
Determining the right asking price is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to selling your home. Our real estate agents always recommend the Goldilocks approach: Not too high, not too low. Both can have a negative impact on the outcome of your home sale. There are many misconceptions out there when it comes to pricing a home, and you should always avoid taking advice from someone who isn't a professional.
The truth is every home has a sweet spot when it comes to an asking price, you just have to find it. Be sure and ignore these bad pricing tips along the way:
- Bad Advice: Start High To Leave Room For Negotiations
When selling most things, starting high to leave room for negotiating is a common tactic; however, we generally recommend avoiding this strategy in the real estate market. If you start too high, you're likely to limit your pool of potential buyers, and your home is likely to sit on the market too long, which could cause buyers to wonder if it has issues.
- Bad Advice: You Should Always Ask For More Than You Paid
Everyone wants to make a profit on their home sale, but in reality, it's not always possible. The current state of the real estate market, local factors, or property damage can all negatively impact your home value, and these things are mostly out of your control. Remember, your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
- Bad Advice: Price In The Full Cost Of Any Renovations Or Upgrades
If you recently remodeled your bathroom or added a patio and expect to recover the full cost of those upgrades in your sale price, think again. Upgrades and renovations do improve your home value, but you probably won't be able to make 100% of your money back, especially in a down market. Some renovations result in a higher ROI than others, so be sure to work with your agent to prioritize upgrades appropriately.
- Bad Advice: Start High If You Have Time
Maybe you're still hunting for a home yourself or just aren't in a hurry to sell. This doesn't mean you should start high and fall back on a lower price down the road. Starting high will result in less foot traffic to your listing, and will increase the number of days on the market, which could result in a lower final sale price.
- Bad Advice: You Don't Need To Do Research
If you're looking to compete with other Suffolk County homes for sale then you'll need to develop an in-depth understanding of the current state of the local real estate market. Doing research is the most important part of pricing your home. Work with your real estate agent to pull a comparable market analysis report, which shows recent nearby sales of similar size homes. You can use these hyper-local data points to gain a sense of what buyers in your market are willing to pay.
Pricing your home is more of a science than an art, and a good real estate agent can help. Contact us today for more home-selling tips.