What is My Home Worth?
Navigating the Art of Properly Pricing Your Home for Listing
A lot goes into getting your home ready to list – painting, staging, cleaning up the landscape… but one of the things that often takes the most consideration is setting your listing price. Properly pricing your home is an art, there is not always an exact answer and several factors play into your home’s worth.
One of the first things your agent does when agreeing to list your home is a walkthrough. The condition of your home plays a large part in the price and the agent will take notes of any updates, new features, and upgrades to your home. Things like a new roof, updated plumbing, additions, updated furnishings, etc. can add value. Updates such as wallpaper, a shiplap wall, hot tub, or bold tile typically don’t add value to the home as they’re personal taste updates.
The other major factor that goes into pricing your home is looking into comparable properties in your area. We look at sales in the last six months within one mile of your home. This helps us understand what homes in your area are going for and we can adjust the price of your home accordingly. Something to keep in mind is that while you and your neighbor may have nearly identical homes on the outside, the updates and upkeep that have happened in the home since being built can make the homes vary greatly in terms of price.
Setting the listing price can be a touchy subject. Clients can sometimes think that their home is worth more than it is due to the sentimentality of the home, or they’re not quite ready to let go. Our job is to help you set a price that your property will sell at and to let you go. It’s important to remember that we need to set the home close to what it will be appraised for. We would hate to get into a contract with a buyer only for the appraisal to come back low, the buyer be unable to secure financing, and the deal fall through.
Before listing the home we will go over a “net sheet” that will show you all the costs and credits of selling your home so that you are aware of what you would walk away with. This is good to know if you’re looking to buy another property, or even if you’re on to the next adventure!
If you’re thinking about selling, now is a great time. It’s a seller’s market and home inventory is extremely low. Give us a call and we can further talk about listing your home and how we will come up with a listing price.
Have more questions or want professional advice on buying or selling a home?
Contact us at [email protected] or (503) 926-5213. We’re here to address all your real estate needs!