The housing market is favorable towards sellers nowadays, so you may feel like this is your moment to sell your home.
Just like buying a house, there are many factors to consider when selling one. Do your research, check out a seller closing costs calculator, or work with an agent so you can get the most out of your property.
Review Sales of Like Homes
Take a look at recent sales from your area, and in particular factors that include home details, days on the market, and final sale price. If you’re working with an agent, they should provide you this through a CMA, or competitive market analysis.
Most local assessors’ offices will provide lists of sales, and some newspapers publish quarterly sales reports in their real estate sections.
When researching on your own, make sure the properties you’re looking at to compare are within one-quarter to one-half mile from your home, have been listed within the past 3 months, are approximately the same age as your property, and have square footage to within 10 percent of your home.
Additionally, you can hire an independent appraiser who, for a few hundred dollars, can give you a fair market value.
However, Don’t Let These Sales Pigeonhole You
Price banding is the practice of looking over current inventory in your neighborhood and finding a less crowded price point.
Just because recently sold homes in Tennesee sit within the price range of $252,200 and $255,000, it doesn’t mean you have to get stuck within that range as well.
Perhaps a home just outside your location range sold for $275,000. Take advantage of the range of $265,000 or thereabouts, as you are now sitting in the middle of sold prices in the area.
Look For Withdrawn and Expired Listings
Pull up these listings and determine if they were taken off the market and relisted.
“Expired” means that the term of the listing agreement ran out without a sale, while “withdrawn” means the listing agreement is still in effect, but the homeowner no longer wants to market the property.
Add these days on the market back to the current listing time periods to determine the actual days the property was on the market. Then, look for patterns as to why they didn’t sell, and note any common factors they might share.
Look at the Market As A Whole
Consider current market conditions and factor that into your pricing.
If it’s a buyer’s market, your sales price might allow some wiggle room for, but you’ll want to be close enough to the last comparable sale in your area to entice a buyer to tour your home.
If it’s a seller’s market, you might want to add 10% more to the last comparable sale in your area. You’ll likely get it if there’s little inventory and many buyers.
If the market is neutral, you might want to initially set your price at the last comparable sale in a balanced or neutral market, then adjust it for the market trends.