FINDING COMPARABLES How do you find accurate comparable sales and use them to determine your home’s exact value? Search internet sites such as Zillow or Realtor. com. To search for homes like yours, enter criteria such as square footage or number of bedrooms. The key to finding accurate comparable sales is to find the properties that are closest in location, condition, square footage, features, etc. Howdo you determine which comparable sales you should use andwhich to ignore? The following comparable sales should not be used. Very few of these properties sell for a fair value. Bank Owned/REO Properties: Banks always sell their homes for less than they are worth. I don’t know why, but they do it so often that I know it is true. The average bank owned home in today’s market is selling for 5% to 10% less than its fair value. This is true even for homes that are in good shape. Short Sales: Buyers and their agents hate short sales because they are tricky and unreliable. A buyer will often fall in love with a short-sale home, only to find out the banks won’t approve the short sale. Agents do not like to show them for the same reasons. As a result, the pool of buyers for a short sale is much smaller than for a regular listing. Ugly Homes: These are homes that are unappealing and aren’t kept up. People buy homes because of emotion. Logic doesn’t always apply. As a result, a well-maintained home will sell for more money. We have seen well-maintained homes sell for 10% to 15% more than an unappealing home. We have seen professionally staged homes sell for 20% more than an unstaged property. Yes, the condition of a home counts. Don’t use an ugly home as a comparable. IT’S ALL IN THE TIMING Timing is a slippery slope. If you take too much time with a sale, holding out for the perfect offer, you’re probably doing yourself a disservice.
56
Powered by FlippingBook