The Art of Pricing a Home to Sell Quickly (and at Peak Value)

Home sellers have two objectives in mind: 1) to sell the home quickly, and 2) to sell the home at its peak value. Of course, the biggest factor in achieving these two objectives is a home’s price.

At HUNTAHOME, we work each day with owners who are putting up homes for sale in Dallas, TX and Fort Worth. We help at each step of the home sale process, including pricing. Here’s a look at 5 things we consider when helping clients identify the best prices for their properties.

1. Search for Comparable Properties

When pricing Fort Worth and Dallas homes for sale, it’s best to start with comparable properties. A comparable property is one that:

• Is located in the same neighborhood
• Features a similar number of bedrooms and bathrooms
• Covers a similar square footage
• Is in a similar overall condition

You can use the sale price of comparable properties in near your home as a guide. You can also use the price-per-square-foot of comparable properties to estimate the best price for your home.

Take a look at expired listings and listings that sat on the market for months, too. If an owner was unable to sell the home, or if an owner was forced to cut the price week after week, those are good indications the property was overpriced from the start. Learn from the pricing mistakes of these listings.

2. Evaluate the Market

Market conditions always matter. For example, in a hot market, you can be aggressive on pricing with little risk. But, in a cold market, aggressive pricing isn’t going to get you anywhere. Consider the following 3 things when looking at current market conditions:

1. Competition: It’s harder to sell a home when there’s lots of “inventory” in the area. For example, if there are several homes for sale on your street, the high level of competition will make it harder for your home to gain attention (and secure peak value). But, if your home is the only one for sale in the neighborhood, you can be a little more ambitious with pricing.
2. Interest Rates: You have no control over interest rates, but they can affect home prices in your area. Low interest rates mean affordable financing, which translates into more interested buyers. High interest rates mean expensive financing, which translates into fewer interested buyers.
3. Season: As a general rule of thumb, more people are looking to buy homes in late spring and early summer. Families want to move before the school year begins in fall, and both buyers and sellers typically avoid home transactions around the holiday season. Each neighborhood is different, but there are typically more buyers and sellers in spring and summer — and fewer buyers and sellers in winter.

What do these market conditions mean for you? The dream is to have low competition and low interest rates during a high season for home transactions — which would give you flexibility in pricing. But, if you’re trying to sell in a high-competition environment with higher interest rates during a low season for transactions, it’s better to be conservative with pricing.

3. Don’t Get Greedy

The Metroplex real estate market has been churning like crazy the last few years. Dallas homes for sale and Fort Worth homes for sale are flying off the market, but that doesn’t mean you can slap just any price on your home.

The quickest way to thwart your home sale is to get greedy and price way too high. When you price a home too high, open houses are lightly attended and showings are few and far between. You’re forced to lower the price once and then twice and then three times in an effort to gain traction.

After weeks (and perhaps months) have passed, buyers and their agents begin to think: “There’s something wrong with this house.” And that’s not what you want Fort Worth or Dallas real estate agents and their clients thinking.

So, it’s fine to be aggressive with pricing — as long as you’re reasonable. Even the hottest real estate markets have limits.

4. Respond to Early Results

What if you do price your home too high? For example, a week has passed since the listing went live, and there’s not a ton of interest in the property. Rather than sticking to your guns, respond to these early results.

You can respond by making some cosmetic updates to the home. Maybe a few prospects have commented negatively on a paint color or some other easily changeable aspect of the home. But, more often than not, the problem is pricing.

If your home is overpriced, you should lower it to a more reasonable level sooner rather than later to avoid the spiral described in the section above. When you lower to the more reasonable level, interest should tick up.

5. Find the Right Representation

Many have tried the for-sale-by-owner approach, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But make sure you’re aware of the hidden costs of FSBO sales. You may find that working with an agent actually creates more value in the long run.

When you find a good option from among Dallas real estate agents or Fort Worth real estate agents, you get experience and knowledge (on pricing and other subjects) that no homeowner can hope to replicate on his or her own. Look for agents who know your area and who have experience selling homes like yours. You’ll find that the right agent is a huge part of selling your home quickly and at its peak value.

Are You Ready to Sell a Home?

Is your property ready to join the ranks of homes for sale in Dallas, TX or Fort Worth? If so, HUNTAHOME can help you sell quickly while securing the best possible price.

Right now, we’re offering incentives to clients who are looking to sell their current homes and move up into something better. We will slash our commissions for owners who let us represent them both for the sale of their current home and the purchase of their next one.

Get in touch today, and let us help your property stand out from among DFW homes for sale.