Trying to come up with the best sales price so your listing sells quickly without you leaving money on the table? Learn how to price your home the right way.
Pricing your home begins with a Comparative Marketing Analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent. This report helps you have clear and educated expectations of your home’s true value based on various factors. Without it, emotions may cause you to overprice it, which is just as bad as underpricing it.
Obviously, if you underprice the listing, you’re losing out on getting top dollar for the property. However, if you overprice it, you could find yourself with a listing that stays on the market for months… even years… without ever getting a realistic offer.
One reason is that the longer a house stays on the market, the more consumers assume something’s wrong with it. That’s why it’s vital that you learn how to price your home for a successful sale from the very beginning, whether you’re working with an agent or going the DIY route of For Sale By Owner.
5 Tips to Price Your Home for Success on the Market
Here are five tips to help you price your home for success so it not only sells faster, but you receive the best offers possible for your listing:
1. Order a CMA to Successfully Price Your Home
Even if you plan to list your home as a For Sale By Owner property, you should order a Comparative Marketing Analysis or CMA from a real estate agent who serves your local Atlanta community. These professionals know your local market and have the resources needed to help you price your home for success.
A good agent keeps up with local Atlanta real estate trends and historic sales within the area. This person has access to local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) databases of comparable homes in your neighborhood, which ensures you receive an accurate report to help you come up with the best listing price for your property.
Click here to order a CMA for your Atlanta home.
2. Hire an Atlanta Real Estate Agent to Help Price Your Home
If you decide not to go the DIY route, go ahead and hire a local agent who serves the Atlanta Metropolitan area. This agent will study your CMA and work with you to finalize the listing price of your home.
Your new agent must be familiar with your local market. This ensures they have what it takes to strategically price, market and present your home to get it sold fast at the highest sales price possible.
3. Know Factors That Affect Your Home’s Value
You must be realistic about your pricing expectations. Don’t rely on suggested list prices provided by mainstream real estate websites such as Realty.com, Trulia and Zillow. Instead, sit down and discuss the factors that matter when it comes to the true value of your home with your Atlanta realtor to clarify your expectations from the beginning. These are some of those factors:
Amenities
Sometimes, amenities can be a bit tricky. One buyer might want a pool while another dreams of having a built-in BBQ grill. But one thing you can count on is that almost all buyers want up-to-date technology in their homes. So, before you go out installing expensive amenities like a gazebo, look into things like smart locks, video doorbells and smart water technology.
Age
In a neighborhood filled with older homes and historical houses, your brand-new construction may stick out like a sore thumb to someone dreaming of owning a historical home. Likewise, if you have a 25-year-old home standing strong right next to a brand-new housing community, this may or may not affect value, depending on what buyers are seeking in that area.
Condition
This goes without saying. Your home’s condition is a key factor to how much it will sell for in today’s market. If there are many needed repairs or there have been no upgrades made in decades, this will drive the value down because buyers must invest in renovations from day one.
Local Market Demand
In the real estate industry, a buyer’s market means there are currently many listings available, so demand is lower than usual. This allows buyers to negotiate better for lower prices as sellers face an abundance of competition.
However, in a seller’s market, the sellers have more leverage for bargaining during negotiations. That’s because there are more home shoppers in the local area than there are homes for sale. In this case, your listing may be worth more than in other cases.
Number of Bedrooms & Bathrooms
A retiring couple may be looking to downsize. But for a growing family, having the right number of bathrooms and bedrooms is very important. This should definitely affect how you price your home for success on the market.
Square Footage
The overall square footage of your home as well as your lot size matters greatly when pricing your listing. Just keep in mind that while some may prefer a large home with a smaller yard, the opposite rings true for others. But consider your square footage when setting your home’s listing price.
Location, Location, Location
These are the top three rules of real estate pricing. People want to live in specific cities and communities for various reasons. Maybe they want to live around other retirees, closer to hospitals or within walking distance from schools and parks. Others commute to work and want to live near freeways or just want to enjoy like and like having shopping and points of interest nearby.
4. Adjust Your Home’s Listing Price as Needed
If your home has been on the market for a while and you’re still not getting any offers, it’s time to sit down with your Atlanta realtor again and regroup. Maybe it’s time to lower the price a bit so it competes with local comparables.
On the other hand, maybe you’ve made some substantial improvements that could help justify the higher pricing. If that’s the case, you and your agent need to sit down and rewrite your listing’s description to reflect these important changes and improvements.
5. Learn from the Mistakes of Other Sellers
Check out expired listings in your local area. This will help you gain insight into how to price your home for success. Compare the listing prices of homes in your area that sold recently to their final sale prices to see how many price cuts were made and how often.
Free Download: Learn How to Price Your Home the Right Way
Kereen Henry REALTOR® wants to help you prep your home for the market and price it correctly. As Your New Age Realtor, she works hard to help you do your part on your end to get your listing sold fast.
Check out Kereen’s Free Home Selling Guide for Atlanta Homeowners for comprehensive tips and tricks to get the job done. Click the button below to download this free seller’s guide now.
