One of the hardest things to know for certain when you’re in the process of beginning the home sale process, is whether or not the valuation you’ve been given is accurate, and whether your home has been priced appropriately. Although estate agents are seemingly the experts and they’re the ones you’re to trust when they tell you how much your property is worth, remember that they themselves are trying to get business too, and might just be telling you what it is they think you want to hear. If you’re concerned about ensuring your property is priced appropriately prior to it going on the market, then here’s how you’ll have your best shot at doing just that.
Say No to Overpricing
If you think that that an estate agent has given you a suspiciously high value to put your home on the market for, then chances are they very well might have done. In fact, according to market business news, many estate agents are likely to overprice your home in order to ensure your business. Of course, it’s easy to be flattered and taken in when an estate agent tells you your house is worth a bomb (after all, they know best!), but don’t be taken in! If it seems unrealistic it probably is. Trust your gut, question the estate agent and go for several valuations.
The trouble with overpricing a property, is that potential buyers can smell it a mile off. This means that the likelihood of people wanting to view and furthermore put an offer anywhere near the price you’re selling your property for becomes increasingly unlikely. The longer your property is on the market, ultimately the less appealing it becomes. A property that’s been on the market for a long while soon becomes known as being a “stale listing” and people begin to assume there’s something wrong with it. The longer this goes on, the staler the listing becomes, and the less people are likely to be interested. What may have at first seemed like all of your Christmas’ come at once, could very quickly become a long and frustrating game, which results in you losing thousands of pounds.
Look at What Your Competition Has Recently Sold for
Your competition, or what is known in the industry as “comps” will give you the best indicator of how much your property should be being valued for. The more recent the better, so go online and have a look.
Make sure, however, that you’re being realistic. Say a house has the same number of bedrooms as yours, but it goes for more money than yours is up for – look for why that might be. It could be that the property contains period features, or that they have a bigger garden than yours, or more square footage. The more detached you can become from your own property in this research, the more realistic an expectation you’re going to be able to get.
Keep an Eye on Pending Sales
Keep an eye on sales that are pending in the area too. This will give you an indication of what sort of properties people are interested in at the current moment – for example families may not be moving now because it’s the start of the school year etc. Until the papers are signed, these numbers are up for deliberation, but there’s no harm in looking to give yourself further knowledge. Remember that knowledge, is very much power in the property game – so increase is, nurture it, and use it wisely.
Remember that Pricing is Market Dependent
Last of all, but possibly most importantly, remember that pricing is completely dependent on the market at the time.
Say you’ve looked at historical sales in your area, and it appears that your past “comps” have been going for a LOT more money than they are nowadays. This doesn’t mean that there’s anything better about them or wrong with your house – it could just simply mean that the market itself was in a better place then.
The market is fluid, so remember it goes through positive and negative stages – or hot and cold, as it’s known by the industry. If the industry is hot, houses will go quicker and sell for more, whereas if the market is cold you run a higher risk of the listing going stale, and your house is likely to go for less. Unfortunately it’s unpredictable, but it’s just the way the market works. It’s all intrinsically linked, so remember that when things might seem unfair or confusing.