Reality Check – You won’t leave your home without it.
The Art of Selling
August 13th, 2008
When discussing pricing with sellers we often hear the words “but my house is better” from sellers who are subjectively viewing their home as having a higher value to buyers than the homes of their neighbors. It does not really matter whether or not their home has any valuable upgrades or costly improvements for this to be the case either. Sellers often justify their beliefs more on how they feel about their home then any measurable data. Often we are confronted with this perception vs. reality discrepancy and how effective we are in working through this with the seller has a huge impact on how successfull we can be in helping them sell their home.
Of course every Realtor deals with this issue but until now no one had really measured just how pervasive this mind set is. Well, this just out. According to a survey of 1,361 U.S. Homeowners conducted by Zillow, an online home valuation site, 62% of homeowners believe their home’s value has increased or stayed the same in the past year despite the fact that statistics show that 77% of homes declined in value during that same period. The report is titled (you have got to love this title by the way) “The Home Value Misperception Index” and is worth a read by anyone getting ready to sell. What we already knew was that this optimism is likely fueled by homeowners feelings about their house more then their feelings about their neighbors house or the market in general. In fact 75% of homeowners surveyed thought that their home will increase or stay the same in value over the next six months but 42% of them also believe that home prices will fall during that same period. Go figure.
The truth is that homes that show to their best advantage throughout the listing, are priced correctly and marketed well will sell for the most money possible in any given market. The key is knowing your market, knowing the competition, working with the right real estate professional and accepting the fact that in a buyers market you will need to be prepared to negotiate.
This article from Consumer Reports is another good read. A little reality check before you get ready to sell will go a long way in determining your success. If you are thinking of selling your home please feel free to Contact Us to discuss preparing for a successful sale.
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