How To Price Your Home

If you are listing Lake Tahoe real estate in the near future, pricing is the biggest decisions you will make. With a majority of the United States being in a seller’s market, homeowners stand to make a good profit at resale. However, some sellers price too high while others price too low. If you have chosen an experienced and qualified Lake Tahoe Realtor to help you with the process, you can rest assured that you will price appropriately for the market. There are a few things to keep in mind before you begin the process. Check out my tips below.

First, Know The Local Market Conditions

Before you can determine the best list price for your Lake Tahoe real estate, you really need to know what is happening locally. Your Lake Tahoe Realtor can give you a local market report, both for the city as well as the neighborhood you are in. They will pull numbers like the average and median sold prices, the list prices vs. the sold prices, days on market, month supply for homes that are comparable to yours and are located nearby. A lot of sellers make the mistake of wanting to list based on what nearby homes are listed at, not what they sold for. The reality is that a home is only worth what buyers are willing to pay for it. Not to mention, you may be looking at homes for sale in Lake Tahoe that are nearby but aren’t remotely similar to yours, therefor their list prices won’t apply to you. Your Realtor in Lake Tahoe can elaborate more on how this works.

Next, Determine a pricing strategy

There are a few routes you can go with this. Once again, your Realtor in Lake Tahoe will be the best person to advise on this as every home is different.

List at market value

Fair market value is determined by the above aspects: average and median sold prices, list price vs sold, month supply, etc. These are numbers your Lake Tahoe Realtor will give you based on comparable solds in your immediate area. Whether you are in a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, it is always wise to list at fair market value. This puts you in a great position to receive a competitive offer the fastest.

List high

This is a method used by sellers, that quite frankly isn’t usually recommended by Lake Tahoe real estate professionals. If you aren’t in a rush to sell, you can start off at your desired dollar amount and then come up with a strategic plan to improve the price as time goes on depending on interest and feedback from buyers. However, when you price higher than a home is worth, you run the risk of sitting on the market. This can cause a home to become stigmatized by potential buyers. They usually assume that if a property has been sitting for a while, there is something wrong with it. You also could have issues at closing if the lenders appraisal doesn’t match your list price. A lender won’t loan more than the home is worth so unless the offer is cash, you could hit some resistance and roadblocks using this method.

List low

Sellers listing lower than market value usually do it because they want to get multiple bids or have to sell fast. If the goal is a bidding war, sellers are looking for multiple offers. When a bidding war is created, the end result is usually a close price that is over ask and on the terms that the seller wants. When inventory is low and demand is high, buyers are more willing to negotiate and put up more money to snag their dream home. This can backfire in some scenarios and in most cases one shouldn’t list lower than 10% of the market value. Your Realtor in Lake Tahoe will work closely with you to determine if this pricing strategy is the best one for you.

For more information on how to price your home appropriately from the start, feel free to give me a call. I would be happy to help.