There are 3 things that must be done properly in order to successfully cause a sale.
- Price the property correctly.
- Market the property effectively (not as easy as it looks and very expensive)
- Assess the condition and prepare the property for sale.
Today we are going to talk about pricing correctly.
If you have ever listed your property for sale and the listing expired (did not sell) you know how frustrating this can be. (In most cases, you can’t move forward until your property sells).
To add to your frustration, on the very day your listing expired, your phone probably rang off the hook with calls from Realtors claiming to be ready to get your property sold fast. (Where were all these Realtors last month?)
Let’s put things in perspective.
- Selling real estate is not so easy.
- As for listings expiring, yours was not the only one. Have a look...
Here are the numbers for last month.
In December, 1,019 new listings came on the market. However, 1,886 listings expired that same month. The fact is that most people do not price their property correctly and the result is the listing expires.
In most cases, the reason someone is looking to sell their property is often triggered by some sort of life event ( a death, divorce, need to downsize, job transfer, upsize, etc). The reason I mention this is because it's important to be objective when setting the price.
So how can a seller know they have the correct price to sell their property?
The answer to that question is this.
The price has to be supported by closed sales. Specifically, properties that are similar, ideally in the same neighborhood and the sales should be recent (6 months +/-).
Where can a seller find the information they need to determine the correct price?
Well one place sellers can find information is at the county property appraiser website.>>www.collierappraiser.com
But here is something to keep in mind. There is definitely a learning curve to using the website.
Another issue is that the information is not always accurate. The reason being, is that the property appraiser does not access the interior of the property when they do assessments. That makes it hard to know if the property has any upgrades or if the property actually matches the county records.
Another source of home value information are sites like Zillow (Zestimate). A Zestimate is really an AVM, an automated value model. That is a fancy term for an average. If there are a large number of similar properties that have recently sold in your area, then an AVM might be reasonably close. However, there are many instances where that is not the case. In fact, the CEO of Zillow actually sold a property he owned for $1.1 million when the property Zestimate said the value was $1.7million.
Valuing a property is actually as much art form as it is exact science.
How do banks determine the market value of properties they lend money on (mortgages)?
Banks hire certified appraisers who use public records such as county property appraiser and county tax records to determine property values. Appraisers also often use one other source for property value information, and that source is the MLS. The Realtor Multiple Listing Service.
In fact the MLS is probably the best source for property value information and here’s why.
- The majority of sales happen through the MLS.
- MLS is highly accurate because Realtors usually gain access to the inside of the property and use the upgrades to help sell the property for top dollar.
- MLS usually has lots of pictures of the interiors.
- The information is very well organized.
How does a seller access the MLS?
If your property is located in SWFL, you can access the exact information you need here.
www.BonitaSpringsRealEstateHub.com.
- See properties in your specific neighborhood
- See Active listings
- See listings that are under contract
- See the recent closed sales
- See pictures of all the properties
Click Here to see sample market report >>> MARKET REPORT
The best way a seller can figure out the correct price to sell their property is to compare it to properties that have recently sold, within close proximity (ideally located in their neighborhood) and in a recent time frame.
