Selling Your Home? Don’t DIY

DIY (Do It Yourself) is one of the big buzzwords in 2014, and for some projects, it’s the way to go. If you’re into cars, say, doing your own oil changes and tune ups is not only fun, it saves some money. The same is true if home fixes or gardening is your thing.  But selling your home on your own? Probably not.

A home is most owners’ single biggest investment. When it comes time to sell, owners have been out of the housing market for years, pitting them against buyers as well as real estate professionals who have seen dozens of homes just in the last few weeks. These market-savvy people pretty much know what your home is worth within the first few minutes. Price it wrong, and you may not see those people again.

It’s easy for lay people to underprice a home, because the first statistic they look at is comparable sales (comps). Comps are a little bit good and a lot bad, for a couple of reasons. First, a comp represents a transaction that happened in the past. That’s fine for a baseline, but what happened in the past isn’t necessarily good for the future, which the sale of a home is. That’s why some buyers have a tough time getting an appraisal to support an accepted offer : Appraisals rely almost solely on comps.

Second, it’s difficult for a lay person to judge whether or not a comp is truly comparable in size, style, condition, sale type (traditional or short sale), location, and time of sale. A Realtor has access to hard data that confirms whether a comp is truly comparable.

Using that same exclusive data, Realtors can also analyze which active listings truly compete with yours and what the various pending sales mean. They can also balance the other market data—time-on-market, absorption rate, list price/selling price ratios, to name a few—and balance those with a seller’s goals in coming up with a price.

And that’s before developing a strategic marketing plan, which is the subject of another post.

Over the years, some sellers have pointed to sales commissions as an obstacle to using a Realtor. In the 21^st Century, however, broker compensation pricing has never been more competitive and can be tailored to the sellers’ objectives.

If you make $40,000 per year, you can probably DIY your own tax returns using an off-the-shelf software program. But if you make $300,000 a year, you wouldn’t think twice about hiring the best tax professional you could find. If you’re selling your home, don’t you think it deserves the same consideration?

At Capstone Realty, professional expertise is all we have to offer and it’s what we’re all about. If you’re thinking about selling, contact us for a private, no-obligation consultation. For more info on how we can help you sell your home please check out our website at www.ShoalsAreaHomeSearch.com or give us a call anytime at 256.766.0000! Have a great weekend and tune in next week for more. :)