Clever Tactics for Pricing Your House to Sell
May 7th, 2012 | Finance | No Comments »
When selling your home, setting the price is one of your biggest decisions. You don’t want to price it too low and receive less than it’s worth. On the other hand, too high a price tag will scare potential buyers away. You have to find the right middle ground, which is not always simple. To help you price your house, we’ll be sharing some useful guidelines on this topic.
When pricing your house, you have to consider the prices of similar homes in your area. If you’re working with a real estate agent, he or she will probably advise you on this. However, you should also do your own research, as realtors aren’t always forthcoming with such information. You can find out recent home sales by visiting the county recorder’s office. You can also find some of this information online, on websites such as Zillow.com. When doing this kind of research, you should make sure you’re only looking in your immediate neighborhood, as home values can be very different even a mile or so away. You also have to look at homes of a similar age, size and condition.
When selling your home, it’s a good idea to collect documentation on anything that could add to its value. If you’ve had any major repairs done, keep the paperwork handy to show to your real estate agent. That way if they get a good prospect, they can easily prove that this work has been done on your home. You may also want to do some research on statistics in your area to recite to people looking at your home. Obviously, you want to stick to positive things, such as a pleasant climate, low crime statistics, high rankings for local schools and so forth. When you find such data, print it out so you can show it to people.
In some cases, you can make improvements and additions to your home; that add to its value. However, there are some actions that aren’t worth the trouble and expense. You should consider this before investing in any expensive projects that you hope will add to your home’s value. Putting in a swimming pool, for example, seldom increases the value of a home enough to justify the price. Some potential buyers will even see this as an extravagance, and think that they could find a cheaper home without a pool. You should also think twice about remodeling a garage, basement or attic and converting it into a living space. Some buyers would prefer to have a garage for their cars, or use a basement or attic for storage.
When you set a price for your house, you naturally want it to be as high as possible. Yet you have to balance this desire with a realistic view of what homes in your area are actually worth. The above points provide you with some guidance on setting the price,�but you have to do plenty of research to determine what your own house is worth.

