The market has been gaining steam, and the seller is taking control

 

Our average number of days on the market went from 30 days to 7 days or less.

While overpricing to some degree can be beneficial, you’ll still want to be careful and avoid pricing your home too high, which almost always is nonproductive.

As you work with your agent and set your price, you’ll want to recognize the factors that may prompt you to raise your asking price too much when it isn’t warranted. Some of those factors include:

• Upgrades have been added. While many home improvements will help you recoup a good chunk of your investment, it won’t give you 100 percent of what you paid. Also, the more personal the improvement—a swimming pool, a sun room, purple floors—the less likely it will be viewed favorably by potential buyers.
• The need for money.
• You’re moving to a higher-priced area.
• The original purchase price was too high.
• The seller lacks factual comparable sales to prove what the market value is.
• The seller wants bargaining room (listing more than 1-3 percent above market value actually reduces bargaining power).
• An unnecessary move, so you’re not motivated.

 

 

Generally, the asking price—the price advertised when it goes on the market—is set slightly higher than market value, usually 1 to 3 percent above market value.

You should assume that negotiation will be necessary to reach an agreement with the buyer. If you price your home too much above market value, you’ll get fewer showings and offers in which the potential buyer is fishing to determine how low you’ll go.

You’ll want to establish your priority list: Are you more concerned with selling quickly or getting the most money possible? You’ll also want to contemplate whether you think the agent’s suggested price is reasonable and whether you’d pay that amount if you were a buyer.

Your agent, as well as friends, relatives, and neighbors, will help you point out your house’s advantages and disadvantages that you may not have thought about because you’re too close to the house and not as objective as others.

A third party( Your Real estate Agent) will help you think of your house as a commodity—something with positive and negative selling points. At that point you can decide on a price that you deem competitive and in line what other houses in your area have sold for.