| |
| |
|
|
Real Estate |
|
Selling Your Home Yourself - Pricing It Appropriately
When you're selling your own property, whether it's a house, townhouse, condo, apartment, a finished lot, raw land, a farm, a ranch, or whatever, the first thing to get right is the price you ask for it. If you work with a broker, the legwork is done for you. When you work as a FSBO (for sale by owner), you need to figure it out yourself. Let's look at how to do just that. Setting a Price First, don't make the mistake of looking only at what you need to get out of it. It's important to know that, of course, but that number may, or may not, have any relationship whatsoever to market price. It may be lower or higher than market price. The first is situation is great. The latter may require you to rethink whether you want to sell your property at this time. If you price your property below market price, it'll be snapped up quickly. The problem, of course, is you'll leave a lot of money on the table. This will lead to a lot of seller's remorse. If you price your property above market price, it may sit there unsold until the cows come home. If it's priced very much above market price, people won't even come and look at it. The market place talks and it talks loudly. So What's Your Goal? Market price is nearly always a range of prices -- high, medium, and low -- not an exact price. You want to price yourself near the top of the market price range for your property. That way, you'll have flexibility to negotiate price if need be. The only exception to the above scenario is if you're in a hurry to sell your property. In that situation, you should price yourself near the lower end of the market price range. Even if forced to do this, make sure you leave some wiggle room to negotiate with a buyer. Buyers will always assume the listed price is negotiable. How Do You Determine Market Price as a FSBO? The first way is the simplest and most expensive. Have it appraised by an appraiser who works with one or more mortgage lenders. Call the firm who initially issued your mortgage loan and ask who they use in your area. Be sure the appraiser knows your purpose is to establish the asking price for a sale. Using an appraiser can cost a few hundred dollars, but it can be money well spent. In addition to helping you price your property, it can also be helpful to show a buyer with whom you're negotiating that an appraisal supports the asking price. If you live in an area with a tight pattern of sales prices, you can check the price of sales in your neighborhood over the last three to six months. This is particularly true if you live in a subdivision with houses in a narrow range of sizes and styles. Many jurisdictions have this information online. If not, it is a matter of public record and should be available at the courthouse. The more individualized and unique your property, the more difficult this approach. With a little work, however, you can learn a lot. Another method for establishing a price is an online search. If you search for "pricing + house + your state," for example, you should find sites that will help you price your property. Some of these use real estate agents and brokers as resources, and that leads us to another option. It's really unfair if you don't intend to use a broker to help you sell your property, but if that's your fall back position (if selling on your own doesn't work out), you might invite a broker to do a market analysis of your property for you. Be up front. Explain that you're going to try it on your own first. Even under those circumstances, many brokers are willing to help you evaluate the market price of your property without any charge to you. They also usually give you a presentation of how they'd go about marketing your property should you decide to use them. Listen to that carefully, too. You can start evaluating whether you want to work with this person if you're not satisfied with your FSBO efforts. You also may very well pick up marketing ideas you can implement yourself. A Note of Caution Don't rely too heavily on what neighbors tell you in social situations about the sale of their own and/or other properties in your neighborhood. Listen, of course, but be aware that they often just know the original asking price and the fact that there's a buyer in the picture. They don't know that the asking price was lowered because of the condition of the house, a redecorating allowance was given, etc. Don't talk to a neighbor and then think, "Well, that house sold for $X, my house is in much better condition; therefore, I should be able to get $X + $Y." Maybe so. Maybe not. Base your pricing decisions on the most solid information available to you, not neighborhood gossip. If you base your pricing decisions on solid information and use good common sense, you should get a good result. In this case, a good result means a quick sale! Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.
