What’s the most important part of your house selling strategy? It’s knowing how to price your home for sale. Whether you’re trying to sell a house quick or increase the value of a home, it all comes down to proper pricing.
If you price the home too high, you turn buyers away. Then, the house stays on the market for months, forcing you to reduce the price drastically.
But is it any better to underprice your house? Often, it is. Pricing low could lead to a bidding war that actually increases the price of your home.
And what about making home improvements? True enough, the condition and appearance of your home significantly influence the buyer’s opinion of it. So, if you fix your house up before selling, you can list it at a higher price.
These are just a few of the crucial factors to consider when pricing your home. Discover more by reading this home pricing guide.
1. Get a Home Inspection
It’s impossible to price your home accurately if you don’t have an accurate idea of its condition. So the first thing you should do is hire a professional home inspector. He/she will bring to light any and all problems that exist on your property, before you list.
We can’t stress enough the importance of this step. To illustrate, consider what happens if you list without knowing the hidden shortcomings of your property.
Namely, these undisclosed problems are revealed when a potential buyer orders a home inspection. At best, the buyer demands a much lower price. At worst, they think you’re trying to cheat them and they rescind their offer.
Therefore, always get your home inspected (and appraised) before you list. Then, factor in the condition of your house when setting a price.
2. Don’t Get Emotional
Conversely, do not factor in your emotions when setting your price. Your emotions are only worth something to you. To the buyer, they’re worth nothing.
The buyers aren’t going to increase their offers just because you have fond memories of the house you’re selling. More importantly, pricing too high due to sentiment means that your house stays on the market longer.
This discourages buyers from taking interest in your home. They assume that your house isn’t selling because there’s something wrong with it.
Then, you’ll have to keep cutting the price until it’s low enough to attract buyers. By that time, your home is priced far less than it’s worth.
3. Price Low
For the reason we just mentioned, you should price your house somewhat low to begin with. That way, your listing attracts many buyers right from the start.
Several of these buyers will bid on your home, competing for the top bid. Most of the time, this competition drives the final price much higher than the house is worth. In any case, pricing low is generally more profitable than pricing too high.
4. Decide if You Want to Sell As-Is
Next, you need to make a choice. Will you increase the value of your home before selling it or sell it as-is?
It’s highly recommended that you increase the value first. Although, if you need to sell your home immediately or you have no money to fix it up, it’s better to sell as-is.
Making Home Improvements
There are two main factors involved when choosing home improvement projects to increase home value. First, you want everything as clean as possible for your listing photos and walkthroughs. This includes moving all of your stuff out of the home.
Second, fix/upgrade as much as your budget/selling timeline allows. Repair anything that’s broken. Replace anything that’s irreparably broken or stained.
Next, upgrade for energy efficiency. Install solar panels and energy-efficient lights, appliances, and replacement windows.
Selling As-Is
Even if you do sell as-is, it’s worth it to get the house cleaned up. After that, seek out cash buyers to receive cash offers.
5. Get Cash Offers
If you’re not selling as-is, cash offers are still a great way to determine the value of your home. That is, investors who buy homes professionally are skilled at determining the value of a house. So, most of the time, a cash offer is a great (and low) listing price that will attract bids.
6. Check Online Home Value Calculators
Another way to valuate your home is with online home pricing calculators. Simply enter some information about your house (number of bedrooms/bathrooms, square footage, etc.) and the calculator gives you a somewhat accurate price.
Of course, there could be many factors that these calculators don’t take into account. So it’s still best to get the opinion of a professional appraiser and/or real estate agent. Regardless, this automated estimate is a free means of gathering useful pricing data.
7. Check Comp Homes
Check for-sale/recently sold homes in your area. Find as many as you can that are similar to yours in most respects (number of bedrooms/bathrooms, square footage, etc.).
These are called comp houses. By calculating the average of these comp houses, you should be able to derive an accurate price for your home.
8. Hire a Real Estate Agent
Lastly, get professional help from a realtor. They’re experts at pricing homes to sell fast and maximize profit.
Although, you’ll have to pay them a significant percentage of the sale price (usually 5%-6%) for commission. But if you’re not confident in your house pricing skills, this may be the best option.
Keep This Guide on How to Price Your Home For Sale
Pricing your home wisely maximizes your profit, typically adding thousands of dollars to the final sale price. So make sure you don’t lose this guide on how to price your home for sale. Keep this page bookmarked and share it with others who could benefit from it.
Next, learn how to find the right real estate listing agent. Or, check out some fantastic tips to sell your home fast and stress-free. Read these guides and other informative topics on our Real Estate blog under the Business tab in our site menu.
