How Do I Set the Selling Price of My Home?

The key to setting a price for your home is determining how much your property is actually worth -- called "appraising" a house's value. Because no two houses are alike, it's impossible to predict with absolute certainty what a buyer will pay for yours. However, the best indicator is recent sales prices of comparable properties in your neighborhood ("comps"). The Momentum Group provides you with a FREE (CMA), to help you set your price.

The Momentum Group has access to local sales data and can give you a good estimate of what your house should sell for. Joana Hoover, will offer this service free, in hopes that you will list your house with them. But beware that some agents may estimate a high value for your home (I call that buying you’re listing), to try and get you’re listing. Make sure the agent's estimate is based on comparable sales, and ask to see the comparable listings yourself.

When I Prepare a CMA I do the following:

1. Location, Market Area

2. Square Footage

3. Bedrooms and Bathrooms

4. Year Built

5. Condition…beware of homes for 20% below value but needs work; they can be the best deal, making your home with no work needed not as appealing.

To get a ballpark figure on your own, use websites such as www.domania.com or www.zillow.com I like to check out these sites when I prepare a CMA to see what the buyer is looking at also. By entering your address, you'll be able to pull up sales prices for recently sold homes of the same size as yours in your neighborhood. Of course, these websites can't take into account other important information that affects home values, like improvements and remodeling.

Observing the asking prices of houses still on the market can provide some guidance. Of course, asking prices are often higher than selling prices (in some areas by 10% or more), so you'll need to account for that in your calculations. To find out asking prices, call Joana Hoover 360-362-2700 or go to open houses, check newspaper real estate classified ads (internet), and look online at sites such as, www.kitsapmomentum.com/joana or www.realtor.com.

Especially in a competitive market, it's important to list your house at the right price from the beginning. If your house is overpriced, some buyers might not even bother to look, thinking your expectations aren't reasonable and it's not worth it to even negotiate. And the longer your house sits on the market, the more suspicious potential buyers may become that something is "wrong" with it.

Once again Thank you for choosing The Momentum Group for all your real estate needs.

If you have a real estate question and would like an answer be sure to Email me at: joanahoover@remax.net and check out our website at www.kitsapmomentum.com.

Joana Hoover