Few property conversations evoke as much passion as setting a price when you’re considering selling.
Your expectations of an achievable price may conflict with the advice of your agent, which will be based on the mood of the market and the prices of similar properties nearby.
As an experienced agent, I empathize with homeowners who have high price ambitions and I always do everything in my power to achieve the desired goals. Equally, one has to acknowledge the reality that a home will only sell if its price meets the market.
My promise is to advise you on the best price that I believe we can achieve based on the current market conditions. Nobody wants your home to sit on the market for months on end, slowly losing value.
If my advice doesn’t match your expectations, then I always welcome a second, professional opinion. At these times, it can be helpful to call in a valuer for an independent assessment.
The issue I want to avoid is that overpricing your home causes you anxiety, and is likely to cost you money and deny you the opportunity to begin the next chapter of your life.
Here are some steps I recommend to ensure this doesn’t happen:
- Let’s have a discussion about properties similar to yours that have sold locally in the past three months. I’d be happy to provide you with a current market analysis.
- We’ll talk about any local expired listings to understand why similar homes to yours have not found a buyer. Avoiding the mistakes others have made can be extremely valuable.
- Conduct your own research. Check the existing inventory within 3 miles of your own home on property websites. Look for square footage, number of bedrooms, parking, garage, views, pool and recent remodeling to ensure the properties are good comparisons.
- We’ll work to minimise the chance of you selling against a lot of competition. It weakens your marketing and bargaining positions. Together we’ll discuss whether you’re entering a buyer or seller’s market.
- Inspect some similar homes to yours that are on the market right now. We can go see them together and honestly assess their strengths and weaknesses against yours, including the price expectations and any incentives for a quick sale.
- Once your research is complete we’ll set a base price. As your agent, I will assist you by calculating assets such as land value. We add to this the value of the structures and market sentiment.
- Then, we would agree on an asking price. Consider hiring an independent appraiser to give you comfort that you’re maximizing the value of your home while meeting price tolerances.
- We will assess the prices of comparable properties and find a price point that makes you stand out. If all competitive properties are around the $300,000 mark, pitch yourself either side of that number to ignite buyer interest.
- Be flexible. Consider edging down the price if there’s no buyer interest in the first few weeks as properties can go stale. When buyers see it has been on the market for a month or more, they either write it off or wait for a big reduction. Either way, that’s bad news for you.
- Offer incentives to edge potential buyers closer to a deal. These might include paying for a repair or alteration.