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Answers (11)
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5667
"Certified Market Analyses" certainly sounds more impressive than "Comparative Market Analysis". Who certifies them, and what are they certified for?
- Melanie Scarpati, "MelanieScarpati"
- Contributions:84
The Realtors you interview should have Certified Market Analyses (CMAs) for you and should be able to recommend a price range. It's ultimately up to you how to price your home, but remember that your Realtor is on your side and wants the same goal you do - to sell your home in as short amount of time possible for the most money the market will bear.
That said, do not choose your Realtor based only on the one who recommends the highest price. This may be an unrealistic price, and that is not a good situation to put your home in. You want it ACTION priced - priced to get attention. Try not to worry too much about the foreclosed homes, these can come with all sorts of structural and legal issues, especially if they have been abandoned for a while. Ask your Realtor to include in the listing the phrase "NOT A FORECLOSURE" so home buyers will know your home has been continuously lived in and maintained.
Good luck to you. Yes it's a declining market but homes priced right are selling.
That said, do not choose your Realtor based only on the one who recommends the highest price. This may be an unrealistic price, and that is not a good situation to put your home in. You want it ACTION priced - priced to get attention. Try not to worry too much about the foreclosed homes, these can come with all sorts of structural and legal issues, especially if they have been abandoned for a while. Ask your Realtor to include in the listing the phrase "NOT A FORECLOSURE" so home buyers will know your home has been continuously lived in and maintained.
Good luck to you. Yes it's a declining market but homes priced right are selling.
- Dennis Barry, "Shore Capital RE"
- Contributions:6
Find a Realtor in your area and seek advice face to face!
- Dan, "the_country_hick"
- Contributions:4699
I am not a professional.
If I could not afford to add on to the house and just wanted out I would offer it for sale at $57k. That sounds like it would be $12k under a realistic price.That says to people this is a bargain. That drop is a big reduction of almost 20%. It just might be enough to get others to not see the problems as well as they do when the place is priced at market.
I might reject a car for sale at $5,000 and grab it quickly at $3,500. Buying a house people act the same way. A lower price can cover a lot of problems. (I wanted the car to be white, but at that price I can live with green...) (I wanted a house with a better layout, but at that price I can live with it.) <--- That is what you are trying to generate with your price structure.
If you are lucky one person will bite at that price. If you are exceptionally lucky a few will and will bid the price up higher than asking.
You do not care about doing anything but selling the house and getting rid of it. If you need $53-56k to break even ( find out exactly before doing a sale this way) selling at this price would give you a little negotiating room to counter offer with.
If you want to make money (or recover some) price higher. If you want to sell the place quicker price it lower.
At this time I would not worry about its real value ($69k). It is not selling for that amount. If it was me I would be concerned with selling it quickly and getting free of it so you can move on to something else. If you take nothing home from this sale be sure you can afford the down payment and closing costs for the next place, or a least the costs for renting something else.
If I could not afford to add on to the house and just wanted out I would offer it for sale at $57k. That sounds like it would be $12k under a realistic price.That says to people this is a bargain. That drop is a big reduction of almost 20%. It just might be enough to get others to not see the problems as well as they do when the place is priced at market.
I might reject a car for sale at $5,000 and grab it quickly at $3,500. Buying a house people act the same way. A lower price can cover a lot of problems. (I wanted the car to be white, but at that price I can live with green...) (I wanted a house with a better layout, but at that price I can live with it.) <--- That is what you are trying to generate with your price structure.
If you are lucky one person will bite at that price. If you are exceptionally lucky a few will and will bid the price up higher than asking.
You do not care about doing anything but selling the house and getting rid of it. If you need $53-56k to break even ( find out exactly before doing a sale this way) selling at this price would give you a little negotiating room to counter offer with.
If you want to make money (or recover some) price higher. If you want to sell the place quicker price it lower.
At this time I would not worry about its real value ($69k). It is not selling for that amount. If it was me I would be concerned with selling it quickly and getting free of it so you can move on to something else. If you take nothing home from this sale be sure you can afford the down payment and closing costs for the next place, or a least the costs for renting something else.
- notonstate
- Contributions:3
I had a Cma before twice cause my house was listed by two different people/companys over the past year. And they told me what i should price it at, well it didnt sell. It was priced at 69000, i even was willing to ad credits for paint/carpet if need be. No offeres or intrest what so ever, about 10 people total looked at my house. The also told me about comp. houses and said it was a good starting point. I have enough sq. ft but the problem is its all downstairs and the 2 bedrooms are small. Its about 1140sqft not including base ment, the bedrooms are maybe 9x13 and 9x8. The design just sucks, cause it leaves noway to add room to the bedrooms since they are upstairs. I do understand that new paint makes it look good, but like i mentioned i dont want to do that until right before i have a realtor come out. Im just so confused on what to do, how could i ever price it right. Its seems their is noway!!! I thought buying a house i loved would be right, now it feels like the biggest mistake ever, not because i dont love it cause i do. Just need an extra bedroom maybe 2. Oh why does additions cost more then houses?!?!?!
