How:

Location: Your home’s location and setting influence its value. A home inside a quiet subdivision sells for more than an identical home on a busy street. Also, remote areas typically sell for less than suburban areas. Views, streams, and trees usually enhance value. Unfortunately, you obviously have no control over the location.

Condition: New homes enjoy a marketing edge over resale homes because they are shiny and clean. Builders enhance their appeal by offering model homes (clean, bright, decorated in stylish colors, and with amenities) for buyers to examine. My goal is to make your home as close to a model home as possible while being sensitive to costs. You have nearly complete control over condition and you can increase value and decrease marketing time by having your home in the best possible condition. Once you have made the basic repairs to your home, give your home the model treatment. Your goal is to dazzle Buyers willing to pay for a home in mint condition. Paint, floor polish, new light fixtures and fresh bedding plants are an inexpensive way to take your home from plain to profitable. Feel free to ask me if you would like my advice about any “presentation” items. I will always try to keep the expenses down and maximize your profit.

Pricing: Your home must be priced within the appropriate range. You must actually “sell” you property twice: to a Buyer and to an appraiser working on behalf of the lending institution. The Buyer is more subjective and compares amenities you offer to what other Sellers in the same price range offer. The appraiser is more objective and compares age, size and cost-identifiable features in your home to other properties that have sold. You don't need to spend money on a formal appraisal. You can price your home based on a competitive market analysis, which any realtor you choose to work with should provide. The competitive market analysis will take into account recent sales data in your neighborhood and your home’s characteristics. In the Lower Mainland, both Sellers and Buyers are very knowledgeable about the market. Because of this, it is wise to price your home as close as possible to the actual sale price you wish to receive or risk losing a number of prospective Buyers. The longer your house sits on the market, the less likely you are to get the best price. It is true that spring and fall are when the most Buyers are looking for a home, but the best time to put your home on the market is when you are ready to sell!

Why:

Time: Chances are your home will sell at its fair market value. Pricing it realistically at the outset simply increases the likelihood for a timely sale with less inconveniences and greater financial return.

Competition: Buyers educate themselves by viewing many homes. They know what a fair price is.

If your home is not competitive in value with the homes they have seen, it will not sell. Buyers typically look at homes within a $10,000 price range. If your home is not priced within the correct range, it very likely will not be exposed to its potential or targeted Buyers.

Reputation: Overpricing causes most homes to remain on the market too long. Buyers, aware of a long exposure period, are often hesitant to make an offer because they fear “something is wrong” with the house. Often homes that are on the market for a long time eventually sell for far less than their fair market value.

Inconvenience:

If overpricing keeps your home from selling promptly, you may end up owning two homes-the one you have already purchased and the one you are trying to sell. This can prove costly and worrisome, as well as inconvenient.