Along with an understanding of how the worth of a home is determined, the current market must be considered. By utilizing a professional real estate agent, you can rely on proven expertise to market your home at the best listing price. Most agents will begin with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to determine your home’s value. While that’s an important tool, I take a different approach. "I start by asking what do you want to get out of this investment—your goals, your timeline, and what success looks like for you." Once I understand that, I use CMAs to support a pricing strategy that aligns with your objectives, not just the market average.
THE SECOND STEP (SELLING YOUR HOME FOR MORE)
Prior discussion showed that there is no calculable certainty in setting the value of a home. There can be wide differences between the seller’s assessed price, the asking or listing price (market value), and the price at which the home sells (sale price). Let’s turn to what the homeowner/seller can do to elicit offers at, or even above, the listing price in a competitive market. The seller’s time, effort, and investment are the most important parts of the process. The seller’s willingness to adequately prepare the home for presentation—and willingness to live in that pristine state for the time it takes to sell the property—will greatly affect both the sale period as well as the price at which the home sells. A market in which homes normally sell in no more than six months of listing is considered balanced or neutral, which means a good number of homeowners are selling and buyers are purchasing; therefore, neither has an upper hand. A variable, for instance, like a major company entering—or moving from—the area will tip the scale toward homeowners to make a swift market
7
Powered by FlippingBook