Sell Your House Fast Charleston SC: The Smart Steps For Sellers To Take

Here is the final installment of my series on mistakes sellers make in pricing their home. You can see the other installments of “Sell Your House Fast Charleston SC: Seller Mistakes To Avoid” in Parts 1, 2, and 3.

Today, I look at a couple more reasons not to overprice, and the proper steps to take to ensure a successful listing and sale.

Other Reasons Not To Overprice

The smart strategy is to not only price your home correctly from the start, but to actually price it below market by 5%-10%. This will attract buyers immediately and create a lot of interest. This can lead to a multiple offer situation which will drive the price back up to the fair market value.

This is the fastest, easiest way to sell your home for top dollar. You may end up leaving a few grand on the table, but that is a small sacrifice compared to a long, stressful, frustrating listing that will still leave you losing thousands of dollars (if not more).

You also have to factor in the additional mortgage payments you will incur with a longer listing. Each month you don’t sell is another mortgage payment you will have to make.

The sooner you sell, the more you save on payments made–selling for a slightly below market price will more than offset an additional 4,5 or more mortgage payments.

The appraisal is another consideration. Your home will only appraise for what the market dictates. If you overprice your home, and even if you get an offer for your price, your home will not appraise for that amount.

If your buyer is getting a loan, the bank will not lend them more money than the home is worth. The only option is for that buyer to bring the difference in cash from their pocket. Otherwise, you will need an all cash buyer to purchase that is willing to overpay for your home.

Your chances of finding either of these buyers is less likely than finding Big Foot and Amelia Earhart hanging together on Fantasy Island.

 

What Are The Smart Steps For Home Sellers To Take?

 

Ok, so perhaps I’ve drilled into your head the importance of pricing right from the beginning by now.

What are some steps homeowners can take to ensure they get sold quickly and for top dollar?

 

 

 
Consult a Professional
Bill Gassett of MaxRealEstateExposure.com blog:

“Pricing a home is one of the most challenging things a Realtor has to do – part art, part science.

It requires you to consider a great number of variables to determine a competitive price, far more than most people realize. So it is no surprise that the everyday home seller would struggle with this task.

What can’t be discounted is how important pricing a home properly from day one is to the success of a stress free real estate transaction.

Unfortunately there are many ways sellers get their price wrong when not consulting with a pro! What this boils down to is education. Real Estate is one of the few industries where laymen think they know more than we do.”

“As all ready mentioned pricing is a skill that cannot be overlooked. It takes some real estate agents years before they get it down pat.”

Make Sure To Get A CMA

Your Realtor should do a Comparative Market Analysis and show you recent comps in your neighborhood. These homes should be similar to yours in size, age as well as number of bedrooms and baths.

Your agent should be able to explain why they came up with their number, and it should be along the lines of what the market is showing.

If your agent does not do a CMA, then that should be a red flag.

If what they are telling you does not match up with the market data, that too should be a red flag.

 

 

 

Tricia Bredahl of MoveToSedonaAz.com “4 Home Sellers Pricing Mistakes”:

“A top real estate agent will complete a comparative market analysis, also known as a CMA.

There are many sellers who don’t know what a comparative market analysis is, most of the time this is because their real estate agent neglected to perform one, neglected to review their CMA with their client, or their agent never even offered to explain exactly what a CMA is and what is involved with it!

A seller who does not have a comparative market analysis performed on their home is making a huge mistake as is the Realtor.
If a CMA is completed correctly, a home should sell relatively close to the list price and in a relatively short amount of time.

If a comparative market analysis is not completed on a home, there is also the possibility that there could be problems with the home under appraising.

The purpose of a market analysis is not only to determine a realistic listing price and probable sale price of a home, but also to reduce the chance the home under appraises!”

 

CONSIDER AN APPRAISAL

One thing to strongly consider is getting an appraisal before listing. It is a small expense (usually $300-$500) but can save you thousands of dollars.

This will allow you to be sure you are priced right so you can sell quickly. It is still a good idea to price your home 5%-10% under the appraisal, as this will stir up buyers interest and drive the price back up.

This will also give you a marketing tool than most of your competition won’t have–you can advertise your home as being “below market price” with an appraisal in hand to prove it.

Just don’t make another home seller mistake here–using an old appraisal. Just because you have an appraisal from 2008 saying your home was worth $125,000 more than it is now doesn’t mean squat.

An appraisal over 90 days old isn’t worth the paper it is printed on, much less one from the good ol’ days.

When it comes to selling your house quickly and for top dollar, even in a Sellers Market, pricing your home correctly from the start is the most important detail.

Just as the classic real estate saying goes, “The three most important things in real estate are Location, Location, Location”, the three most important things for selling a home are “Pricing, Pricing, Pricing”.

As Bill Gassett says in his article “Ways Home Sellers Get Their Price Wrong”:

“Homes that sell for the most money don’t languish on the market. Days on market is your enemy in real estate!”

Another critical aspect is the proper marketing to get your home the exposure it needs.

Learn more about my internet focused marketing strategy at my Pam Marshall Realtor website if you want to sell your house fast Charleston SC.