- Scott Paul, "Scott Paul"
- Contributions:781
I suggest that you get opinions from 2 different realtors to get estimates of what your home would realistically sell for. I suspect that you may be "upside down" in your home--meaning that you can not sell it for what you would need to break even. Depending on your financial circumstances you may be able to arrange a short sale where the lender may forgive some of the loan, but more likely you may need to borrow money to sell your home or the lender may do a loan for the shortfall. Otherwise you may need to stay in your hme until values improve or you are able to make improvements to raise the value of your home.
- Dan, "the_country_hick"
- Contributions:4699
Bad paint is one of the worst problems you can have. It costs very little to repair it BUT it gives a bad impression. Before you put this up for sale do the painting and other things. It could be the difference between making a sale or not.
About pricing, as I stated below have a realtor do a CMA. That gives a price to go on based on recently sold houses that are comparable. A realtor should be able to make adjustments for differences between the houses to come up with a reasonable price. The CMA should become your asking price, or right around there.
You mentioned your place in on a lake. That does increase the price compared to houses not on the lake. From here it is impossible to say what your house is worth. A local real estate agent is best for that. Most will give you a free CMA hoping to gain your business now or in the future. Just be honest about what your plans are.
I would take care of the basement sealing quickly. Not for sales reasons, but winter is here and that should save you some cash. Yes, paint can wait and a sticking door you can deal with. But air leaks cost money in heating season.
About pricing, as I stated below have a realtor do a CMA. That gives a price to go on based on recently sold houses that are comparable. A realtor should be able to make adjustments for differences between the houses to come up with a reasonable price. The CMA should become your asking price, or right around there.
You mentioned your place in on a lake. That does increase the price compared to houses not on the lake. From here it is impossible to say what your house is worth. A local real estate agent is best for that. Most will give you a free CMA hoping to gain your business now or in the future. Just be honest about what your plans are.
I would take care of the basement sealing quickly. Not for sales reasons, but winter is here and that should save you some cash. Yes, paint can wait and a sticking door you can deal with. But air leaks cost money in heating season.
- notonstate
- Contributions:3
Ok just to let everyone know, there are a few houses way cheaper then mine. Like 30000-40000 and I owe more then that. There really isnt anyway i could price it in that range, the best i could do is around 55000 cause of all the expenses added on when your sell your home ( realtor cost, taxes, etc etc.) Also my house doesnt need serious repairs, just like paint and the basement sealed and my patio door doesnt open up as easy so maybe one of those. I could do these repairs cause they are easy, its just when to find time, and I dont want to paint until I know when to put it back on the market cause lil kids love clean walls to color on. So............ I guess what to do on priceing. Im kinda stuck.... im guessing just refinace and stick it out with the lack of bedrooms. Thanks all for your suggestions, feel free to keep them coming. :-)
- wetdawgs
- Contributions:26854
One of the painful aspects of identifying an asking price on a home is that if your competition is foreclosures and short sales, your price must be competitive with those foreclosures and short sales. There is not a crowd of buyers out there who will happily pay a higher price just because it isn't in one of those two categories. "needs some work" is also an albatross around a seller's neck, and the competition out there is fierce. ("move in ready" tends to mean no work needed, you can't have both)
Good job keeping the house in tip top show form, it is not easy even without kids and dogs.
- Ralph Gorgoglione and Richard Ruggaber, "ralphandrichard"
- Contributions:70
Get your loan pre-approval in place with your lender first, which should be valid for 60 days, just to make sure credit-wise and financially you're able to get the loan.
Then put the house on the market to SELL in a couple of weeks.
In other words, price it aggressive enough to get an accepted offer within 2 weeks, AS-IS with no credit for repairs. You do not want to get involved with repairs as this will be a sell-buy double transaction for you, and you do not want anything creating a bump in the escrow on your existing home because that transaction needs to go as smooth as possible not to interrupt the purchase transaction of your new home.
Make the sale of your existing home contingent upon finding a home of choice, and make sure that is in the contract of sale for the accepted offer on your existing home.
Then, ask your listing agent to credit you back 1% on the sale of the home, and that you will use them to represent you on the purchase of the new home, so they will be OK commission-wise because it will be 2 transactions for them.
