The Times They Are a Changing - Pricing Homes To Sell
April 24th, 2008 Categories: Selling a Home
I did a market analysis today for a new listing and the very first thing I looked at was comparable active listings. Last year I would have looked at comparable sold listings first. That was before we had 9,000 plus active homes listed for sale in Wake County.
The name of the game today is beating the competition. And there’s plenty of it too. Buyers have choices. Lots of them. Last year I could list a home and sell it in a couple of months, maybe a couple of weeks, as long as I priced it in line with recent sales.
Recent sales are still important for setting a max price. But the competition must be beat if you want to sell a home in the Raleigh market today. The value proposition, condition for a certain price, is king. I can get a little more money for my clients and sell their homes a lot faster if the home looks better than the competition.
As important as pricing is, presentation and marketing are just as important now. All this stuff has been important in the past. It’s just that now I can almost predict the order houses will sell in a neighborhood based on price and condition.
Preparation will make you money. Staging is money well spent. Inspecting your home and making repairs before putting it on the market helps too.
Thinking about putting your home on the market any time soon? Don’t take anything for granted.
