Why Pricing Your Home Correctly the First Time is Critically Important

Pricing your home correctly is the single most crucial step you can take as a home seller.

Underprice your property, and you risk undercutting your home’s true value. Overprice it (which is most often the case), and you’re likely to scare away home buyers – leading to extended days on market and potentially thousands of dollars lost.

Here are the top four reasons why it’s critically important to price your home correctly, right from the start:

Reason 1 = The First Two Weeks Are Vital

The first few weeks on market are the most important as this is when your home will receive the most home showings and inquiries. However, many sellers are tempted to price their homes on the higher end as a means of “testing things out,” believing they can always drop the price later.

Don’t!

While this strategy may seem sound at first, home buyers on the lookout for homes like yours will be turned off by an overly inflated asking price. Not only will this will cause you to miss out on valuable market time but, the longer your home sits, the more buyers will begin to question why your property hasn’t sold (i.e. what’s wrong with it?).

The result: You’ll likely have to drop your price even lower than fair market value just to attract interest.

Reason 2= Motivated Buyers

Another important thing to remember is buyers tend to approach the market with a set price range in mind. By overpricing your home (even by the smallest amount), you may be alienating a whole demographic of motivated buyers who may otherwise be interested in making an offer.

For instance, if comparable homes in your area are priced at $349,000, and you list at $365,000 (just to see what will happen), your property will go unnoticed by those eager to act on a home search with an MLS listing price of $350,000 and under.

Reason 3= Sell Quickly and for Top Dollar

It’s a simple fact: homes priced correctly will sell faster. Even in a buyer’s market, where home searchers can be much more selective, interested parties are sure to recognize a “good deal” when they see one. 

As a result, you’ll drive more buyer interest and increase your chances of multiple offers – which means you may get far more for your home than you originally anticipated.

Reason 4 = Instill Buyer Confidence

As we’ve mentioned, pricing your home too high is a sure-fire way to turn buyers off – but so will pricing it too low. Why? Because over and underpricing are red flags. Either a) you aren’t serious about selling and may be difficult to work with or b) you’re too eager to sell, and something may be wrong with the property.

On the other hand, homes listed according to fair market value will attract positive buyer attention and give you a leg up on home sellers who don’t understand the importance of a well-priced home.

Price Your Home Correctly With a Free Market Evaluation

In short, a Market Evaluation is a FREE service (provided by an expert Edmonton REALTOR®) that will help you determine exactly what your property is worth under current Edmonton real estate market conditions.

Quick, easy and obligation-free, a Home Evaluation analyzes your home’s condition, location and recent market value to come up with a listing price that will help you sell quickly AND for top dollar.

How much is your home worth? Find out with the help of our Free Home Evaluation!

Related: 

• How Long Will It Take to Sell My Home?
• Sometimes Even the Best Homes Don’t Sell
• How Much Will It Cost to Sell My Home? 
• Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home

Photo credits: shutterstock.com

Categorised in: Selling a Home

This post was written by Terry Paranych Real Estate Group