Determining Your Listing Price – Seller Tips

When you decide to sell your Gainesville Florida home, you want the highest possible return from its sale. Determining price is the most critical step in preparing your home for sale. Determining your listing price is crucial.

Pricing your property too low won’t provide the best return. You may get many showings with “lookers” rather than serious buyers. In a hot seller market you may get many offers, but you could lose thousands of dollars on your family’s largest investment – if the price is too low.

Likewise, pricing a property too high is risky. Homes priced too high will miss their target market. Qualified buyers who might find the home just right for their needs won’t see your home, or make an offer on it, because it is out of their price range. If they are shown an overpriced home during its early marketing stages and do not buy because it isn’t a good value, they are unlikely to revisit your home once the price is lowered. Real estate agents will hesitate to show an overpriced home. Many buyers are advised by their buyer agent about “market values” of every home they visit. It is extremely important to NOT over-price your home.

Many home sellers make a mistake by implementing the ‘let’s try it and see’ pricing attitude. But testing the market can be dangerous. A property receives its best exposure during the first three to five weeks on the market.  Home buyers are smart, and they often ask how long a home has been on the market.  The goal is to price the home at current market value expectations so that it will sell in a reasonable amount of time.

If your home is priced right from the beginning, you maximize your opportunity of reaching the most qualified buyers. Buyers who have seen most available homes in their price range are waiting for the right house to come on the market. This is why a well priced home often sells quickly once it is put on the market.  It is not uncommon for a great home, priced right, could bring multiple offers.

Multiple listing service (MLS) statistics show that the longer a home is on the market, the lower the selling price. This is true in a hot seller market.  This may vary in a high-inventory (buyer market).

Pricing a home is part art and part science. It’s based on hard evidence by looking at sale prices for comparable properties. But, no two homes are identical. That means the evidence must be evaluated by an agent with residential experience – and I hope you call me to provide you with a detailed Comparative Market Analysis Report (CMA) on your Gainesville home.

The right price really is “the right price range” to attract the maximum number of qualified buyers within a time frame that suits the sellers’ needs. Pricing strategy depends on the market conditions at the time your home is put up for sale. The real estate agent you choose must be active in the market, that constantly views homes and is monitoring the changing local market conditions. That’s me!  So let me help you make decisions on selling your home.

If you need help to determine the right price for your home, in order to sell your home in the least amount of time for the highest return, please contact me for a comparative market analysis and consultation regarding our local market conditions here in the Gainesville-Alachua County area.  We are here to help you!