You’re probably looking to accomplish two main things with the sale of your home:
- Get the most amount of money
- Complete the process in the least amount of time
In our experience, achieving both is a careful balancing act. You can sell your home in a heartbeat with a price low enough and, contrary to this, it will last an eternity on the market if it’s overpriced.
You can estimate how long your home will be on the market by taking into consideration your needs and evaluating how other homes in your area are performing.
Baseline Days on the Market
We’ll begin by determining the average amount of time it takes for a home with similar features and amenities to sell in your neighborhood. This will establish a baseline that we can use to gauge how both under and overpricing your home affects it’s days-on-market.
Once we’ve established a baseline, we can then consider your timing and financial needs in regards to pricing. We’ll refer to this statistic as “baseline” later in this article.
Price
You have three choices when it comes to pricing your home: below, at, and above market. Each comes with its pros and cons, and choosing one will be based on your financial needs and time frame.
Below Market
When you are below market price, you can expect your home to sell faster than your baseline. The reasons are fairly obvious– you’ve intentionally listed your home at a below-market price with the intention of attracting the most number of buyers in the least amount of time. Buyers will include both those who plan to live in the home themselves and investors.
The hidden gem with this pricing method is that you can proactively solicit multiple offers and possibly drive up the price of your home. This simply cannot be done if you are not attracting multiple buyers, and this pricing method almost ensures this to happen.
The biggest concern with pricing under market is that you’re leaving money on the table. While this is also our concern, we’ll coach you on how much under market you should price to ensure you’re getting more offers, while minimizing the risk of losing money.
At Market
Pricing your home at it’s market price, or the price we determine your home is actually worth based on it’s features, amenities, and condition, ensures that it will be sold in your baseline timeframe. A seller who isn’t in a desperate need to sell quickly could consider this option. While you may not get as many buyers as the under-priced method, you will still receive the average amount of interest as other homes for sale in your market.
Buyers with this pricing method will usually include those who plan to live in the home themselves.
Overpriced
Each pricing method has it’s benefits, and the overpriced method is reserved for those homes that could be considered “benchmark” or in a better condition with more features than other homes in their market.
Overpriced homes should expect to stay on the market the longest, as they’re targeting a very specific niche buyer who values the reasons justifying the increase in list price.
Conclusion
As you can see, the amount of time your home spends on the market is in direct relation to how it’s priced in relation to the baseline.
Contact one of the gayrealestate.com professionals today to discuss your needs and the real estate market to determine which pricing method is best for you.
Author Jeff Hammerberg is the Founding CEO of www.GayRealEstate.com offering Free Instant Access to Gay, Lesbian and Gay Friendly Realtors Coast to Coast.
