How to price a home


		Robert Woehrle REAL ESTATE UPDATES

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRICING A HOME

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Discover some tips on how to price your home so you can get maximum value when your house hits the market.

A number of factors go into pricing a home - all of which your professional real estate agent will know and employ when working on selling your home. Here are some of those factors.

USE THE '99' RULE
There are a lot of psychological and strategic thoughts that goes into pricing your home. The '99' strategy has been used for decades, and although it might not seem like a lot, it makes a difference in people's minds.

List your home at $499K (or even better, $489K) if you're trying to get close to $500k. Many times when people do a house search, they'll search for a starting point, so if you price your home at just below the next tier, more people that can actually afford your home will look at your listing, which equals more opportunity for a sale.

APPEAL TO THE "HERD MENTALITY"
A buyer doesn't want to be the only one interested in a particular home. Bringing your property on the lower end of your value range could stimulate interest among more than one buyer and create a heard mentality.

DON'T GET CREATIVE WITH ASKING PRICE
Sometimes buyers want to use an oddly specific number, such as $578,777. While this might get some interest from curious folks wondering "Why that number," that strategy is exactly opposite of what you want. It's best to keep sellers out of the minds of buyers - which is why personal effects are often removed when staging a house.

The goal is to showcase the property - not the seller. Getting quirky with the asking price counteracts this strategy.

KNOW THE COMPARABLES
In most cases, the asking price of most homes should be within 10% of the average selling price of your neighborhood. Your real estate agent can pull comparables (or comps) easily, and help you figure out what price will work according to the neighborhood.

BE PREPARED FOR ADDITIONAL CLOSING COSTS
Even though closing costs are traditionally paid by the seller, it's becoming more common for the costs to be split with or paid by the buyers. The additional costs might mean that it makes sense to put less money down in order to pay for the additional expenses.