Do you want to just list your house, or get it sold? Why Overpricing isn’t the answer.

By Jennifer Juliano

When you decide to sell your house, one of the primary thoughts is how much you’ll sell it for. Common advertising websites will entice homeowners to see what their house is worth and try to compare it to other sales in their area. If only it were that simple.

When the market was in a frenzy a few years ago, you could list it at market value, and it would sell in a hot minute with incredible terms and conditions. Put those days out of your mind, but that doesn’t mean the market is dead, slow, or negative. It’s simply back to a version of normal. Basing your house’s value off of “the one down the street that sold for XYZ a year ago” is also unlikely to be valid.

Consider the house’s features? Does one house have a walkout basement versus one that has no egress or a bulkhead? Even buyers, along with appraisers, may view that differently. Does one have a main bath that’s been updated, whereas another one could use a refresh? Let’s not forget the old adage, “location, location, location”. Although subjective, a busy road for some may be ideal as they like to see the hustle and bustle, whereas others want more privacy. These are just some of several factors to take into the whole picture.

House size is also often misconstrued online, and this is where using the figures from consumer apps can get confusing. When we enter a listing into MLSPIN.com, the database agents use to list a property, there is an entry field to separate what the lower level versus main level living area is. However, many third-party consumer apps don’t separate these, so what could look like 3544 square feet, really could be 3000 with 544 in the basement level. Have your agent look closely at these factors, as that will come into play. The same goes for bathrooms: what a consumer app site shows as three bathrooms, in reality, may be 2.5.

Now, just throwing a listing online and saying, “They can always make an offer” at a price that you want but isn’t realistic is often a recipe for self-disappointment. Not only will the house sit on the market collecting days on the market, making consumers ask us, “What’s wrong with this house?”, it may get offers but ones that are either market value or below. You see other houses go

under contract and wonder, “Why isn’t mine selling?”. It usually isn’t the lack of open houses; you could put a for sale sign on the moon, but if the house doesn’t show as well for competing properties or is simply overpriced, it won’t matter. These days, market histories of houses stay online; believe me, savvy buyers will know it was on and for how much. A listing that’s too old, too high, or doesn’t show well and sits unsold is what we call going stale.

As a seller’s agent, it’s imperative that we are transparent with homeowners and tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Although it is our job to get the best price, terms, and conditions for our sellers, the sellers also have to be realistic and look at the facts of the current market versus urban myths. Look closely at the data, take into consideration the similarities and differences, and enlist the help of a local, experienced agent who can help you sell your house for the most money, not just list it.