Pricing your property is a significant step in the process of selling your house. The price dictates how many offers you get and how quickly you can move your property off the market.
So how do you go about this all-important exercise? If you’re thinking about how much your neighbor sold the house for recently, you’re thinking along the right lines. It is vital to know how much houses similar to yours sell for (known as comparable sales) to put a fair asking price on your own property. This gives you the most accurate estimate of the market value. However, you need to make sure that the houses you are looking at are similar to your own property in as many aspects as possible.
What Makes a Good Comparable Sale?
The trick is to look for a house or houses that mimic you house in as many aspects as possible. The best comparable sale is the same model as your house in the same subdivision, sold for a price just last week. If that’s not possible to find, look for other factors to consider such as:
Location
Generally, the closer it is to your own property, the better. However, that doesn’t warrant comparing to any other house within a mile radius. Along with proximity, also ensure that the house you’re comparing to is in your neighborhood, subdivision, on the same type of street and in the same school district.
Home Type
Try finding comparable sales that mimic your property as closely as possible when it comes to the home type. The style, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, construction material used, yard size and basement (does it have one or is it finished like yours) should ideally be similar to your house.
Compare Amenities and upgrades
Consider things such as whether the kitchen is new? Is the comparable sale house fully aired? Is there a deck or a pool?
Date of Sale
You may feel tempted to use a comparable sale from a year ago when the market was booming and the prices were high, but that is not how it works. Comparable sales should be as recent as possible. To put a number on it for your convenience ensure that the sale is no older than 3 months.
Sales Sweeteners
Don’t count out any deal sweeteners that had been given by the comparable-sale sellers. Such as down payment assistance or a free TV to the buyers that might have increased the sale price.
Agents Can Help Adjust Price Based on Insider Insights
You can also ask for assistance from your agent when pricing your property and make use of their experience and knowledge in the field. Every house is different in some way or the other due to the upgrades or renovations or any other personalization to the property.
Your comparable sale home may have a basement turned into a mini theater or a squash court despite being in the same subdivision and being the same size and model. The real estate agent has been in a number of these homes, and has heard about them from the realtors or lenders or appraisers. Therefore, agents can really add value to your pricing exercise through their insights and knowledge.
All in all, keeping the above pricing guidelines in mind will help you with putting a fair price tag on your property. If you’re looking to buy or sell property anywhere in Orlando Florida, visit our website and learn more.
