Set the Price

Every reasonable owner wants the best possible price and terms for his or her home. Several factors, including market conditions and interest rates, will determine how much you can get for your home. The idea is to get the maximum price and the best terms during the window of time when your home is being marketed. In other words, home selling is part science, part marketing, part negotiation and part art. Unlike math where 2 + 2 always equals 4, in real estate there is no certain conclusion. All transactions are different, and because of this, you should do as much as possible to prepare your home for sale and engage the REALTOR® you feel is best able to sell your home.

What is your home worth?

All homes have a price, and sometimes more than one. There’s the price owners would like to get, the value buyers would like to offer and a point of agreement which can result in a sale.

In considering home values, several factors are important:

• The value of your home relates to local sale prices. The same home, located elsewhere, would likely have a different value.

• Sale prices are a product of supply and demand. If you live in a community with an expanding job base, a growing population and a limited housing supply, it’s likely that prices will rise. Alternatively, it’s important to be realistic. If the local community is losing jobs and people are moving out, then you’ll likely have a buyer’s market.

• Owner needs can impact sale values. If owner Smith “must” sell quickly, he will have less leverage in the marketplace. Buyers may think that Smith is willing to trade a quick closing for a lower price — and they may be right. If Smith has no incentive to sell quickly, he may have more marketplace strength.

• Sale prices are not based on what owners “need.” When an owner says, “I must sell for $300,000 because I need $100,000 in cash to buy my next home,” buyers will quickly ask if $300,000 is a reasonable price for the property. If similar homes in the same community are selling for $250,000, the seller will not be successful.

• Sale prices are NOT the whole deal. Which would you rather have: A sale price of $200,000, or a sale price of $205,000 but where you agree to make a “seller contribution” of $5,000 to offset the buyer’s closing costs, pay a $2,000 allowance for roof repairs, fund two mortgage points, re-paint the entire house and leave the washer and dryer?

How much is too much?

Because all transactions are unique there is flexibility in the marketplace. The amount of fl xibility depends on local conditions. For example, suppose you’re selling a townhouse. Suppose also that there have been fi ve recent sales of the model you own and that sale values have ranged between $200,000 and $210,000. You now have an idea of how your home might be priced. In a strong market perhaps you can ask for $210,000 or a little more. If the market has slowed, $210,000 may be a reasonable asking price, but perhaps more than the fi nal sale price. Here’s another scenario. Imagine that you live in a community of Victorian-style homes, most of which were built in the 1920s. All the homes are different in terms of size, condition, modernization, style and features. In such a neighborhood, an average sale price is just a statistic without much practical meaning. On a single block one home may sell for $400,000 while another is priced at more than $1 million. The average price may be outrageously
high for one home and staggeringly low for another.

How long has your house been on the market?
Professional appraisers sum up their entire body of knowledge in three words — “Buyers make value.” Your home is worth as much as some member of the buying public will come forth and pay for it. After it’s been on the market for months, you’ve been given a clear message that the property may not be worth what you’re asking for it. This is particularly true if there haven’t been many prospects coming to see it. What you do at that point depends on whether you really need to sell, and whether you’re working with a time limit. If you’re not really motivated to move soon, you can always wait – years if necessary – and hope infl ation will catch up with the price you want. The problem is that in that time, your home begins to feel shopworn. Buyers become suspicious of a house that’s been for sale for a long time. If, however, you really do need to sell, discuss with your REALTOR® a schedule for dropping your price gradually until you fi nd a level that attracts buyers. There’s no point in saying, “We simply can’t sell our house.” Anything will sell if the price is right.

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If you’re buying another home don’t spend a great deal of time worrying about what will happen when you’re selling one home and buying another. You’re not alone. REALTORS®, lawyers, and title and escrow companies have had plenty of experience in arranging contracts and loans so that the two transactions dovetail smoothly. It’s best to list your present home for sale first. Selling and buying a home is a very emotional event and if you create a “race” by locating your replacement property before you sell your current home, you may lose it to another buyer, who does not need to sell in order to buy. If you do fi nd just the house you want, you can always put in a purchase offer contingent (dependent) on selling your present one. However, in a hot market you will have difficulty getting the house you want this way. Sometimes the seller will sign a contract agreeing to wait a certain period of time while you fi nd a buyer for your house – sometimes not. What would you do if you were presented with such a proposal, from a buyer who also has a house to sell? If you do find that you need to buy the next house before you’ve received the proceeds from the present one, lending institutions can sometimes make you a short-term “bridge” loan to tide you over between the two transactions. Make sure you fully understand the exposure and emotional investment before proceeding with this type of loan.