Establishing your home’s true market value (selling price) is one of the most important steps in the selling process. It is vital to do it right the first time. There is a fine line between getting as much as you can for you’re home or asking for too much and have it not sell, or worse yet not enough and leave money on the table.
- Your real estate agent can give you an estimate of your home’s value. This is called a Comparable Market Analysts or CMA. Your real estate agent will compare the features and benefits of other homes that have sold recently to your home to help you determine the value. There are many other factors that tie in to the CMA. What is the average time it takes to sell a home? What is the sale price compared to original listed price? An experienced real estate agent will spend hours working on your CMA, if you are interested in having this report just let me know and I will be more than happy to provide you with this free of charge. I will also provide you with a report of the homes that are currently on the market, and their sale price. This will give you an idea of what homes in your area are going for, but keep in mind this is an asking price not necessarily a selling price.
- Public Records are available that can help find the market value of your home. Any time a home or property is purchased, the deed is recorded at the county record office. These records list the square footage in a home, the price the homes sold for, how many rooms/bathrooms, if it has a basement, etc. Keep in mind these reports are generally one to two months old and they will not provide you with the information on the condition or interior quality of the comparable properties. Only an appraiser or a real estate agent will have access to this information. The MLS has pictures, descriptions, accurate square footages, and detailed information about the home.
It is vital that when you’re ready to move to the next step and sell your home you should get a professional opinion to determine the true value of your home. Let us know if we can be of assistance.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Geordie Romer // Dec 18, 2007 at 8:41 am
Don’t forget to ask the agent you are interviewing about their experience with the neighborhood you live in or the type of house you own. As an agent I can’t tell you how many times I am competing with agents who are working outside of their market expertise or who are brand new. One of my clients asked me about pricing their home and said that another agent from church gave them an opinion about price and wondered why mine was so much lower. The other agent has never sold a home in Leavenworth, had never sold a home in this price range, and had only sold 5 homes in the last year. When I explained this to the seller they agreed that the agent was qualified to give them any advice in our market.
2 Marisa @ Seattle Real Estate // Jan 22, 2012 at 8:40 pm
I’d agree that sellers nowadays are overlooking the importance of a local real estate broker who can correctly price their home. With all the tools from Zillow, Trulia, and the like, many sellers feel that they already know what their home is worth. Also, discount brokers seem much more appealing to a seller until their home is expired from the multiple and they’re getting tons of calls from other brokers.
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