It can be a big shock when you learn what buyers think your home is worth. You want to be careful and avoid pricing your home too high, which almost always is nonproductive. A buyer doesn’t care how much you paid for the house or that you added a lavish swimming pool. If your price is too high, they’ll buy a different house.

Buyers will look at your home with an eye to how they can make it suit themselves, realizing that making changes cost money. The result is that they will discount the value of your home at least by the amount of money they expect to spend for remodeling and redecorating.

As an educated seller, you have heard of fair market value. This typically means the highest value an educated buyer will pay for your house. However, fair market value is usually not the asking price.

Your Realtor will prepare a comparative market analysis of your house and give you an estimate of the fair market value of your home. This will be a range that factors in such elements as the local housing market and sales prices of similar homes in your neighborhood.

Before you set a price, determine your priorities. Are you more concerned with selling quickly or with getting the most money possible? Do you have a predetermined deadline to relocate to a new job in another city? Do you hope to move during the kids’ summer vacation? These factors can be more important than getting a full price offer. If you have the luxury of time, you might want to wait for just the right offer before you go to the trouble of moving out and searching for a new place to live.

Some sellers assume that negotiation will be necessary to reach an agreement with a buyer, so they pad their asking price. The danger of this approach is that if you price your home too much above market value, you'll get fewer showings and offers.

If you have priced your house well but have not received a serious offer, consider making concessions. This might be reducing your asking price. Or it might be offering an incentive to buyers. For an incentive to be successful in attracting a buyer, make your offer early in the process. Your goal is for the buyer to believe that your house offers the best value for the money.

When you consider a purchase offer from a buyer, it's not just price that is important. Net proceeds are key. A lower-price offer can yield more money on your bottom line than a higher offer with contingencies.

Make sure everything is spelled out in the purchase agreement and that no verbal offers or counteroffers are made. Be prepared to compromise.

"Win-win" doesn't mean both the buyer and the seller get everything they want. It means both sides will win some and give some. Meet in the middle.

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Nothing, absolutely nothing beats an intimate familiarity with homes for sale as well as homes recently sold. My job is to provide the very best information; YOU make the decisions. The better information I provide, the better decisions you can make.

Contact me, Madison Monroe, for a full, frank discussion of your needs and a dollars-and-cents evaluation of what options are best for your situation. Experience the advantage of having a top professional at your side, on terms you decide!

Madison Monroe
1234 Sunshine Parkway
Anytown, ST 12345

Telephone: 123.345.6789
Online: www.EliteLocations.com