How Much Is My House Worth: How to Price Your Home to Sell It Fast
Selling your home is not an easy task. After all, your house is much more than just four walls with a roof. It's the place of memories and sentiment. That alone makes it challenging even to decide you should list your home on the market.
However, doing that is crucial if you want to take the next step in your life. Before you get in touch with a reliable realtor, though, there's one thing you should keep in mind. Selling a home is one thing. Listing it at the right price is another.
And when it comes to deciding how much your house is worth, it's a more complicated matter than you may think. Many people ask themselves two questions:
How can I achieve selling my house fast for cash?
How to get the highest price possible?
To achieve these two objectives, your asking price should attract potential buyers while ensuring you sell your house for top dollar. To ensure you make that happen, we've prepared the following guide.
Make a Comparative Market Analysis
The easiest way to estimate your home's worth is by doing a real estate market analysis. In fact, it's the first thing to do before you decide it's time to put the "for sale" sign in your front yard.
By looking at the pricing of similar homes, you'll be able to determine what your starting price should be. In short, you have to look at the market through buyers' eyes.
And what if you don't have time to go through every offer you see? Well, if you want to sell your home fast, all you need to do to determine the listing price is by using the comparison website.
All it takes is typing in the square footage of your property, the date your home was built, the neighborhood you live in, and other crucial factors. Once you do that, the system will show you the list of comparable homes in your area, allowing you to set your price.
Talk With Other Home Sellers
If you know any people who sold their homes or are also listing their properties, sharing your experiences is an excellent idea. It will allow you to find out how to attract a buyer and how long it might take for you to sell your home.
What's more, it will show you the mistakes you should avoid, and yes, how to set the right pricing for your house. You may think that reading a few articles is enough, but speaking to someone who has experience in house selling is not something you should underestimate.
Size Matters
The bigger the house, the higher the price, right? Well, not necessarily. While size matters, the crucial factor to consider is the available living space.
For instance, if your house has an attic, basement, and garage, it's worth more money than a one that hasn't got these features, even if the other home is "bigger."
Bear in mind that living space also means bathrooms, bedrooms, and other essential rooms; the more of them, the better for your home's value.
Consider Your House Upgrades
Adding upgrades costs is a common practice among house sellers. After all, you've invested a reasonable amount of money in your home. Logically, it should increase your home value, right? Unfortunately, it is not always the case.
Sure, if your kitchen looks fantastic because you renovated it last year, more buyers may be willing to purchase your home. However, not all upgrades will significantly increase the value of your home.
That's why you must know what to renovate when deciding on a project to increase the price of your home. For instance, the National Association of Realtors research shows that an average seller recoups 59 % of their renovation costs.
What does it tell you? Don't invest money in excessive renovations. Just because you spent $40,000 on a kitchen remodel doesn't mean you can increase your home price range by that sum.
Consult Your Real Estate Agent
However, before you decide on pricing your home and putting it on the market, you should get in touch with a reliable real estate agent. Sure, you can do everything yourself, but with a little help from a professional, you'll be able not only to estimate better how much your home is worth but also sell it at a better price.
Besides selling your home for the price you want, a real estate agent will also make sure your offer gets more attention. And don't forget that the higher the number of potential buyers, the better the chance of selling your property faster and for more money.
How to Get the Best Price for Your Home
Let's say you've estimated the price of your home correctly. Yet, you still believe that the list price should be higher. Is it possible to boost the price without investing in upgrades? The answer is yes.
In fact, there are many techniques you can implement to get the best price possible. You just have to know the basic factors and learn how to use them to your advantage. For instance, things like the time of year or area significantly impact your home value.
Here's what you can do to increase the price:
Get a reliable real estate agent
Ensure the photos of your home look top-quality
Sell your home in spring/summer
Attract more buyers to get a higher number of bids
Clean your property and conduct minor repairs
These are simple things that may not sound like significant home value-boosting factors. You can be sure that they will increase your chance of attracting more potential buyers.
Bottom Line
As you can see, pricing your home is more complicated than it sounds. You need to consider many factors, like the current real estate market situation, the area you live in, your property's size with its living space, and any upgrades you conducted.
Before you price your home, though, don't forget to consult your real estate agent. They will help you determine your starting point price so that more buyers will be willing to purchase your property.
Agents also help in negotiations, making your effort to sell look more professional and increase your chance of receiving the highest offer possible. And sure, you can do everything yourself. It all depends on whether you have time to spare and know a thing or two about the market.