In addition to location and condition, the asking price of a home is at the top of the list of important considerations. When a potential buyer is looking for a property, they want to get the best possible value for their investment. This doesn’t mean that a home should be priced too low, but it does mean that knowing how to price your home is a must.

Know The Value

Regardless of whether you are in a buyer’s market or seller’s market, it’s important for every seller to know the actual value of their home with the help of an appraisal. With this information, you will be able to choose a listing price that does not exceed the home’s value. At the same time, you will know how to react to various offers that a potential buyer may make. If you can select a price that is affordable to a range of buyers, you may receive multiple offers thereby sparking a possible competition among the interested parties.

Do Your Homework

The asking price that you choose should not be based on an appraisal alone, but rather a combination of factors. One such factor is that of recent selling prices for comparable homes in the area. Important comparisons include construction year, square meters, views (if applicable), interior upgrades and additional features that make the home unique. While you’re doing research, check out current listings and the asking price for each home available in your area.

Set A Realistic Timetable

In researching the sale price for other comparable homes in the area, you should also note the length of time a particular house has been on the market. Some homes practically sell overnight, while others may remain on the market for months without being sold. If you want to sell your home quickly, you should consider this when setting a price. A bargain will obviously move quicker, but it’s important to make enough from the sale to feel good about your choice. If you aren’t in a hurry to close, talk with your Smart Homes agent about a fair starting price that’s at or near the appraised value of your home.

Ask Smart Homes for Advice

While you hold the key, so to speak, to your house’s actual asking price, most sellers will ask their realtor for their opinion. After all, real estate is our business and we will be working with you through every step of the process.

Once you’ve made the decision to sell your home, it’s time to think about what comes next. Throughout the process, you may find it beneficial to have a checklist to help guide you in some very important choices that you will be making in the coming months.

Contact Smart Homes

A Smart Homes agent is a person who you will enlist to help with the selling of your home. Just like no two homes are alike, no two owners are alike and each has different needs when it comes to real estate. We will be responsible for marketing your home to potential buyers. As such, you should choose someone that you feel comfortable with and will do the best job for you. The only way to know this will be to speak with a Smart Homes agent, ask plenty of questions and get a feel for how we do business.

Get An Appraisal

When you list your home for sale, an appraisal will be helpful for a number of reasons. As the seller, you may wonder why you would need to have your home appraised, but here’s why. As a seller, you do not want to overprice or underprice your home. If you ask for more than the home is actually worth, lenders won’t likely grant a loan even if you find a willing buyer. If you price your home too low, not only will you be taking away from your own profit, but potential buyers may wonder what’s wrong with the home that it’s priced so far below market value.

With an appraisal, you can list your home with the knowledge that you need to make sure the price is right. If you want to advertise the home as a bargain, sell it somewhat below the appraised value. Buyers will know they are getting instant equity in the home and lenders will see the investment as a good one.

As a final thought to choosing an asking price, note that your Realtor will require a commission and possibly other fees in connection with listing your home on the market. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask the realtor for a written summary of these fees, as opposed to just a mention of them in the contract, and how much they will be. With this information, you will know exactly how much money you will have left in your pocket from the sale of your home.

Decide How Quickly You Want To Sell

Believe it or not, your schedule could greatly impact the listing price. If you are in a hurry to sell, you may find that a competitive asking price will help you to get the cash you need much quicker. A price that reflects the higher end of a buyer’s budget may take some time to sell, so consider these factors when pricing your home.

Make Time For Updates

Smart Homes will offer advice as to what needs updated, repaired or changed in order to maximize the potential of your home. When a buyer looks at a house, they are looking at the cost, needed repairs or upgrades, decor, etc. Once we do a walkthrough and explain what, if anything, needs updated, you will commit to an asking price and sign the listing agreement.

Field Offers

As a seller, you are probably already aware that potential buyers will make an offer that could be less than your actual asking price. That’s the name of the game, and you will need to decide whether or not your asking price is firm or negotiable. If an offer comes your way, you will always have the option of making a counteroffer or simply rejecting the deal altogether.

As a final thought to the negotiation process, keep in mind that buyers typically offer less than they are actually willing to pay initially. Most offers are time sensitive, which means you may have to make some quick decisions. Of course, Smart Homes will be there to guide you through every step of the process and will likely offer an opinion as to whether or not an offer is fair in the current market.

Close the Deal

When the price is right and you agree to the terms, it’s time to say goodbye to your former home and hello to a brand new life. Letting go is not always easy, but moving forward is a part of life. If you still live in the home, most contracts will require that you move within 30 days. If you no longer live in the home, most buyers will want to move in immediately.

