Pricing for Success

When you're getting ready to put your home on the market, if you want a quick and easy sale you have to list it at the right price. With a badly set price, a house will sit unsold for too long and that is deadly. This can be really 

problematic if you have become emotionally attached to a new home you have found, with pressure to obtain the resources to make the commitment on your new home.

Use Available Resources to Be Competitive
If you want a successful sale the thing to keep in mind as a starting point is being the very best deal on the block. Market analysis, which involves more than just looking at what else is for sale in the area, is something best accomplished by your Realtor if you are working with one on the sale. Your Realtor knows the market and can help in setting a realistic price point that can be to your advantage and help you get the sale made. Price it right if you want to sell it.

Pricing Sets the Stage for Success
An important thing to realize is that the optimum selling price is not the highest price you can possibly get from the deal, but the highest price that you can reasonably get in the shortest time period devoted to the process. Your own time is valuable as is the money you have to keep investing in your house while it is being sold. If you look at it with this in mind, you can start to see the problem in a new light. If you are selling in a down market, you could have to not only cut your price after the home goes on the market, but also offer other concessions such as help with settlement costs to obtain a quick sale.

Consider Timing Also
Market conditions may dictate not only the price you can get for your home as outlined above, but also the timing of your sale. You might just have to decide it might not be the right time for you to sell for your top dollar price, but still, when things change, you might have to move quickly. You may have to wait, then take advantage of a market shift and sell more quickly, depending on market direction and momentum. This could mean selling your home before you decide on another. Unless you have relatives or really special friends with whom you can stay awhile, you could defeat your purpose of getting extra money on the sale by having to move into short term rental housing until you find another home. In some cases, the buyers may be willing to wait to take possession, especially if they can stay where they are a little longer. Most of the time, though, as soon as the buyers know their loan has been approved they will be anxious to close within a week or two.

About That Repair Work...
Something that some sellers don't consider when pricing their home is whether their home is in the same condition as other homes that were sold for an attractive price. If you have not kept your home in top condition, you won't be able to sell it at the same good price as . If this happens you may be successful in pricing it to sell quickly by offsetting the price of any repairs that will be left to the new homeowner. This would result in a lower selling price but less work for you. Again, what is your personal attention and work worth? Still, you have to realize that this option only pertains to cosmetic repairs In most cases roofs, roofing work and air conditioners must be repaired before settlement. Things like replacing old bathroom fixtures, painting, refinishing wood floors and other similar jobs can be put off by lowering your price for the home. The main point to remember is that if you consider both the cost of your own time and the cost of having the house sit losing luster on the market, the best approach is truly to do the smart thing by pricing right from day one.

Be especially aware of this if your home is not far and away the best of all the available homes on the block. There are people who like to buy a home that needs some work so they can fix it the way they like, and if your home is in need of any work at all then having too high a price will be especially deadly. Even if your home is the best, unrealistic asking prices will hurt you when you fail to sell. From the time you decide to sell, the best thing to do is to price it smart.

This information was provided by Automated Homefinder, the ultimate Colorado real estate specialists.