Pricing It Right!

• The single biggest reason "For Sale By Owner" properties don't sell quickly (or even at all sometimes) is because many sellers over price their property at the beginning. In the end they become frustrated and end up paying a real estate agent a high commission to sell their home at a lower price.
• Remember, if you can't sell it "For Sale By Owner", chances are a real estate agent will have the same problems. In the end, they will have to lower the price to sell it just like you could have done. Then you get the double wammie when they charged you a high commission.
• Real estate agents don't mind your property sitting up for sale for a while, it's cheap advertising for them.
• Price is the key to selling your property; if your price is too high people won't give it a second look even if the price is reduced later.
• If you're not sure how to price your house, a short form appraisal would be a great investment. Not only does it give you a point to price your home at, but it also gives you justification for your asking price, plus buyers knows they are getting a fair deal.
• Another great way to figure out what to ask for your house is to go to www.Realtor.com and enter the details of your property. See what the competition looks like and then price it appropriately. Don't forget, all of these properties have a commission built into their price, and if they're still on the website, there's a chance that they've been sitting there for a while.
• You can also get a home market evaluation from a real estate agent to figure out how much your property is worth, but prepare to hear an ongoing sales pitch to list with them for the next couple of months.
• Remember, in the end the market (buyer) determines what the final value of the property is, no one else.
• Make sure to price your property a bit higher than you want to sell it for (3% or so), this gives the buyer room to negotiate a slightly lower price and make them feel like they "got a good deal".
• Over pricing your property right off the bat makes other properties look more attractive. There's a good chance that by the time you lower your price, buyers who were interested in your property have already moved on and purchased a more appropriately priced property similar to your own.
• Before listing your property, take a tour of 2 or 3 other similarly priced properties in your area, this will give you a good idea what you're up against.
• Set your price just under a whole number (i.e. price it at $99,900 instead of $100,000).
• The longer your home sits on the market, the more people will wonder what's wrong with it.
• Finally, ask yourself, "If I were a buyer, would I be willing to pay the set asking price for my property?"