In order to sell, a home must be correctly priced, which means that sellers must listen to what agents have to say about the current market conditions. Those sellers who hold on to the past or look hopefully to the future will likely incorrectly price their homes and sabotage a successful sale. This tendency to place emotion before solid business sense is reflected in a recent survey that found that as many as three-quarters of homeowners believe that their homes are worth more than what their agents tell them the fair market value is. Nearly half of homeowners continue to overestimate their home’s value by ten percent. This misguided thinking leads to price reductions, which waste valuable time and squander buyer interest.
HINT: A solid asking price is based on comparable sales data from the past 90 days, which is what lenders’ appraisers use.