Pricing Your Home to Sell

The days of receiving tens of thousands of dollars above asking in mere days of listing your Inland Empire home may be a thing of the past. Yes. We are still in a seller’s market. And, yes, we sometimes still see sellers who receive more than one offer on their homes. However, over one-third of the houses on the market in Riverside County saw a price cut last month. Staging your home and making necessary repairs before you list are only parts of the total home sale equation. If you wish to find a buyer quickly, you really need to price your home correctly to begin with. That means paying attention to current market trends.

Pricing Your Home to Sell

Hire a Local REALTOR®

How does hiring a local REALTOR® help you with pricing your home to sell? Well, a local REALTOR® knows the local market. They also know current market trends in that specific area. Fortunately, a good Inland Empire REALTOR® also has many resources at their fingertips to help you set a competitive price for your home that brings buyers to your door.

Using Comps

Your REALTOR® can research recently sold “comps” in the area for you. These are properties similar in size, location, and age to your own. Look for price reductions and how long they sat on the market before they went under contract. Multiple reductions and long days on the market usually mean the seller priced their property too high.

Withdrawn and Expired Listings

See how many sellers ended up withdrawing their listings from the market. Also, take note of expired listings. Withdrawn means that the seller decided to take it off the market. Expired means that the listing agreement between the seller and their agent ran out of time without a sale taking place. Ask your agent to find out why these listings either were withdrawn or expired. Many times, the answer could be due to listing it too high. However, that is not always the case.

Strategize

You can handle pricing your home one of two ways: at market value or slightly below market value. Either way, keep emotion out of the equation. Your REALTOR® will give you their opinion of a good list price based on comps and current market trends. And I highly recommend that you take their experienced opinion into account when you decide on a list price. Ask them if they believe listing it slightly below market value might work in your favor. Keep in mind that this is a gamble because you may end up only receiving one offer at that lower price. On the flip side, it might also encourage several buyers to put their offers in, creating a bidding war and driving the price up. Discuss this option with your REALTOR® to determine if that is a strategy you wish to pursue or not.

Muna Dionne, your Inland Empire specialist with Coldwell Banker Realty