Listing Your House For Sale

Every reasonable owner wants the best possible price and terms for his or her home. Several factors, including market conditions and interest rates, will determine how much you can get for your home. The idea is to get the maximum price and the best terms during the window of time when your home is being marketed.

If you're working with a Realtor or other industry professional, you'll probably hear talk of fair market value, which typically means the highest value an educated buyer will pay.  Fair market value is usually not the asking price.

While overpricing to some degree can be beneficial, you'll still want to be careful and avoid pricing your home too high, which almost always is nonproductive.

In considering home values, several factors are important:

• The value of your home relates to local sale prices. The same home, located elsewhere, would likely have a different value.

• Sale prices are a product of supply and demand. If you live in a community with an expanding job base, a growing population and a limited housing supply, it's likely that prices will rise. Alternatively, it's important to be realistic. If the local community is losing jobs and people are moving out, then you'll likely have a buyer's market.

• Owner needs can impact sale values. If owner Smith "must" sell quickly, he will have less leverage in the marketplace. Buyers may think that Smith is willing to trade a quick closing for a lower price -- and they may be right. If Smith has no incentive to sell quickly, he may have more marketplace strength.

• Sale prices are not based on what owners "need." When an owner says, "I must sell for $300,000 because I need $100,000 in cash to buy my next home," buyers will quickly ask if $300,000 is a reasonable price for the property. If similar homes in the same community are selling for $250,000, the seller will not be successful.

• Sale prices are NOT the whole deal. Which would you rather have: A sale price of $200,000, or a sale price of $205,000 but where you agree to make a "seller contribution" of $5,000 to offset the buyer's closing costs, pay a $2,000 allowance for roof repairs, fund two mortgage points, re-paint the entire house and leave the washer and dryer?

Your agent, as well as friends, relatives, and neighbors, will help you point out your house's advantages and disadvantages that you may not have thought about because you're too close to the house and not as objective as others.

While some people think selling their home themselves as a "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO) will save them money, very often times it costs them more than they might save not paying a real estate commission.  Your home should be listed, whenever possible, in the local Multiple Listing Service, and as a FSBO, it is often difficult (if not impossible) to do this.

Experienced REALTORS® are active in the local marketplace and can provide assistance with pricing, marketing, negotiation and closing.