One of the most nerve-wracking things about selling a home is pricing it. Pricing makes such a big difference in how your property is perceived by buyers—and ultimately, it determines how much money you can get out of your home.
That means you want to get it right so you don’t lose out on any money. But going too high can scare away the perfect buyers. So what are you supposed to do?
Well, first things first: work with an expert to price your home. Your real estate agent will complete a market comparison and analyze your home against your local market and house comps to find the perfect listing price.
But sometimes sellers aren’t so sure about the price their agents come up with. I occasionally get questions about whether or not it’s a good idea to plan some room into the listing price because of negotiations.
Here’s why you shouldn’t leave some space for negotiating when establishing the sales price.
1. Buyers use price filters. Almost every buyer out there does the bulk of their home shopping online. And because there are so many properties on the market, buyers will use filters to find a home that meets their needs. If you price your home too high, the perfect buyers could never see it, which means that they’ll never make an offer on it.
2. Pricing too high can prevent a bidding war. A bidding war is when multiple buyers make offers on the same property and then start one-upping each other’s offers to win the house. A bidding war is a great thing for the seller, and they’re happening all the time due to the competitive market we’re in.
But pricing your home too high can make it so a bidding war won’t happen. Instead of having multiple buyers fighting over your home, you might just get an offer or two that come in under your listing price. In this market especially, your home can do so much better than that!
This is why pricing your home properly is so critical to get top dollar. Too low and you’ll miss out on money. Too high and you’ll miss out on the perfect buyers. Working with a real estate agent and understanding their pricing strategy is one way to make sure you price your home correctly.