With the spring market upon us and the housing market still not 100% on solid ground many people are asking “how can I sell my home in the next 60 to 90 days”? For the purpose of this blog we will assume that “you don’t need to sell” but “want to sell” and you’re not in a foreclosure situation; so you’re just a seller who would like to move and wants to get the job done without giving the property away.

With that being said there are many things to consider in this market, advertising, internet exposure, the right Realtor for the job, signage, and open houses and so on, for this blog post I want to simply concentrate on pricing and current value.

To properly price a home in any market but especially in today’s market you must look at the following:

• Overall activity in your area – include the cities around you for smaller communities

• What are the average days on market for active properties

• What are the average days on market for sold properties in the last 60 to 90 days

• What is the average asking price compared to the actual sale price for your area

• What are other properties “like yours” selling for – this one is tricky because most sellers say ‘well that home is not the same as mine” – yes, I am sure it’s not. The fact is in most cases you will not find your exact home so you need to take year built, area, style, amenities, bed’s, bath’s and garage size into account and average out the results to see where you stand.

Now those bullets were some of the basic items you need to consider when looking to price a property properly to sell in the next 60 – 90 days. I still don’t think that is the main thing you should look at though.

The number one thing to look at when you want to sell in the next 60 -90 days is as your self these questions:

• Are you OK if it takes longer than 90 days to sell?

• If it takes longer than 90 days to sell how much longer are you on with? Are you OK if it takes 8 to 12 months to sell?

• What if you put your property on the market and it simply does not sell are you OK keeping the property and renting it out or living there 2 or more years?

If your answer is no to these questions or even a “not really” then you need to look at price carefully.

Let’s look at this scenario – you price a home above what it really should be by $20,000 and the property sits for 6 months and does not sell. During those 6 months you made mortgage and insurance payments of $1,700 per month for a total of $10,200 for a home you don’t want anymore. Now you also used up 6 months of valuable market time and perhaps the market is softer at the end of that 6 months then it was prior due to more foreclosed homes on the market you must compete with in conjunction with studies show homes that are on the market for an extended period of time receive much lower offers than homes that are priced right to start with.

The truth is buyers know the homes for sale better than anyone as they have spent countless hours on the internet looking at pictures, videos, virtual tours, neighborhood information and attending open houses. They know what the price should be and with a market with plenty of inventory buyers wont trip over themselves to write an offer on a property they know is too much. They simply look at something else.

Now I am not, nor would I ever suggest selling below what you can get. Your equity was hard earned by you and you deserve to get as much of it as you can in any market. I am simply suggesting that if you want to sell your better off pricing it accordingly based on market research of your specific area and getting a good offer sooner rather than a low-ball offer later.

In the end marketing, the agent, internet, signage and ads all matter, they really do but price is king and improperly priced homes will sit even when they may only be over by 10%. I have seen so many homes expire from the MLS that we could tell were clearly over-priced in the last 12 months only to see them come back on “below” what i know they could have received if it were only priced properly the first time because now they have “shop worn” the property and need to adjust for it. It’s sad to see it happen but it does all the time.

If you have any agent over to establish price do not let them talk you into a low price if you truly do not see the reason. A good agent will be prepared with the market activity, properties like yours far sale as well as recently sold so in the end the pricing point should be obvious. I see many agents simply fly by the seat of their pants and guess on pricing and your equity deserves more than that. Look at the market closely and ask yourself the questions we laid out above and you will be able to sell in the next 60 to 90 days. Best of luck and if you would like to set up an appointment with us contact me here or call 612-282-7653 anytime, have a great day and best of luck in whatever you choose to do.

If you’re an agent with another opinion on this or a seller who started high on price and eventually came down to sell we would love to hear your thoughts as well. Sometimes the best ideas we can all learn from come from your replies and comments.