place to make it happen! The problem with pricing too low is that buyers will think there’s something wrong with the property, even if it looks great and you can prove all the mechanical systems are in good working order. It’s the “too good to be true” problem, and it can cause your home to sit on the market. You also don’t want to price above market value. At the top of it is fine if your home warrants it, but if you go too high, people will look at (and buy!) comparable houses in the area that are priced better, meaning that, once again, your home sits. And the longer it sits, the more peak selling time you lose. So how do you figure out market value? One way is to look at what similar homes are listed for. You also want to look into the highest value of your property itself. It’s possible your home’s listed in an ideal spot for development, so you don’t want to miss out on the potential to make more money using that angle! In addition, it’s important to consider what the market is doing. A seller’s market is when there are few houses for sale and they all seem to sell pretty quickly. Looking at how much homes have sold for doesn’t help that much in this scenario. If the market’s shifted to your advantage, you may be able to get more—possibly a lot more!—than similar homes that have recently sold. On the opposite side lies the buyer’s market, where there are more homes available than buyers to buy them. This is when it’s most important to be aware of the competition’s pricing. If you’re too far off, potential buyers will just look elsewhere, and you’ll be left with no choice but to change your list price. Your best bet is to place yourself at the lower end of the range in this case. When you’re looking at comparable homes, you want to look for properties that have similar location, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, condition, acreage, and other features. Do not look at bank-owned homes, short sales, or homes that are
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