The BIG Question…What’s my house worth???

For our first blog we thought we would address the most often asked question in Real Estate. WHATS MY HOME WORTH? 

Here’s the deal. Your home, just like ours, is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. We all truly believe that our home is WAAAAAYYYY better than our neighbors and sometimes it is and sometimes it’s not. 

The truth is that Buyers don’t care about the time, money and effort you have put into making your home perfect for you. They also don’t care how ‘Great’ you think your home suits families because you raised your wonderful family in it. I know it sounds a weeeee bit harsh but it is completely true! When you, personally are buying a property, you look at what YOU need to do to make the home work for you. What is functional and great for one person is a complete renovation to another. So, that being said, sometimes the numbers add up and a deal is made but most times there is a glaring reason to the Buyer that the home is not worth the money it is listed at (The bathrooms are too small, not enough closet space, too much work!).

Realtors are often told that the potential Seller’s friend, or a family member or their 3rd cousins best friend, has told them their home is worth more than what their Realtor has suggested. Here’s the thing. We work in this industry day in and day out. We know the trends, can see what listings are active and which ones have sold. We understand the benefits of each neighborhood their downfalls too. We know what upgrades people value and which ones Buyers are not willing to pay for. We know how much inventory is on the market (could be a month worth or 3 years worth!) which impacts list price and we can see just how long comparable homes have been on the market and whether they have had to reduce their price or not. Remember list price is most often NOT what the home will sell for. So, leave it to the professionals to give you sound advice on pricing and as Realtors, we promise not to give you dental advice, legal advice, accounting advice or advice in any area we are not experts in!

As a Seller, we understand how hard it is to sell your memories and this is where things can get tricky. When Realtors compete for a listing, often, out of 5 Realtors, you will have a sizeable price range between them and generally you will have one super low listing price and one fairly high listing price (When a Realtor suggests a super high list price compared to the others, you should consider why? Do they know the market? Are they trying to ‘Buy’ the listing by suggesting a higher value? Why are they so much higher?).

Super high listing price looks VERY attractive to a Seller for obvious reasons. However, listing at the top end of a price range or higher than suggested in todays market can cost thousands of dollars and weeks longer on the market. Your best chance to sell at the highest price is within the first couple weeks of being listed. If you are listed too high, no one will come to view your home, you will sit on the market, you will eventually be forced to reduce your price and then when you finally get an offer, it will likely be less than what you expected because your hopes were up there with the high list price.

When choosing list price and your Realtor, your best bet is to make sure ALL the Realtors that you interview, provide you with comparable active listings and sales in your area to justify their suggested list price. The great thing is that all Realtors have access to the same information so you should have the same set of active and sold listings from each person. The list should include homes in your style, size, location, number of bedrooms and bathrooms. The more information you have, the better able you are to make a decision not only about list price but the Realtor themselves. Using this information, you can easily see which Realtor knows and understands your market and which one may not.

Our market has changed over the past 6 months and we are quickly approaching a balanced market. This means your home will likely be on the market longer than it would have last year, sell for a similar price to 3 months ago and if you are priced too high to ‘test the market’, you may need to reduce your price to entice viewings and an offer (something that rarely happened in 2017). Balance is good. No one has control over the market and people simple buy and sell their homes.

To sum up:

  • Your home may be better than your neighbors!
  • Your best friend does not know more about Real Estate than a Full Time Licensed Realtor!
  • Listing for well over the suggested listed price means DO NOT GET ANY BOXES…you aren’t moving very soon! 
  • Choose a Realtor and a listing price that works for you!

Your best bet is to go with the Realtor whose style works for you and have them provide all the information you need to decide on the best price to list your home for. Make sure you are always informed and that you get updates regularly.

Give us a call if you want more information or to just enjoy a great cup of coffee!

Thanks for reading our Blog!

Dale & Cailla Patterson


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