If you are selling your home, you’ll need to know how to price your home for sale. Assuming you price your house to sell, your house should start to gain awareness and potential home buyers within hours. But what exactly goes into the process of setting the price of your house? Let’s dive into which 3 factors you’ll want to consider when pricing your house for sale.
Request a comparative market analysis from your realtor
Your real estate agent has considerable intelligence regarding your local real estate market, so leave it to them to create a comparative market analysis, often called a CMA. A comparative market analysis is an evaluation of similar, recently sold homes (called comparables) that are near the house you need to sell. The analysis will also take into consideration the average price per square foot, which can help determine how to price your home for sale. Comparative market analysis establish the current market value of your home.
However, a comparative market analysis is not the same as an appraisal, which is performed by a licensed appraiser. Ultimately, this information will influence the price you choose for your home. In addition to what others listed and sold their homes for, you need to take into account factors such as the style of the house you’re selling, type of house, square footage, age, and how long their homes sat on the market.
Hire an appraiser the see the assessed value vs market value
Hiring a professional appraiser, which usually runs a few hundred dollars, can tell you about the condition of the house you have for sale. These certified and licensed professionals conduct thorough searches of homes to gauge their worth and, as with the market analysis your agent performs, compare homes to those of others nearby in terms of quality, newness, and amenities.
Be wary of “Price your home for sale” software
Search for “home valuation tool” in Google and you’ll get quite a few — er, millions — of results, so there’s no shortage of online resources that can give you a rough estimate of how to price your house for sale. Also, remember that these will be very rough values. For instance, Zillow’s “Zestimate” tool is arguably the most popular home value calculator, but it’s certainly flawed and rarely provides an accurate price for your home.
Examine the average home value in your local market
How to price your home for sale ultimately comes down to understanding what home buyers are spending on properties at the moment in your area and what you’re comfortable with. There is no one perfect price for your home. You simply need to take some time to evaluate all of these factors and consult with your local realtor to ultimately decide how to price your house for sale.