BCCDC Real Estate by Marcie Sandalow

The fine art of pricing your Chevy Chase home… It’s not what you think!

said on April 12th, 2010 filed under: Chevy Chase, Information for Sellers

price tag

The fine art of pricing your Chevy Chase home… It’s not what you think!

At Evers & Company, we have a favorite saying.  Perhaps I should say, we have a favorite speech.  And that is…

The value of your property is not determined by…

  • What you paid for it
  • What your neighbor thinks
  • The amount of cash you need
  • How much money you’ve invested in it
  • What the appraiser says
  • What Zillow, Eppraisal or even your recent tax assessment says
  • What any agent says

The value of your property is determined by…

  • What a ready, willing and able buyer will pay for it

How can I help you with pricing?

I can arrive at the correct price by a review of…

  • “Sold” comparables
  • Competing “for sale” properties
  • The current market conditions
  • Buyer statistics for specific price range
  • Evaluation of fellow agents’ input

Asking price is the most important factor when selling your home.  And what are the perils of overpricing? There are many.  “If we set the price high, won’t it allow room for negotiation down to the proper price?” Sadly, this theory has proven again and again not to work.  Educated buyers will overlook your house in favor of one which is properly priced to begin with.

High prices signal demanding and certainly unrealistic sellers.  Furthermore, you really only get one chance to be new on the market. This is when showings are at their peak and your house has the most sex appeal.  Price it too high for the market, especially when there are other houses in the neighborhood that are priced correctly, and your listing will suffer.   Overprice your house, and you need to wait another 90 days before the Days-on-Market clock is re-set (at which point it will appear to be a new listing again with “0″ DOM).  And there is no telling what kind of shape the market will be in at that time.

I can cite dozens of examples of homes that sold for less than their fair market price because they started off too high.  It’s a little bit like clothing you find on a clearance rack.  It doesn’t matter how good the quality of the fabric might be, or how nicely it looks on you.  As a consumer you are going to wonder what’s wrong with it and why hasn’t it sold.  Chances are you won’t buy it anyway unless you have a coupon.  Trust me, you don’t want to be that overpriced house on the clearance rack.

If you’re ready to sell your house, I’m here to help.

posted by Marcie Sandalow

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