When you are ready to sell your home, you want to make sure you’re getting the best market value for it. It’s not easy to just put it out on the market and expect offers to flood in. The end goal to pricing your house is to reel in offers that are either at or above value. Through this process you and your real estate agent want to be realistic and limit your expectations as to what is and what isn’t enough. Pricing your home not only requires research of the competition, but also of the market you are selling in. Here are some tips to pricing your house just right when you are ready to put it on the market.
What market are you selling for?
There is a big difference when selling to a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. The market allows for wiggling and negotiating room in each scenario; but you need to know how to read it. In a buyer’s market you are most likely to have to negotiate downwards from the last comparable sale to yours. This will grab the buyer’s attention when the market is very competitive.
In a seller’s market, however, you will be able to price up from the last comparable sale. You can rise the price by up to 10% of the asking value. Neutral markets will also vary slightly towards one end of the scale or another. This means that you will have a set price and will have to adjust it as you start showing to get good offers. The key here is researching comparable listings prior to settling on a price.
Appraisals
It is highly important to work with a skilled agent when pricing your house. Real estate agents aren’t only much more knowledgeable in market trends, but they can also offer a lot of insight on what the values of homes like yours are at the moment. You can ask your agent to put together a Comparative Market Report or Analysis that will include information about comparable listings to yours and how they behaved in the marketplace until closing the sale.
Agents will also help you pick out the features that can drive your home’s value up or down. For example, if you live in a community where most houses are comparable to each other but yours has a pool, jacuzzi, better view, or something that is special, you can price up. However, if all the houses in your community have ocean view and yours doesn’t, then you have to price down. Your agent will have access to thousands of sold listings and help you pull out details of sales over the past six months. Use these tools to your advantage.
Square Footage Costs
When the market is very competitive, you should check out the cost of the square foot in your area. This will allow you to see the value of your home. But also take a look at properties with the same square footage as yours and check out their market prices. Comparable listings can vary approximately 2,000 square feet in size.
Be careful when pricing square footage. The price rises as the size of your home decreases, and it decreases as the size of your home increases. That means that a large home will have a lower square foot cost, while a smaller home might have a larger cost per square foot. Make sure your realtor checks this prior to pricing your house.
Pricing Your House Requires Patience
Remember that comparing houses is not as easy. Chances are they are different architecturally, they can have different views, features, amenities and stuff like including furniture or not. There are many ways to pricing your house that can result in a good bidding competition amongst interested buyers. That is your main goal as you can go for the highest bidder. Work with an agent to make sure you’re pricing right and you need to be patient to get the best price for your home.
You can reach out to us when deciding to put your Riviera Maya home up for sale. Our listings department has a fully capable team of people who work day and night to price your home right and bring the best possible offers in.
And remember, at Top Mexico Real Estate, we make it happen!