HOW YOUR ASKING PRICE AFFECTS

YOUR SELLING PRICE

 

There TThere are 4 common strategies that most sellers use to price their homes. It is unwisesafe to assume that a higher asking price will net you a higher selling price. In fact, often tthis equation works in reverse, especially if you're not paying attention to what the marketmarket is telling you. Remember, you cannot "fool the market" with a high price. Please factor these facts when you set your asking price.

1.   Clearly Overpriced - Every seller like you wants to realize the most amount of money they can for their home, and every real estate agent knows this. If more than one agent is competing for your listing, an easy way for the agent to win you over is to over-inflate the value of your home. Often we see new listings that are priced at 10 - 20% over their true market value. This is very unfair to you - and once you are listed with the agent who convinced you to go with the high price, that agent will constantly ask and pressure you for price reductions in order to sell.

This "High Price Tactic" is not in your best interest, because in most cases the market won't and can't be fooled.  As a result, your home could languish on the market for months, leaving you with a couple of important drawbacks:

v     your home is likely to be labeled as a "troubled" house by other agents, leading to a lower than fair market price when an offer is finally made

v     you have been greatly inconvenienced with having to constantly have your home in "perfect showing" condition for months … for nothing.

v     homes that are clearly overpriced often expire unsold, forcing you to go through the whole listing process all over again, often with poorer results than had you listed at the right price in the beginning.

2.    Somewhat Overpriced - Often about 3/4 of the homes on the market are 5-10% overpriced. These homes will also sit on the market longer than anyone would want. There is usually one of two factors at play here: either you believe in your heart that your home is really worth this much despite what the market has logically indicated (after all, there's a lot of emotion caught up in this issue), OR you've left a little too much room for negotiating. Either way, this strategy will cost you both in terms of time on the market and ultimate price received.

3.    Priced Correctly at Market Value.  Most sellers understand that real estate is part of the capitalistic system of supply and demand.  They will carefully and realistically price their homes based on a thorough and complete analysis of other sales and the "competing" homes on the market. These competitively priced homes usually sell within a reasonable time-frame and sell very close to the asking price. When your home is priced correctly, it should sell for 97% to 99% of asking price!

4.    Priced Below Market Value - Some sellers are motivated and require an instant or quick sale. These homes attract multiple offers and sell fast - usually in a few days - at, or above, the asking price. Be cautious that the agent suggesting this method is making this recommendation with your best interest in mind.

 

H     HOW TO GET THE PRICE YOU WANT (AND NEED) FOR YOUR HOME

 

When   You decide to sell your home, setting your asking price is one of the most important decisio things you will ever make. Depending on how a buyer finds your home, price is often the fir the first thing he or she sees.  Many homes are discarded by prospective buyers as not being in the appropriate price range before these homes are given a chance to be shown.

Your kiThe asking price is often your home's "first impression", and if you want to realize the most money you can from your home's sale, it is imperative that you make a good first impression.

Because this is not as easy as it sounds, your pricing strategy should not be taken lightly. Pricing too high can be more costly to a home seller as pricing too low. Taking a look at what homes in your neighborhood have sold for is only a small part of the process, and this on it's own is not nearly enough to help you make the best decision for yourself and your family. 

 

PRICING STRATEGY STARTS WITH GOOD INFORMATION

Before you can begin to know what your home is worth, you should do some research, bearing in mind the following:

An analysis of what homes have recently sold for in your neighborhood is NOT enough to help you properly price your home. A quick scan up and down the street at the prices of homes that have recently sold will give you a starting point. However, this is not nearly enough for you to base your entire pricing strategy on. It is most important for you to understand how buyers look for a home.

Go back in your memory and think about how you conducted your house hunting search to find the home you are now thinking of selling. You most likely did not confine your search to a single neighborhood, but perhaps you looked in different neighborhoods or areas in order to find the home that best matched your needs and desires.

The prospective buyers who will be viewing your home, will conduct their searches in a similar manner. That means they will be comparing your home to, for example, brand new development homes, century homes, 10-20 year old homes, etc. They will also consider different locations such as homes in established neighborhoods, the middle of town, the suburbs or possibly even country properties. Each home will have a different look and feel and it's quite possible that a prospective buyer might consider all of these variables in the search for their home.

You can see that, when you're selling your home, you're not just competing with the home around the corner, but also with all homes in other areas which have the same basic characteristics: i.e. number of rooms, overall living space, features and extras, etc.

 

Marketing Strategy to Sell Your Home!!!

 

Clearly defined objectives when selling:

 

v To sell your home for the highest possible sale price with the best terms and conditions and the least amount of inconvenience to you.

v To use the best and most effective methods of exposing your property to as many qualified buyers as possible, until it is SOLD.

Prepare details of your home:
	Prepare a comprehensive personal market analysis to establish the most effective asking price.
	Make recommendations on your home to make it more appealing and get you more $$.
	Take the time to fill in all the intricate details, features and extras of your home on the MLS listing to make it as appealing to all the other 20,000 plus agents who have access to the listing. It would be great for you and me if I could sell all my listed homes myself from inquires off the for sale sign, the internet or other marketing and advertising, but the reality is that most homes sell with the buyer coming through another agent. Thus we want your MLS listing to stand out and be appealing to the agents that look through the thousands of listings!
	Broker load all pertinent data on the system so that all Agents that are members can be aware of your property immediately (if listed with the Multiple Listing Service).
	Create custom high Quality Colour feature sheets, to hand out to prospective buyers and their Agents.
	Put up a "For Sale" sign, the 24-hour silent salesperson.
	Equip your home with a secure lockbox so it is accessible for showings.
	Send or fax for a written confirmation of your mortgage details.
	Schedule the Agent's Open House on the appropriate morning at your request.
Extras
	Take digital colour photographs of the interior and exterior of your home and produce a high quality "on-line" feature sheet on your home stressing all the highlights, features and extras of your home.
	Create high quality colour promotion flyers of your home. Your home feature sheets will be easy to read and include exterior and interior photographs. Also included will be local school information and room measurements, a copy of your survey and a floor plan if available.
	Feature your home on the mls.ca website. When your home appears on the public MLS sites, it will have a Virtual Tour button linked to all the photos and extra information about your home. This improves quality buyers coming to your home before our competition.
	Promptly schedule all appointments through our sales office.
	Follow-up on all Agents who show the property to get feedback and to see if there are any things the agents may have missed, ideas or misinformation or objections that I can help the purchasers overcome.
	Report feedback to you so you know what the prospective buyer's and Agent's observations and reactions are to your home.
	Keep records of all activity on your home and periodically provide you with a Marketing Report.
	Follow-up on all Agents who have indicated that they have registered a potential buyer for your property.
Focused, strategic, target marketing sells homes!!

 

 

" A w  A well calculated marketing strategy is crucial for the sale of your home in today's competitive market.