Find Home Value
Recently I talked to a neighbor who has a fixer upper home in Los Gatos for sale. Our educated guess was that Fair Market Price of the property should be around $1.2M since the interior of the house is simply not up to today’s standards with 2 very small bedrooms and out-dated kitchen. We offered to bring him a full cash offer at $1.2M but he replied that he needs to net $1.6M!!
Well, this home in still on the market and still active despite decent traffic, but no offers. At the mean time your agent is trying to work you to reduce your Home Price. Is it possible that you forced your agent’s hand in over-pricing your property for the current market? After all, most sellers have an emotional attachment to their property and believe their home is the most unique property on their street and should command the highest price. But we all know that is not the case. Perhaps you did NOT consider these Top 5 Questions before Listing your Home for Sale.
These questions are:
1) Know your Home’s Value: Why not learn from the banks who use Broker Price Opinions (BPO)to determine a home’s value. These BPOs are based on the 3 most recent Sold comps within 1-2 mile radius of a subject Home which has a similar age, size and floor plan.
2) Hire the Right Agent: Listing the property with an agent who quotes you the most outrageous List price might be the right strategy for the agent to secure your Home’s listing contract, but it might spell disaster for your sale efforts since an over-priced property will stay on the market and you will be forced to take to discount it. Wort of all, you would be the one chasing the market as opposed to defining the market.
3) Consider Staging: Katie Severance, co-author of ”The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Selling Your Home.” ”It’s not a new concept, but some people think they don’t need it. But staging can get you thousands more.” For example our our banking clients even staged their Los Gatos Fixer Upper REO after spending $70,000 on repairing it prior to sale. So, spend some time removing the clutter and items that might not appeal to every buyers.
4) Don’t Ignore Low Ball Offers: There is no need to get offended by a low ball offer. Counter a low ball offer by taking little off your list price while having your goal in mind. Depending on how long your property has been on them market, your Listing Agent should be able to advise you on a strategy to counter.
5) Learn about your buyers: Remember that you are not negotiating an M&A deal where everything is a calculated move. So, make an attempt to learn more about your buyers who might be willing to pay higher price if you allowed them to take possession sooner. Perhaps your could negotiate a higher price if you included some of the furniture which is tailor made for the property. In one of our Los Gatos Fixer Upper sales, we included the Corner Bench and the Table that we had designed and built for the Breakfast nook. As a results we were able to get the highest price for a home sold on that street in Los Gatos.
Now that your home is not selling, what will you be your next move?
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