Okay home selling experts…

[teachermom2834]

I have a realtor coming a week from today and I have been watching the local market and stalking my home values in Redfin, Zillow, and Realtor.com for well over a year. So I’m relatively informed. I plan to list my house the first weekend in August. 
 

Home sales in our neighborhood have been all over the place. There have been six very close to me in the last six months. Every time I laugh at what they are asking because it seems so high and then it goes under contract immediately. But then several have fallen through a couple times or taken forever to close. I don’t know these people so I don’t know the real stories but anyway. I just think the numbers are kind of all over the place and I’m not sure what the realtor is going to suggest as a realistic number. 
 

We don’t technically need top dollar. We are going to make money even if this goes on the low end of the range. We are in zero hurry. Doesn’t really matter if it sells now or six months from now. It’s just dh, 15 yo dd, and me and we are easy going and can roll with showings and keep the house clean, etc. Of course a quick sale is ideal but totally unnecessary.

We have always sold under duress and priced low to get out. Can someone please remind me why I don’t want to overprice my house and what the big downside is to asking too much? If I ask for the moon and cut it by a bunch two weeks later is that so bad? I feel more worried about leaving money on the table than overpricing it to be honest. 
 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

A few thoughts:

1. Some people use search features to look at listings. Asking for $303k for your house means that everyone who is putting $300k max on the home will not see your listing. This is why you see a lot of listings at $299,999 instead.

2. Most realty agencies have pricing algorithms for homes. Asking way over market value means your house sits on the market and becomes a stale listing. People start to wonder what is wrong with your house if yours hasn’t moved but others have moved in your area. Smart/aggressive buyers will then come in and ask under what your proper pricing amount is. It’s kind of a no-win situation….you may find some crazy person willing to pay top dollar because you are the only house in a certain school district or whatever…but this doesn’t typically happen. You are better off pricing aggressively and hoping for a bidding war. Most people will escalate for a home they want even though they hadn’t planned on spending “that much”.
 

3. Find out who the typical buyer is for your home in your price range. A lot of houses are being purchased by banks right now and turned into rentals because in some markets and in some price points people can’t swing 7% mortgage rates. There’s still a supply shortage, but banks are buying. In other markets, people from other states moving in are driving demand. Again, do your research. You want to look at sale numbers, average discounts, average turn around time, etc.

4. If you can, consider waiting until next March-May to list. While it’s possible that you can get top dollar now in your market, generally homes sold in those months do better than those sold late in the year. People want to move over the summer, particularly if they have school aged kids. Your realtor should be able to give you good historical data.

[teachermom2834]

Thanks @prairiewindmomma

Good thoughts for sure. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Best wishes to you! Fwiw, we always consult with three different realtors before listing. I want to hear their market analysis on my home value and I also want to see what they offer and what their marketing plan is. If there is a wide spread on pricing, I really dig into the comps to try to make sense of things. Be sure to ask about listing photos, staging (if applicable), and how showing info will be communicated. Really check their listings carefully also. I don’t mind if realtors use their support staff to do the listing work, but I do expect quality, professionalism, and good communication. The world has changed over the last 20-30 years…marketing matters a lot more than it used to.
 

 

 

[J-rap]

The best advice we were given was to decide what our bottom line take-home $$ expectation was.  Then add any realtor fees, inspection fees, etc. on top of that and let that be your initial asking price.   Our take-home expectation was more than what our realtor recommended, but we weren't unrealistic either.  We sold it easily.  So sometimes you can trust your gut over the realtor's!