Is your home worth your asking price? The best way to answer that question is to separate what’s relevant to home buyers from what’s not relevant.
Starting with the bare basics, home buyers choose homes based on:
Price – their lenders tell them what they can afford
Location – they know where they want to live and why
Condition – they want homes that are well-maintained and move-in ready
Your marketWhen home sales volumes increase, prices go up. The market is said to be a “seller’s market,” because the market’s conditions favor sellers.
When sales volumes decrease, prices decline, and inventories of homes rise, the market is said to be "buyer's market".
To sell your home in the current market, you have to consider the market’s conditions.
You may adjust your price and terms accordingly.
Your Competition
Your competition is not only other similar homes in your area, but what buyers can get if they buy brand-new. Your buyer is comparing size, number of bedrooms and baths, amenities, updates, views, landscaping, and décor. You can’t put a price on many features, but some qualities, such as fine workmanship, room flow, and convenient storage are simply worth more money to buyers.
Your Urgency
If you’re relocating or have another reason to be in a hurry, you don’t have time to test the market. You have to price your home to get immediate and serious offers to buy.
Your emotions
If you’re sentimental about your home, remember your buyer hasn’t formed the same attachments. Your buyer may appreciate your home, but will still compare it to other available homes in terms of price, location, and condition before weighing emotion.What you paid for the house
Many area home prices have receded as much as five to ten years. Sellers who paid high prices for their homes, purchased too recently to build equity, or took out second liens or equity loans may find that what they paid is not what the home is worth in today’s market. Buyers are only concerned with what they can afford.
What you paid for improvements beyond ordinary maintenance
What buyers expect is for homes to be properly maintained. Even if a home is in the most desirable of neighborhoods, it will never sell for as much as similar homes if it is in poor condition or lacking updates comparable to newer homes in the area.
The bottom line is that no buyer will pay more than a home is worth in the current market. They may have paid more in the past, and they may pay more in the future, but what they pay today is a matter of supply and demand.If you want to sell your home quickly and for the most money possible, price to entice buyers, and let them see for themselves that your home is in best condition for the neighborhood.