Be realistic when pricing your home

Your house is up for sale. You’ve hired a REALTOR® and you are waiting for that buyer to appear. You may have to wait a long time for that buyer to materialize if you begin working against yourself and your best interests by preventing your REALTOR® from doing the job.

This can and does happen.

As a seller who has listed a home with expectations of a quick sale, you will be much happier and your home will probably sell much quicker if you work with your chosen professional.

Seems a simple premise.

Here’s what happens too often. The owners will ignore the advice of the professional and overprice the home. The thought behind this move is the hope of getting more money for the place. It is understandable that the owners will want to get the best price for the place that they can. However, sometimes sellers ignore the information on all of the homes that were similar in their neighborhood that found buyers for many thousands of dollars less.

What happens in this scenario is the overpriced house does not sell and generally will not sell until the market value moves higher and makes the home a fair buy. There are very good reasons for this. Today’s buyers are not the buyers of yesteryear. It doesn’t take long for a prospective buyer to zone in on good buys after touring a dozen open houses. This is not rocket science. Buyers learn to assess value.

The REALTOR® does not get paid a dime until the listing is sold. It is not good business for a professional to over-price a home — it would waste their time and the seller’s. That’s why some REALTORS® will not mess with a home that is off the charts in pricing. They are independent contractors and do not get paid unless there is a sale. An overpriced home will probably not sell until the market catches up with it.

Another better way to help the REALTOR® help you is to make certain your home is appealing and tidy. It may cost a few dollars that the owner does not want to part with to make it irresistible. Many owners will not take advantage of the professional’s experience in successful sales that usually dictate that when some items need to be repaired, you better do it as it could cost you the sale. Just make the problem disappear by eliminating it.

Spending a few dollars on decorating or fixing simple, obvious repairs could increase the salability and easily shorten the time on the market. This is to everyone’s benefit.

Another good reason to work with your REALTOR® is that all of their study for the license, their classes on real estate and their time spent developing skills to do the job well will be wasted when they could have been used to sell your home.

It’s just easier and more productive to work together. All parties want the same result.