When attempting to sell your home in Chicago’s competitive real estate market, it’s more important than ever to price your home correctly. If you’re considering selling and curious about your home’s value, let’s talk!
STRATEGICALLY PRICING YOUR HOME FOR SALE. GET TOP MARKET VALUE
SOME FACTORS DETERIMINING MARKET VALUE: All of the below are factored into the Comparative Market Analysis report.
- Appraisals
- Market Inventory
- Recent Sales in Building/Neighborhood
- Your Need for Speed
- Price Testing
- Capitalization Rate (Investors)
- Positioning Your Home to Compete
- Condition of Your Home
- Current Market Conditions
PRICING YOUR HOME FOR A SUCCESSFUL SALE
1.THE GOLDEN WINDOW
• Data shows that you’re far more likely to get top market value if you sell your home during a certain “golden window” during the listing. In short, timing is crucial.
• With the exception of hot, sellers’ markets, homes generally attract the most interest and activity among buyer prospects and their agents during the second to fourth or fifth weeks they’re on the market.
• Beyond five weeks, your home will increasingly be viewed as a stale listing – i.e. as a commodity with a history of being rejected by other buyers. Consequently, there will be less market buzz, less showings, less offers and less likelihood that you’ll get your asking price.
• This is why it is crucial to price your home correctly right from the beginning so that you get and accept a solid offer during the three or four week “golden window”
ABOVE: Time on Market vs. Buyer Activity
2.THE CONSEQUENCES OF OVER PRICING
• The strategy of overpricing your home when you list, knowing that you can reduce the price later, might seem to make sense at first glance. However, it seldom works. In fact, sellers who overprice their homes – even just 10% above market value – and then reduce the price one or more times often end up getting less than they would have if they’d priced it realistically from the start, as depicted below:
ABOVE: Listing Price vs. Market Value
HERE’S WHY:
• Fewer buyers – even if they’re otherwise attracted to your home – will respond to the online and offline marketing of it if they know it’s overpriced.
• Fewer agents will show your home to their buyers if they know it’s overpriced.
• An excessive price on your property makes other homes more attractive.
• You’ll get fewer – if any – serious offers overall because buyers may consider doing
so a waste of time.
• Reducing the price after buyers have begun to perceive your home as a stale listing
will not generate as much interest as if you’d priced it properly from the start.
3.The Bottom Line: REALISTIC PRICING is STRATEGIC PRICING!
This is why pricing your home realistically at the start – to coincide with its window of maximum market exposure – is important, particularly in a market like this one. If you do so, you will not only attract more buyers, you will attract the right buyers: qualified, motivated and willing to pay top market value for your home.
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