Is The Price Right?

Shortly after graduating high school, a couple friends of mine and I got a real world education on the sales price of items as we were contestants on the popular game show The Price is Right on CBS. My friend was better at this process than I was as he came home with a car. I spent the day on contestants’ row being outbid by several and coming home with a consolation prize. When setting the sales price of your home will you be like my friend and come out a winner or like me? If you are like me, I doubt you’ll get a consolation prize.

When considering selling your home there are some things you must know to set the price for your home to sell.

First of all, your homes value is viewed differently by the various parties involved in the transaction. As the homeowner, normally your belief of the value will be the highest. Your value is based off of the experiences you have had in the home. Your prospective buyers are going to view the value much lower. The buyer doesn’t care that you laid the tile in the bathroom one weekend or any other sweat equity you may have in the home. A price that will sell the home will be somewhere in the middle.

If the price is initially set too high your home will sit on the market for a lot longer than necessary. Homes are shown most in the first few weeks of being on the market. Would you rather have the price set right to get an offer early on or wait it out until someone comes along after you’ve reduced the price months down the road?

“So how do I set the price,” you ask. The first thing you need to do is invite two to three Realtors into your home to perform a comparative market analysis (CMA). Most Realtors will provide this as a free service to you in hopes of gaining your future business. A CMA shows the sales price of comparable homes that have recently sold in your area.

Now that you have some data to look at, you must decide which Realtor’s price makes the most sense to you. You will be tempted to list with the Realtor that provided you with the highest value. This is not always the best choice. In this case the Realtor may be coming back to you in a month demanding you reduce the price for the property to sell.

Here in Cache Valley, we still have a thriving real estate market. Homes hold their value, yet buyers are sensitive to price now due to the National media’s negative coverage. The good news is if your home is priced right, it will sell. Currently, the market is great to buy with low interest rates and a large inventory of homes to choose from.

If your home is overpriced, it will sit on the market for a while. So, the question to ask yourself: is the price right?

Robert Bowen is a Realtor® with RE/MAX EXCEL of Logan. You can contact him at robertbowen@remax.net or call him at 435-770-1352 with any questions.