Setting The Price

Deciding on the best price to sell your home is the most important decision we will collectively make. Every home sells – regardless of it’s condition or location.  But the price must be in alignment with that condition and location or the home won’t sell.  It’s analogous to the traditional 3-legged stool; if one leg is off kilter, the stool won’t stand.

Setting The Right Price For Your Home

A key piece of your marketing plan is setting the right list price. But how do we determine the right list price?  

My role as your realtor will be to know and understand the current market trends and forecasts; review competing comparable homes as well as recently sold comparable homes; interpret key data points from these various information sources; and then provide a realistic range of prices from which we can sell.  

Based on this guidance and expertise, you then get to make the final decision on the list price based upon your specific timeline and equity needs.

The key point here is that setting the price is ultimately your decision – but it will be based on data and facts that I bring to the table to assist with that critical decision.

A couple of important points to highlight that do NOT impact your market value and therefore should not be the driving factor behind our eventual list price:

1. The amount you “need’ out of the sale.  This is important for me to understand and I will do everything within my power to help achieve your financial goals and will advise you accordingly.  However, the amount “needed” from a sale in no way impacts a home’s market value.  The harsh reality is… buyers don’t care. The last thing they’re worried about is how much a seller “needs” out of the sale.  So, again, let me know on the front end so I can advise you appropriately but you cannot assume value based on your financial needs.
2. The amount spent on repairs and updates.  A common misconception is that if a seller spends $10,000 on a new roof, they should automatically recoup this in their sale.   It’s actually much more situationally dependent.  The fact is buyers expect a functioning roof and if it doesn’t have one, they deduct value from the home.  Value is not added because of a new roof, new furnace or AC, water heater, or updated electrical.  These are baseline, minimum expectations — much like someone buying a new car expects functioning tires and a working engine.
3. The most common misconception is that the Tax Assessed Value is the same as your market value. This is simply not true.  There is no direct correlation between assessed and market value. A frequent question I ask sellers is — When was the last time the tax assessor walked through your home? Inevitably the answer is never.  Meaning there’s no way the assessor can know the condition of your home (good or bad), it’s features, upgrades, or desirability. The Assessed Value is merely a mechanism by which local governments collect revenue in order to perform local government services.

As you can see, there is a lot to consider in establishing an effective and appropriate list price. There is no single data point or one way to do it.  The key is experience in understanding the 3-legged stool of location, condition, and price and balancing this with the sellers timeline and equity goals.