Pricing Your Austin Area Home

Pricing your Austin area home is both an art and a science. Achieving the optimal price is the result of both objective research into comparable properties and a gut feeling about your property and the current market.

The right price should:

• Attract buyers
• Allow you to earn the most money possible
• Help you sell as quickly as possible

The simple fact is, price is the number one factor that most home buyers use to determine which homes they want to view. And it’s important to remember that, although the price is set by you, the value of the home is determined by the buyer. Try to avoid allowing your enthusiasm to impact your better judgment – overpricing is a common mistake that can cost you in the end.

The Importance of Proper Pricing

• Attracts higher offers
• Avoids being “shopworn”
• Exposure to more buyers
• Faster sale and less inconvenience
• Generates more advertising/sign calls
• Increases Realtors response
• Means more money to the seller

What really matters is how your Austin area home stacks up against the others currently offered for sale and recently sold in your neighborhood. Buyers will be comparing.

Common Reasons for Overpricing

• Assessed value
• Bargaining room
• Emotional attachment
• Lack of factual data
• Need
• Opinion of family and neighbors
• Original purchase price too high
• Over-improvement
• Purchasing in a higher-priced area
• The move isn’t necessary

Dangers of Overpricing

• A major cause for concern is appraisal problems; overpricing can lead to loan rejections and lost time.
• Attracting the wrong buyers.
• Buyers and agents become aware of the long exposure period and often are hesitant to make an offer because they fear something is wrong with the property.
• Buyers who have seen the most available homes in their price range are waiting for the “right house” to come on the market. That’s why if a house is priced right, it will sell quickly. The buyers are there waiting for it.
• Don’t start with a high price and the assumption that you can reduce it later. By the time you decide to lower the price, it may be too late, as interest will have already waned.
• Even if your home is nicer than other homes in the same area, your house won’t be picked for viewing if you set the price too high.
• Fewer potentially qualified buyers will respond.
• Most of the activity on your home will occur in the first few weeks. Pricing a home properly and then creating immediate urgency in the minds of agents and buyers is critical.
• You could lose money as a result of making extra mortgage payments while incurring taxes, insurance, and unplanned maintenance costs.
• You might help sell similar homes that are priced low.

The Role of ROCK Properties Realty in Pricing

• Estimate your net proceeds.
• Help to determine offering incentives.
• Keep in touch with market trends and keep up to date with the market activity of comparable homes.
• Provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA), a comparison of the prices of recently sold homes that are similar in terms of location, style, and amenities. A CMA is performed by comparing previously sold homes in the area, and currently active homes to know your competition.
• The market determines value…together we determine the price.
• There is no “exact price” for real estate
• We don’t tell you what we think your home is “worth”.
• You determine the price based on the factors you control:
  • Condition
  • Exposure method
  • Financing alternatives provided
  • Marketing time

An agent has NO control over the market, only the marketing plan. Never select an agent based on price.