Potential Home Buyers: Determine the Listing Price

For most potential home buyers, the listing price is the most important factor in determining which house to buy. True, you, the seller, and the realtor decide the asking price -- but if it is higher than the market will bear, know what will come to look at your house. In this way, the selling price is actually determined by the buyers. Save time, effort, and anxiety by settling on a realistic listing price when you put the house on the market.

If the listing price is right, more potential buyers will be attracted to your property, and more quickly. There will be more responses from realtors, and more calls about your property. The appropriate listing price will determine whether your house sells at all.

It cannot be stated to strongly that potential buyers will steer away from homes that had been overpriced. A common mistake is to overprice the house (that is, to ask far more than the assessed value of the property) because the location is attractive. An attractive location is important, but if the houses priced too high, the location cannot overcome it. Potential buyers will simply tell themselves that your house is priced out of their range, and move onto the next prospect.

A house that is up for sale gets most of its attention in the first two or three weeks. If you have priced your house correctly, you will see immediate interest. At any time of year, whether buyers are combing newer or older listings, they will not seriously entertain any property outside their price range. If they do not see it among the newer listings, they will wait for reductions in the asking price of older listings. If you have set your price too high, eager buyers will pass you by.

The solution is simple: have your house appraised before offering it for sale. This will give you an accurate understanding of the value of your home. Appraisers supply reports on each property they appraise, so you will know not only what your home is worth, but why.

Once you have established the market value of your house, don't hesitate to ask for full market value. But don't go way over that figure, or people will walk on by. Real estate is almost always a competitive market, and you need to attract as much favorable attention as possible.

Remember that realtors cannot actually control the real estate market; they can only control real estate marketing. It is the seller, and not the realtor, who determines how much your house will sell for. A realtor can certainly advise you, although the listing price is up to you. Pay attention, know the market value of your property, and you should have no problems setting a realistic listing price and selling your property quickly.