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

You would never dream of inviting guests to your house without making certain preparations, so don’t invite potential buyers without first making the necessary updates by preparing your home to sell. If you are like most sellers, you want to get as much as possible for your home and you want to do it as quickly as possible.

Letting Go

After you’ve lived in a house, it becomes much more than four walls and a ceiling. It’s a home and it has a lot of good memories. Your first step to preparing your home to sell is to realize that you will take these memories with you wherever you go, but you won’t be taking the house. It can be difficult to let go, but the task will be much easier if you start to think of it as a new beginning rather than an ending.

Cleaning House

An important part of getting your home ready to sell is in staging the decor for potential buyers. When you stage a home, you create an environment that is free of any personal items, such as photos and/or anything that stands out as being customized for you or your family. When a potential buyer walks through your home, they need to envision their belongings and decor without being distracted by yours. While these items may be special to you, they could possibly prevent the buyer from being able to imagine their own style complimenting the home.

In addition to removing any personal items, make sure that you remove any clutter from the home. A clean home seems larger and more inviting, whereas a lot of stuff lying around could give the impression that the home is too small or cramped for storage. Pack up any knickknacks, remove your children’s drawings from the refrigerator and clean up your counter space in both the kitchen and bathrooms.

Staging Your Home

Now that your house is clean, it’s time to put the finishing touches on the staging process. A solid, neutral shade in a tablecloth should be selected for the dining room table. Depending on your decor and wall coloring, a solid white, sand or ivory covering will work well. In the center of the table, a vase with fresh cut flowers (or silk, if you have allergies) will add a nice accent. Did you know that the kitchen and bathroom are two of the main selling points to any home? Keep this in mind when preparing your home for potential buyers.

The living room should have one focal point. If you have too many features screaming out at potential buyers, they may feel overwhelmed, so focus on one aspect and make it shine. If you have a mantle, line it with three candles that match your decor in color. Place a large candle in the center with one smaller one on each end, which will be reminiscent of a perfectly matched bookend set. A home with a stunning view should have window dressings that accent the positive, instead of hiding it. If your furniture has a design of any kind, mask it with a solid slipcover to compliment the flooring or wall color. Some homeowners also add a fresh coat of paint to their home, which will bring life back into a fading color. Turn on the lights and open the blinds and draperies to create a bright and inviting environment throughout your home.

Where To Store Your Stuff

Now that you know how important it is to remove any clutter and oversized or bulky furniture, you need to know where to put it. If you already have a new home, you can simply move it there. Otherwise, you can put it into storage until you are ready to move. It’s important to leave some essentials in your former home for potential buyers to see, such as a dining room table, a sofa and chairs, bed, etc. Any additional furnishings that seem to interrupt the flow of your home, or make it feel cramped, should be removed. You do not want potential buyers to feel as though the house is too small.

Details, Details, Details . . .

As a final strategy to prepare your home to sell, make sure that you have any carpet stains removed, windows cleaned, fresh linens placed in the bedrooms and bathrooms, etc. You would be surprised how many people pay attention to even the smallest of details, so be sure to fix any small repairs that could be a turnoff for buyers. Last but not least, make sure your home looks just as good on the outside as it does on the inside. This means that your lawn should be cared for, flower beds must be maintained and any outdoor clutter must be removed.

You prefer to sell your home without the benefit of a real estate professional, because you know your home better than any Realtor ever could. Obviously, this is true.

But knowing what it is like to live in your home and knowing how to sell it-or any property-are entirely different things. So before you commit to putting your home on the market as an FSBO (for sale by owner), we’d love to sit down and go over a few important details with you.

Why should you bother? For starters, did you know that on average, homeowners who sell their homes through a real estate agent or broker make substantially more money than those who sell as an FSBO? This is true even after the Realtor’s standard commission has been factored in, because that commission is tiny compared to the average sales price differential of 20%.

That’s because selling a property is not only about knowing your home, but knowing how it compares to other, similar properties on the market. It’s about having the experience to understand what kind of advertising attracts the attention of the most desirable buyers. It’s about knowing how to present a property to maximize curb appeal. It’s about understanding the psychology of the individual homebuyer and that the aspect of your property your prospective buyer finds most compelling might be something you never think about.

And it’s also about pricing. Most FSBOs are priced incorrectly. They either sell for too little to begin with, or are initially overpriced and linger on the market for ages before the asking price is drastically reduced. As a professional specializing in real estate, we have access to resources allowing us to set the right price to achieve a speedy sale at top guilders.

So please, give us a call, and we can arrange a time to sit down and discuss how we can get you the results you want.