Listing Smart

The correct mix of intelligent pricing and maximization of prime market time are essential to selling your home quickly, regardless of what market you are in.  Although pricing a home for sale is as much an art as it is a science, there are a few truths that will never change.

Intelligent Pricing

Fair market value attracts buyers, overpricing does not.  In general terms, fair market value is what a ready, willing, and able buyer and seller agree to as the price of the home, by contract.  Values are impacted by many different variables, but the two largest are location and condition.  Sellers often make the mistake of viewing their homes as "special" in comparison to others and believe that they can charge a higher price initially and later come down.  Given that most buyers shop by price range, this overpricing prevents those eligible buyers from ever even seeing the home.  Trying to trick the market will not work because the market determines value.

Timing

The best chance of selling your home comes in the first two weeks of marketing the property.  Your home is fresh and exciting, and often times there are buyers who have already exhausted the current inventory and are simply waiting for new homes to come on the market that meet their specific criteria.  This is where intelligent pricing and timing go hand in hand.  Given that these first two weeks are your prime market time, you may be missing out on potential buyers who falsely believe they cannot afford the home, even though that is not the case.  If you do not get many showings or offers during this time, you have probably overpriced your home and it cannot compete with the competition that is priced at fair market value.  Although the market may change over the course of your listing, you cannot get back back precious time that has already passed.  In addition, listings that sit for long periods of time run the risk of developing negative stigmas which are hard to combat down the road.