We’ve written several times about home selling, and weighed the pros and cons of using a licensed realtor to assist you in this process. The advantages to turning to an experienced professional include the training, experience and network at their disposal. Moving homes is something they’re familiar with, and a task they can fully devote themselves to. This is not to say you can’t be successful on your own; however, if you do decide to go it alone, know that there are several easy (and potentially costly) mistakes you can make. The most common tends to be overpricing your house.
It’s not a flea market.
If you’ve ever gone to a street sale or marketplace, you know that haggling is part of the process. The selling price is whatever you can get it lowered to, and half the fun is low-balling until you and the vendor reach an agreement. This is not how the home market works. Drastically overpricing a house isn’t a good policy; potential buyers will be scared off, and will skip over your listing until they find something within their price range. Your best bet is to determine its market value, and set the price close to this number.
Know your surroundings.
Another good move is to take into account what comparable homes in the neighborhood have sold (or are selling) for; if the other two story townhouse across the street has already been appraised and priced, it might not be a good idea to list yours on the market for twice as much. Still, use common sense when determining a price. If your home is in better condition or has features that many of the other homes in the area lack, don’t be afraid to set the bar higher. Hiring a professional can be useful in this case because they can provide you with a CMA, or Comparative Market Analysis, which evaluates your home against others in the area.
As you are probably well aware, we are the largest homebuying service in the greater DC area. We buy and sell hundreds of homes every year, and can save you the time, frustration and cost of shopping your house for months on an increasingly stingy market. If you’d like to talk to us about your home or would like to know more about how we operate, take a look at our website and feel free to give us a call when you’re ready.