What if Your House is Overpriced? Here are some tips how to figure that out!

Spring is here, and now that the snow melt down you may have started thinking about putting your house on the market.
You have a lovely home, probably have lived there for many years, put a lot of effort and time into it, and updated it. So it probably makes sense to price it accordingly.

Then the question is: do you want to price your house aggressively and possibly get multiple offers, that will raise the price of the house, or do you want your property to sit on the market for a year or so until someone decides to buy it, and also because the house is on the market for long, the offer will be nowhere close to the asking price.

Whatever is the answer, the fact is that whether it's a buyer's market or a seller's market, all homebuyers have one thing in common: they don't want to get ripped off.

 You the Seller might think "We can always come down on our price"

Have you been shown the history of an overpriced home that eventually sold? It goes from overpriced, to market value, and then down to a SOLD price that is under market value.

Or "There will be no room left to negotiate the asking price, I will be taking a loss!"

Some home sellers are afraid to price their houses aggressively, because they don't want to leave any money on the table, and also, because later on when it gets to negotiating an offer, they are thinking that there will be no room left to negotiate the asking price.

But a Real Estate Agent has no control over the market, by only doing their marketing plan.
If buyers don't see the value of the house in the asking price, they will usually not even bother putting an offer. So don't waste your time worrying about a low offer some time in the future, when you are deciding on your house price, because first, the customers who shop online must pay attention to your house, like what they get for the price, then go check it out on a private showing and then you would have to think about closing etc.

Or maybe you are just thinking "We could try it for a couple of weeks?"

A BAD mistake, thinking you can go back in time! You're overpricing your home during the period when your best buyers show up, then lowering it after they're gone. It's like having a dinner party on Saturday and having the caterers come on Monday.
The first month of your listing period is the most crucial because that's when your buyers will come with their highest and best offer.

So by pricing your property right at the market value you actually create more interest and more activity for your house, especially online - where all the buyers nowadays start looking for houses.

There are couple ways to know if the price you have on your mind, might not be the same as what the real estate market is offering for your house right now:

1.  Meet with your local real estate professional.
The best way to get a quick estimate and also some tips on how to prepare your house to go out on the market contact your local real estate agent.
I work in Illinois, everywhere in Chicagoland area, but focusing on Barrington, Palatine, Lake Zurich & surroundings. So if you somewhere around these towns, give me a call and I will gladly do an estimate on your home and help you figure out how it should be positioned on the market.



2. Check what your neighbor's houses sold for.
A great way to get a general idea of what is the average price range in your subdivision, but keep in mind that every house is unique, starting with its location, so neighbor's house might not always be the best comparable for your property.





3. Very low activity
Depending on different areas, but if your home is already listed, and there is no activity on it, meaning you barely get any showings, although on internet you see that people are still checking out your house, that would be another indicator that the price of your property is likely to be high above market value.




Hope this article was helpful for you, and wish you good luck in the home selling process!

Wishing you the best,

Diana Matichyn