that overpriced homes take longer to sell.

Now, don’t take that to mean that eventually you’ll get your price, because if you’re overpriced, you won’t

In fact, plan on making 5 percent less than your listing price if the home sits on the market for two months with no offers.

At today’s national average home price, 5 percent represents more than $14,000. Unless you overpriced the house by that much, that’s a loss that has to hurt.

But, this is even worse

According to a March 2012 study performed by MIT’s Center for eBusiness, homes that remained on the market substantially longer than average suffered a $32,000 reduction in the eventual sales price.

If this isn’t enough to show you the importance of pricing the home appropriately when it goes on the market, I don’t know what is.

The first lesson in pricing real estate is, that to realize the most money you can from the sale of your home, price it right.

2. Relying on online home price estimates

Admit it, you’ve checked your home’s Zestimate at Zillow.com, right?

Unfortunately, many homeowners do just that and don’t understand that there is simply no way anyone can make an accurate estimate of market value without having seen the home.

Furthermore, since sites such as this don’t have access to all of the MLS listings and, most significantly, the sold listings (which is what market value is based on), their algorithm is faulty.

The company admits that their “median error rate” is about 8 percent, according to Kenneth R. Harney in the L.A. Times.

Harney goes on to remind us that 8 percent is the national error rate and, because all real estate is local, the rate varies by region. “In Somerset County, Md., the rate is an astounding 42%,” he continues.

Never rely on a website’s estimate of your home’s value

The only way to truly know how much your home is worth is to have it professionally appraised. The second best way is to ask a real estate agent to compile a comparative market analysis (CMA).

Since agents use many of the same techniques as appraisers, they typically match or come quite close to the appraised value of a home.

3. Basing your price on your neighbor’s asking price

When you consider putting your house on the market, it’s only natural to want to know what your neighbors are asking for their homes.

Keep in mind, however, that this figure represents what your neighbor hopes to get for his or her home, not its actual market value.

The true market value of a home is based on what buyers actually paid for nearby homes, similar to yours.

I like to think of list price as “fantasyland” and sales price as reality

To that end, I try to dissuade my home-selling clients from basing the price of their home on some pie-in-the-sky figure that may not reflect reality.

Determining the value of a home includes far more than checking sales prices. I am happy to show you – at no obligation — what I do to determine the current value of homes and to provide you, free of charge, an analysis of your home’s value. Call me any time.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid When Selling a Home