Guess What The Worst Mistake You Can Make When Selling Your Home Is?
The home sale process is a lot like a marathon full of a lot of smaller steps along the way, so what mistake is the number one mistake when homeowners list their house on the market for the first time?
Setting the price too high.
You may have already guessed this as your answer to the question that is the subject of the article. However, there are sellers everyday that make this same mistake, and if you are trying to sell your house fast, this is a critical one to try and avoid.
How Do Sellers Fall Into This Trap?
It is a very easy trap to fall into because the reward is so great. Perhaps enabling the house sold at a greater price will mean that you can afford a more expensive home, a family vacation, or a more money to set aside for some other big plans for your family such as a new car, college funds, etc. When a home first gets listed, it is easy to get up in the excitement of the sale and price the home inaccurately.
What happens when a home is priced too high?
The greatest amount of traffic and media attention of a home begins the first few weeks that a house is listed on the market. As a recent arrival, agents and home buyers alike will flock to the MLS listing, the online resources, and to the door to take a look at what your home specifically has to offer and whether it is a good fit to prospective home buyers. Setting the price too high basically cuts off a portion of buyers who would otherwise be interested in the property because one glance at the price and they will move on. Many buyers will not waste their time looking at homes that are out of their budget range, and why would they purchase your home when there may be a home that is quite similar to yours being sold at a more affordable price just down the street?
After your house has been on the market for awhile you will have to start adding different incentives to get people to come and look at your house. When this happens the price of the house will also usually get adjusted down to closer to what the real market value of the house is worth, and sometimes lower if it has been on the market for a really long time. When a seller has their house on the market for this long it will start to become exhausting and most of their potential profit margin will have been eaten away because they did not price their house right in the beginning.
How To Set A Price
In the end the only two parties that set the price is the buyer and seller. The buyer will want to get the lowest price and the seller will want to get the most money possible for their house. With these two forces at work the price of the home will end up near the true market value of the house for the current market. This is what really determines that local market value of the home not what the agents or appraisers think. Remember the price that they give you is just their estimate and does not always reflect what the house is really worth, that value is only determined when you actually sell the house.
How To Price Your Home Right
No matter whether you are using a Realtor or you are selling your home privately, do your research. Look at comparable homes in your neighborhood and their sold prices within the past 3 months. Go to open houses and track their sales effort. Interview multiple real estate agents so you are able to pick a local, experienced one to handle your sale. If you are unsure, it is always better to set your sales price too low and have multiple offers that bring up the price than to set the price too high and have no offers.
About the Author
Now is a better time than ever to sell your house. You don't have to wait until the unpredictable market comes back around. Who knows when that will be? Sell now and avoid the hassles of a traditional home sale.
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