One of the most important steps in
selling your home by owner is accurately determining its market
value. If you price your home too high, you risk turning away those
that might otherwise be truly interested in purchasing your home. On
the other hand, if you price your home too low, you’ll lose money on
your investment. How then can you accurately determine the market
value of your home?
Let’s start by discussing what we mean by market value. The market
value is what your house is actually worth, based on sales of
comparable properties within your community. It is important to make
a distinction between sales and listing prices. Most homeowners set
their listing price higher than what they expect to sale for,
sometimes substantially higher. What a home is listed for has little
to do with its actual market value. That being said, how do you
determine market value? You can start by searching the prices of
homes in your immediate vicinity that have sold recently. This web
site provides a
valuable tool to assist you. Ideally, you should look for homes
that are close to the same size in square feet and that are on a lot
of comparable size.
Many community newspapers have Real Estate Sections that periodically
publish home sales information. Frequently this section includes the
number of recent sales, the average amount, the amount by square foot,
and the increase by percentage over the recent year. This information
might be all you need to establish the market value of your house.
Another consideration would be to hire a certified appraiser. An
appraiser will accurately determine your house’s market value. You
can expect to pay between $200 and $400 for their services. You
should never tell a prospective buyer the appraised market value. If
they’ve done their homework, they should have a good idea anyway.
Once you determine your house’s market value, you’ll be in a much
better position to correctly set the listing price.
