Pricing your home correctly is imperative for a successful result. While there are different strategies to pricing, the key to them all is having an accurate valuation. We provide all our sellers with an in home listing consultation where we can gather the key pieces of data to price your home accurately. From there, we use the Northwest Multiple Listing Service database, King County & Snohomish County Assessor records, and proprietary information from Realist to make sure we have all the data to provide you with a precise valuation.
Once we’ve completed our extensive research, we compile this data into a complete Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for your review. A CMA values your home the same way an appraiser does – by using nearby Active, Pending, and Sold comparables. From there we make adjustments for the differences in the homes and take an average and median price. This provides you with a very accurate valuation, often within 3% of the price your home will sell for.
Once we know what market value for your home is, it’s time to talk strategy. There are 3 valid strategies for pricing your home.
Strategy #1: Price at market value: As Goldilocks might say, this is the “just right” strategy. The goal here is to sell your home within a reasonable time-frame (usually within 60 days) at the listing price or very close to the listing price.
Strategy #2: Under-price your home: The strategy here is to under-price your home by 3% – 5% with the goal of soliciting multiple offers. This is a great strategy in a strong Sellers market and can often result in the home getting bid up above list price. The risk though is that sometimes you throw a party and no one shows up. If this happens, its very difficult to increase the listing price of your home.
Strategy #3: Over-price your home: This can be a great strategy in a slower market or if you have a unique property. The nice thing about over-pricing your home is that you leave yourself room to negotiate. The downside is that if you over-price by too much many people will never come to look at it in the first place. Also, you run the risk of building a long “Days on Market” clock which can result in low-ball offers.
Although staging can be a tedious project and can sometimes feel unnecessary, study after study has shown that it’s effective. I provide you with a free staging consultation to make sure your home looks it’s best. If you decide not to hire a professional stager, that’s OK. We can give you the advice you need if you choose to go the DYI route. Here’s some general principals:
Declutter: Generally speaking, most homeowners have to remove 50% of their belongings to make their home show ready. This means putting away all the knick-knacks, hiding your toothbrush, and clearing the kitchen counters. Remember, you’re moving anyway, so now’s a great time to start packing.
Depersonalize: This means taking down family photos (Buyers will spend their time looking at them rather than the house), hiding the liquor, and packing away edgy artwork.
Neutralize: A lot of people love reds, yellows, and robin blues, but a lot of people don’t too. As silly as it may be, many Buyers can’t see past paint colors, so it’s time to swap out that neon orange for taupes and tans.
Give Each Room a Sense of Space: In reality, we’ll often use a spare bedroom as an office/guest room/craft room. For staging, make sure each room has a clear sense of purpose – an office is just an office, a bedroom is just a bedroom, etc.
Make sure your Furniture fits the Space: This is where a professional stager can really come in handy. We often have furniture that is to small or too large for a room. In order to show off your square footage and the flow of your home, it’s crucial to have furniture that fits just right.
Today’s digital photography and post processing technology has taken real estate and architectural photography to the next level. As a professionally trained real estate photographer I have an eye to make sure the photos show your home at it’s best. It starts by using a high quality wide angle lens. This lets the buyer see the entire room, not just the corner of a bedroom or a toilet in the bathroom. From there, an HDR post processing method is used to make your photos bright, crisp, and vibrant. These professional photos are a $350 value, but are free when you list with the me.
See examples here:
With the majority of home buyers starting their home search online having a great online marketing plan is imperative. By placing your home on the Northwest Multiple Listing Service your home will be listed on Seattle’s top real estate websites. These include windermere.com, redfin.com, johnlscott.com, and coldwellbanker.com. I don’t stop there though, I also individually upload your listing to premium non-MLS websites including Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Yahoo Real Estate and Craigslist.