At What Price Should I List My House?

By Guest Contributor Chris Maccarone, Branch Manager, Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Coral Springs office.

The price at which you list your property may significantly affect the ultimate selling price and the time it will be on the market. Although your motivation is a factor, the list price should be established only after careful consideration has been given to the reasonable range of value indicated by a Realtor’s Competitive Market Analysis.

The best time to sell your property is when the house has just been placed on the market.Overpricing may cause you to lose this valuable period. The following are some of the reasons why listing your property at too high a price is not in your best interest.

1. The wrong prospects look at the house, if any at all. People not only buy in price ranges, they also look in price ranges.
2. Realtors don’t want to lose credibility with their buyers by showing the overpriced listings.
3. Realtors know from experience that fair offers on overpriced houses are often rejected.
4. The house may become overexposed and shopworn. Potential buyers begin to assume there is something wrong with the house.
5. Even subsequent price reductions do not regain the lost market. Many qualified buyers who inspect overpriced listings decide at that point to eliminate that house from further consideration. It is often difficult to interest them again at a later date.
6. When people see that a house has been on the market for a long period, they assume they can get a bargain and extremely low offers are likely.
7. Overpriced listings help sell those houses that are properly priced.
8. Today’s buyers are knowledgeable and may ask for a Market Analysis from their Realtor prior to making an offer.
9. Institutional lenders are knowledgeable. Most purchasers require some form of institutional financing and this requires an appraisal by the lender.
10. While overpriced properties may eventually sell, they usually sell for less than if they were properly priced when first offered for sale.

Bottom-Line: If you want to sell your home in the shortest possible time, at the highest price and with the least amount of inconvenience to you, price your home to sell at the beginning…you’ll get great results!