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Selling a Home: Price
This is the first, most important, and often the most difficult hurdle your
realtor and you must successfully clear together. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: You have lived in your home for a considerable period of time, you have made many lasting memories and much family history there, you have poured a lot of your money and usually much of your sweat into paying for and improving the place. It is only natural that your idea of its worth should be greater than what realtors, appraisers, and other real estate professionals tell you it is, as and where the home sits, in today's marketplace. In fact, it would seem unnatural if you didn't feel that way.
But it is vitally important for sellers and buyers alike to understand and appreciate that realtors do not pull suggested listing prices out of thin air. There is a detailed and somewhat complex method, utilized by all real estate professionals all over the country-agents, appraisers, builders and developers alike-to determine
what a particular property in a specified location and condition, should sell for. It
involves careful and thorough research through area tax and real estate records into other similar properties that have sold recently in the same or similar location and condition. We then take the actual recent sales prices of those multiple properties and adjust them to compensate for differences in age, lot size, square footage, number of rooms, condition, type of building materials, amenities and improvements, all according to specific formulas. That produces several figures-we always try to find and include at least three maybe four comparables, as they are called-which we then average to come up with a price that accurately reflects what a willing and able buyer should pay for your home today. We at TeamSold walk you through every step of that process, so that when we are done, you know exactly how we arrived at our suggested listing price.
A particular seller may not be happy about, or agree with, the figure all that research produces. And some will insist on listing at their perceived notion of value, which is much higher than the figure our research produced; there are agents out there who will take such listings, knowing they are overpriced and unlikely to get many lookers, let alone takers or even offers. Once in a blue moon a buyer comes along who just has to have your particular property, no matter the price. And when that happens, we say Congratulations! However, what generally happens when a property is listed much too high is that very soon seller and agent alike are unsatisfied and discouraged, Marketing falls by the wayside, and finally the seller is the only one who has any energy or interest left. We at TeamSold have occasionally — occasionally — accepted listings we have known to be somewhat overpriced. But there have to be some good reasons for us to do that. For example, we and the seller may agree to test the marketplace at the higher figure for a period of time, with the clear understanding that the seller will lower the price if we are unsuccessful. Please remember that we cannot well serve you with your hands and ours tied at the outset. We want you as satisfied repeat customers, not as disillusioned and disgruntled homeowners (of a house they need to sell) who slam our door on the way out.
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