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How Can I Sell Quickly For The Highest Possible Price Inman News Feature The First Name in Real Estate News by Dian Hymer Selling Fast How Can I Sell Quickly For The Highest Possible Price? Selling fast is often the key to selling for the most money. Listings that don’t sell quickly, that is, within a month or so of hitting the market, are usually overpriced for the market. When overpriced listings do sell, they often sell for less than they would have if they’d been priced right to begin with. Proper pricing is perhaps the most critical factor affecting the time it takes for a listing to sell. A listing is most marketable when it’s new on the market. Real estate agents and their buyers wait anxiously for new listings. They rush to see them before they’re sold. If a listing doesn’t sell during the initial marketing effort, the showing activity usually falls off as buyers turn their attention to new listings. Establishing a good list price is not an exact science. It’s easier to do in some neighborhoods than in others. Tract homes are relatively easy to price because one house is very similar to another. Homes located in a neighborhood with a diverse housing stock will be more difficult to price. The market value of a property is the price a willing and able buyer will pay. To accurately price your home, you first need to determine the likely market value for your home by comparing your home to other similar homes in your neighborhood that have recently sold. By objectively comparing your home to the others, you can determine how much a buyer will be likely to pay. Buyers determine market price, not sellers. First Time Seller Tip: Don’t trust yourself alone to make an accurate determination of the market value of your home. Sellers often have a difficult time being objective. To look objectively at your home, you need to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and look at your home from a buyer’s perspective. One good reason for hiring a real estate professional is to get help with important decisions like selecting the list price for your home. Choose your agent carefully; hire someone with experience, a good track record and integrity. Then put your trust in this person and follow his or her advice about how best to maximize the return on your investment. Property condition is almost as important as pricing. Buyers pay more for homes that are in move-in condition. Real estate agents like to bring their buyers to homes that show well – ones that require no apology or explanation. Usually, the more showings there are, the quicker the sale and the higher the price. The other ingredient necessary for a fast sale at a good price is market exposure. Some sellers worry about a quick sale because they fear that if they sell the house quickly they might sell for too low a price. In reality, you only risk selling too low if you don’t expose the property properly to the market. Last year, in the San Francisco Bay area, the most successful pricing strategy was to list on the low side. Then the listing was exposed to the market – with advertising, multiple listing and open houses. The sellers waited a week or two before listening to any offers. This often resulted in multiple offers from competing buyers and a sale price for more than the asking price. The Closing: The above pricing strategy is not effective for all markets. But regardless of the market, it’s usually best to list for a price that’s close to the expected selling price. That is, as long as your agent aggressively exposes your home to the market before you accept an offer. Dian Hymer is author of Starting Out, The Complete Home Buyer’s Guide Chronicle Books.
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