4 Secrets for Pricing Your Home From Top Selling Agents
Top selling agents know that pricing your home right is one of the best strategies for creating a successful listing.
If you asked top selling agents for their best-kept secrets regarding pricing your home, they would be able to share key insights to help you list your property strategically.
Ask Top Selling Agents: How Should I Price My Home?
Here are four fundamentals to home pricing that the best agents in the industry tell their seller clients.
#1. Pay Attention to Comparable Listings
The number one secret to pricing your home that all top selling agents will stress is the importance of comparable listings.
Comparable listings can act as a guide for understanding how different market conditions will impact your property’s listing performance.
For example, sellers may be able to see that homes with a certain amenity, like an indoor office, sold in less time and for greater profits than those without. With this in mind, the seller and agent may decide to market one of the extra bedrooms as an office space to leverage that buyer demand.
Running a CMA, or a Comparable Market Analysis, will review homes in your area that are similar to yours and outlines their market performance. Being able to see how much comparable homes were listed for and what their final selling price was will give sellers a glimpse of what their home may be worth in their market in real-time.
Comparable homes should be listings that are a similar age and square footage to yours and located within a half-mile of your property.
Look for comparables posted on the market within the last three months to get a current perspective on your market.
#2. Work With Market Indicators
The way you price your home needs to reflect more than just your property’s features. Top selling agents will tell you that your listing’s initial price needs to respond to key indicators within your local market.
Top selling agents will evaluate their client’s real estate activity and determine the relationship between supply and demand. The interaction between the inventory of listings and buyer demand shapes the pace and circumstances of the local housing market.
If the inventory is greater than the demand, the market will prefer buyers.
The best pricing strategy for a buyer’s market is to price your home just below that of comparable listings. This will help your listing stand out amid the competition.
If the inventory is less than the demand, the market will prefer sellers.
A seller’s market allows sellers to slightly increase their listing price because there are fewer options available for buyers to choose from. However, you don’t want to go above a 10% increase to remain competitive.
If both the inventory and demand are balanced, the market is neutral.
In a neutral market, the best move for sellers is to price their homes within a similar range to comparable properties.
#3. Buyers Want a Straightforward Number
Sellers may be tempted to try and list their home at a number that seems attractive, like a rounded-off number or right below the target price. For example, pricing your home at $199,999 instead of $200,000 to make the number less intimidating to buyers.
Top selling agents will tell you to drop any pricing assumptions and be direct. Buyers want a straightforward number, not a marketable one. Buyers prefer listing prices that are accurately gauged by specific data and comparisons. So, if your home’s value is evaluated at $248,700, that should be the listing price — not $250,000 just because it’s a cleaner number.
Straightforward prices appear more reputable and trustworthy than a polished number that may or may not be fully accurate.
#4. Always Remain Flexible with Pricing
The best agents in the business know that pricing a listing isn’t a final decision.
Based on all of the information and data, top selling agents determine the most promising listing price for the property alongside the seller. However, that price is subject to change based on how the property performs once listed.
If the market conditions suddenly change, the price needs to shift accordingly to remain competitive. Or, if the listing isn’t attracting enough buyers, updating the price may help your property get more bids.
A top selling agent will encourage sellers to be open to changing their listing price depending on what unfolds.
If you’re ready to learn more secrets that top selling agents will tell you about the real estate process, get in touch with your best agent through Realestateagents.com. Click here to find the very best agents in your area.
