is where a shoddy price-setting process will come back to haunt you. If your home is overpriced or underpriced, you will enter the negotiating phase with a distinct handicap. You need to know your bottom line—your fallback position. What is the minimum price you are prepared to accept for your home in order to achieve your sales goals? A common mistake is to set a price based not on your home’s value or how much you can reasonably expect to get for it, but rather, on how much you want to spend in the future. You might have a set amount in mind for starting a new business, creating an investment portfolio, or building your dream home. The profits you gain from selling your house can be part of those plans, but understand that there is probably no direct correlation between how much you need and how much someone would be willing to pay for your current home. You might need or want several million dollars (who wouldn’t?). But unless your home is worth several million dollars, don’t price it that way. Have you received a Current Market Analysis or results of an appraisal? Have you considered how simple home improvements or staging could affect your pricing? Pricing a home can be as much of an art as a science. Your REALTOR® can be your best ally here. And if there’s anything you don’t understand or that doesn’t pass your “smell” test, don’t be shy about seeking a second—or even a third—opinion before setting your price. You need to be absolutely confident about your price when entering the negotiation phase.
NOT BEING PREPARED FOR SUCCESS
Some sellers plan for a worst-case scenario—a housing market drop, an unreliable buyer, a house that languishes on the market, a deal that falls through at the last moment. But are you ready if things go right? Do you have a place to go if your house sells right away? Are you approved by a lender for your next home? Are you
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