1. Study, Study, Study! The first step on the journey to setting the price of your home should always be to research. You want to make sure that you understand the true market value of your property before determining your asking price. Look up what other homes in your neighborhood have sold for in the past.Look up neighborhoods similar to your own and see for what houses like yours have sold.
2. Beware Active Listings. Remember—active listings are not the same as past sales. If a property is currently listed, it has yet to sell. You have no way of knowing if the owners of that home did their research. That price tag could be set much too high or way too low. Think of active listings as competition. While it’s important to know what you’re up against, it’s doubly important to remember that your competition has yet to sell—and it may be for a reason.
3. Ticking Clock. Sometimes, we find ourselves either needing to sell our homes as soon as possible, or we are working with a more lackadaisical, ‘eventually’ approach. When working in a time crunch, you may find yourself tempted to lowball your price and shortchange yourself on the payout. If you don’t have a strict timetable, you may be more inclined to overprice and see if a willing buyer comes along—missing many other potential buyers along the way.
4. Leave the Door Cracked. Negotiation is an unescapable aspect of selling and buying your home. It’s important to leave some wiggle room.Just make sure it isn’t too much wiggle room. No one wants to feel as if they lost out on money, and no buyer wants to shell out more than they have to. Don’t sell yourself short, and make sure your buyer doesn’t see you as unrealistic before moving along to other opportunities.
5. Think Like Your Buyer. Walk through your home and property as if you are a potential buyer. Ask yourself what you look for in a home: is it a roomy yard?Modern appliances? Updated Bathrooms? What do you see as warning signs: property along a busy road?Unfinished basement? Chances are, your buyers look for and want to avoid the same things that you do. Price your house to compensate and account for its own pros and cons.
At HelgesonPatzke Real Estate Group, we are proud to be a member of Eden Prairie’s esteemed small business community. Since 1995, we’ve offered the very best in Twin Cities real estate, earning our community’s trust as the #1 Sales Team in the Eden Prairie area. With over 4,500 homes sold, our staff has both the knowledge and experience necessary to ensure that your home ownership goals are delivered.So, if you’re considering buying or selling your Eden Prairie area home this summer, now is the time to enlist the help of a real estate professional who can help you make the most of this season’s extraordinary market.