MORE RESOURCES:
Real-Estate - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
RESPA: The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is a consumer protection statute, first passed in 1974. One of its purposes is to help consumers become better shoppers for settlement services. Should You Accept A Full Purchase Offer For Your Note or Not? You could be facing a dilemma when considering payout options on selling your mortgage note! To accept a full purchase offer or a partial purchase offer is not always an easy decision.Sure, to take the full purchase option is an easy decision to make if you're holding a second position note on a property that doesn't have any equity after you add the first and second mortgages, but what if that's not your situation? Full purchase payouts can be good if your primary concern is to just get out of the note and be done with it. How To Get Started In Preconstruction Investing? Through our website the most common question that we receive is "How do I get rapidly started in preconstruction investing". Realistically, you only need to take three steps on your path from being a "beginner" preconstruction investor to one that is extremely savvy. Canal Front Homes in Venice A bit about VeniceVenice, Florida was named by an early explorer who thought the beautiful, clean canals that snake through the coastal community starkly resembled the canals of the historic city of Venice, Italy. In the 2000 census, Venice, Florida had a population of 17,764 people and that number has continued to increase over the last five years. Buying a Home -- Is a Home Inspection a Good Idea? To avoid "buying a pig in a poke," buyers have long demanded the closing on a home purchase be contingent upon a satisfactory inspection by a home inspection firm. In many parts of our country, we're now experiencing a strong sellers' real estate market and sellers often receive more than one purchase offer on the same day for their home. How to Show & Sell Your California Home Seller's Showing Instructions1. When the agent arrives with the potential buyers, have the window coverings open to let in as much sunlight as possible. Thinking About Selling Your Home? Owning a home is the original American dream. It's the old frontier spirit, wanting to claim your own tuft of the New World. Home Equity Loans - Beware of Appraisal Fraud A new report by the independent Demos group has revealed what may not be a surprise to many people - corruption is rampant in the home appraisal industry. The bust in the dot-com market of some five years ago has left would-be lenders with a surplus of cash to lend. Real Estate Growth: How Long Will It Last? There has been speculation in the media recently about the fact that real estate will begin to fail and implode as it can only handle so much growth. In my humble opinion these theories don't hold a lot of merit and here is why. Selling Your Home - What Can Go Wrong With Title and Lenders If you're selling your home, there are going to be difficulties at some point in the transaction. Some problems can't be fixed. How to Sell Your Home Without a Real Estate Agent Considering the rapid rise in home prices over the past several years, home sellers are taking a hard look at the commission they have to pay to a real estate brokerage to market and sell their home. Real estate commissions vary across the country; they average in the four to seven percent range. Home Appraisal Values Are Critical To most, owning a home is a necessity, but sometimes it is a matter of pride or a business investment. Home appraisal values become relevant if one wishes to sell his house. How Home Buyer Rebates Work In today's tight housing market, many buyers are looking for ways to stretch their dollars far enough to make that dream home a reality. One little-known strategy that's gaining popularity with consumers is the home buyer rebate. 10 Things You Shouldnt Do When Youre Buying a Home Home Buying Don'tsYour home buying process is well underway. The sellers accepted your offer to purchase. Does Staging Work? Staging can involve minimal effort on the part of a seller. Merely rearranging furniture can show a house off to advantage. Buying A Home - What Is That Noise!?! You've found the perfect home, closed escrow and just finished moving in. As you happily fall asleep, all seems well in the world. I Believe God Wants Me To Tell All In Real Estate After years of experience in the real estate industry I felt that God wanted me to write about everything in real estate. There were young people that were not being protected by anyone, including buyer's agents. Commercial Real Estate: Assessing The Unique Features Of Commercial Real Estate Parcels As commercial real estate development progresses into the 21st century, many of the principles upon which the market was founded remain the same. Whether you are a property owner, developer, or commercial real estate agent, identifying and marketing the unique features of your commercial property will maximize the attractiveness of the site to prospective buyers or tenants. Vegas: The New Frontier Unless you have been living in Siberia, you know that Real Estate is on fire in many places around the country. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a city where this was not the case. Is a Vacation Home Right for You? Many of us dream about owning the vacation home in the Mountains, or on the Lake or Ocean. A place where one can retreat periodically from the hustle-bustle of everyday life.
|
|||||||||||||||
