3 Strategies For Pricing Your Baltimore Area Home

Here are three strategies for pricing your home to sell that you can discuss with your real estate agent to help you choose the best approach for you.

1. THE APPRAISAL PRICING STRATEGY

This is all about facts and data. Facts, data, comparable active listings, pending sales, sold numbers, appraisal values. Most of these facts are available on the internet - on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com - or from your real estate agent. You can find a lot of this data yourself, but how to make sense of it all?

A good real estate agent will gather all of the numbers, compare them to your home, explain why these numbers are best and how to use them to your advantage. This may look easy, but it is not. Getting an offer may be easy but getting to closing is hard. Financing issues, appraisal issues, repair problems, buyer nerves - all of these come up during the pending process and a good agent has to handle each issue professionally and efficiently. This, however, is the most low risk strategy so, if you are looking to move quickly and don’t want to play any games, this is the strategy for you.

>> See What Is My Home Worth?

2. THE REAL ESTATE AUCTION PRICING STRATEGY

A Real Estate Auction is a proven strategy to price your home below the current numbers, market it strategically to a very targeted market, and drive up the price due to multiple bids and competition. This does work with certain types of properties and it is truly fascinating to watch. If you have never seen an auction, I highly recommend that you do so before you go with this strategy. You have to know your temperament, know your walk away price and be able to watch the action without any emotion.

The auction company or your real estate agent needs to create a market, i.e., create excitement in order for the auction to work. A minimum bid needs to be set, excitement needs to be created via marketing to the right target market, and a professional should handle the auction itself. Don’t try to do this yourself; there is too much money at stake. I really love this strategy for certain types of properties. But you have to be careful here because it is certainly not right for all properties and all customers.

>> See Property Not Selling? Consider A Real Estate Auction.

3. THE RETAIL PRICING STRATEGY

This is where we use #1 above, facts and data, and add some cushion. But we need to be able to support the higher price so that we can articulate it in our marketing.

What would make the price go up? Popular home updates such as new kitchens and bathrooms, a special and unique view, a popular neighborhood with great community amenities, a new magnet school, seller financing or contributions to closing costs, agent bonuses and more. Basically, what this Seller is saying is “Yes, I know what the facts and data are, but my home is better and here is why.” And that “extra stuff,” is what a good real estate agent is selling.

Many agents can sell on facts and data, even the owner himself, but a good agent sells the extra stuff, the secret sauce. In comparing two homes, a good agent sells the extras - the great views, the new schools, the community amenities, the seller contribution, the commute to work, the great neighborhood, the playgrounds and more.

>> See FSBO Vs. Hiring An Agent To Sell Your Home

Ready To Price Your Baltimore Area Home?

Does this all make sense? A good agent has the real estate knowledge, the negotiating skills, the personality and the passion to sell your home for more and help you determine how to price your home. Not just to sell it for what you could sell it for yourself. So, ask yourself, which marketing strategy resonates with you? Have you discussed all 3 options with your real estate agent?

>> See Not Sure Who To Trust In The Real Estate Business?

What strategy you use should be your choice. Our job is to present you with all 3, weigh the pros and cons with you and help you make the best decision for you and your family. Once we know what strategy works for you, we can then use the facts and data as a backbone to build upon. No two homes, no two families, no two financial and real estate situations are the same. So do your homework online and then give us a call when you are ready to apply the facts to your specific situation.

>> See How To Use Zillow Or Trulia For House Hunting In The Baltimore Area

>> See 3 Reasons Why Yaffe Real Estate Got Started In The Baltimore Market