Any questions, feel free to contact me! Good luck!
Ralph Gorgoglione
(Realtor / soon to be attorney - entering my first year of law school this year - wooooHoooh!)
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Then put the house on the market to SELL in a couple of weeks.
In other words, price it aggressive enough to get an accepted offer within 2 weeks, AS-IS with no credit for repairs. You do not want to get involved with repairs as this will be a sell-buy double transaction for you, and you do not want anything creating a bump in the escrow on your existing home because that transaction needs to go as smooth as possible not to interrupt the purchase transaction of your new home.
Make the sale of your existing home contingent upon finding a home of choice, and make sure that is in the contract of sale for the accepted offer on your existing home.
Then, ask your listing agent to credit you back 1% on the sale of the home, and that you will use them to represent you on the purchase of the new home, so they will be OK commission-wise because it will be 2 transactions for them.
Any questions, feel free to contact me! Good luck!
Ralph Gorgoglione
(Realtor / soon to be attorney - entering my first year of law school this year - wooooHoooh!)
[content removed by moderator]
- Dan, "the_country_hick"
- Contributions:4699
When you list with a realtor check out more than one. Have each one prepare a marketing plan and a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). That way you will know based on recent sales around what your house is worth. You will also have a clue on how they will market your house. Marketing is very important.
Do not be to surprised if the house is worth less than you think and foreclosures are used to determine the CMA. Also, do not go with the realtor who gives you the biggest price. Usually that is a ploy to get you to sign with them and no sale would happen at that high price.
Being blunt, if I could buy a house bigger, better, and cheaper than yours why would I not buy the foreclosure? Buyers would prefer the normal sale but the price will tell them what house they want to buy. That means you have to price your house with that in mind.
The house needing some work is a bad thing. Here is why. A buyer sees the house needs $5,000 of work done. They will take $8,000 off (or more) for those repairs. Also, many buyers will look for another house with no problems before they buy a house with problems.
That means if possible do those repairs before you sell the house. It will both show better and get a better price than it will with even minor problems.
One thing to consider when selling the house. If you pay $500 a month on the mortgage and a buyer offers $2,000 under your pay off amount consider taking it. In 4 months you would lose that money anyway through mortgage payments.
Pricing is a bit more difficult. If you want a quick sale offer it for sale at just above what it would cost for payoff if it is worth more than that amount. It could cause a bidding war. Or it could just get one person who likes the house and offers that amount. I said just above so you could go down just a little for negotiations.
The problem is that the market is still declining. What your house is worth today is very likely to be more than it will be worth tomorrow. You need to price well or you will be chasing the market dropping your price always one step to late. It makes more sense to price it right, or a bit low to begin with.
I can not say what your options are if you do not sell the house except renting it (not possible) or living there. That is why you need to find a realtor with a great marketing plan who prices it right to begin with. Talking to a few realtors sooner rather than later would probably make the most sense. Houses do sell in every month. Maybe listing it quicker would be better than listing it later, perhaps not.
Do not be to surprised if the house is worth less than you think and foreclosures are used to determine the CMA. Also, do not go with the realtor who gives you the biggest price. Usually that is a ploy to get you to sign with them and no sale would happen at that high price.
Being blunt, if I could buy a house bigger, better, and cheaper than yours why would I not buy the foreclosure? Buyers would prefer the normal sale but the price will tell them what house they want to buy. That means you have to price your house with that in mind.
The house needing some work is a bad thing. Here is why. A buyer sees the house needs $5,000 of work done. They will take $8,000 off (or more) for those repairs. Also, many buyers will look for another house with no problems before they buy a house with problems.
That means if possible do those repairs before you sell the house. It will both show better and get a better price than it will with even minor problems.
One thing to consider when selling the house. If you pay $500 a month on the mortgage and a buyer offers $2,000 under your pay off amount consider taking it. In 4 months you would lose that money anyway through mortgage payments.
Pricing is a bit more difficult. If you want a quick sale offer it for sale at just above what it would cost for payoff if it is worth more than that amount. It could cause a bidding war. Or it could just get one person who likes the house and offers that amount. I said just above so you could go down just a little for negotiations.
The problem is that the market is still declining. What your house is worth today is very likely to be more than it will be worth tomorrow. You need to price well or you will be chasing the market dropping your price always one step to late. It makes more sense to price it right, or a bit low to begin with.
I can not say what your options are if you do not sell the house except renting it (not possible) or living there. That is why you need to find a realtor with a great marketing plan who prices it right to begin with. Talking to a few realtors sooner rather than later would probably make the most sense. Houses do sell in every month. Maybe listing it quicker would be better than listing it later, perhaps not.
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