Las Vegas home pricing based upon data and supply/demand market conditions – and leaving your emotions out of the process can offer a MUCH quicker sale.
Like it or not, home pricing is more of a science than an art. I meet with homeowners frequently who exhibit signs of pricing their home with their heartstrings instead of reviewing the cold hard data (because memories are priceless after all).
Sorry to break the news to you, but crunching the numbers is always the better route to an accurate home pricing strategy.
Las Vegas home sellers also need to keep in mind the location of their home and try to understand what type of likely buyers will want to actually consider purchasing their Las Vegas property. Understanding the buyer can help you to price based on their emotional thought process instead of your own.
Overpricing pitfalls to avoid
Unfortunately many homeowners fell it is okay to price their home higher than what they ultimately hope to get, because – who knows, maybe some less epxerienced or unrepresented couple may just fall in love with it. Sure you can lower the price later, if your home sits cold for several weeks after releasing it to market, BUT be prepared to sacrifice a lot more in this type of process. If you have your eye on next home you wish to purchase, then playing the market too long could make you lose that opportunity. Even worse, if you have already purchased the next home, you would be burdened with carrying two mortgages until you old home sold.
You stand to lose a reasonable amount of money and time if you don’t price it in the proper price range for selling. If your home remains on the market for months on end, it can acquire what I refer to as “buyer stigma.” Not that anything is wrong at all with your home, but I cannot tell you enough how many times I am working with buyers and hear the “what’s wrong with the home?” question occur when I show them the information on a listing that has sat on the market for months. It really does create an emotional road block for some buyers. (in an unexplained way)
Even worse is the act of continually lowering your home’s price every two weeks or once a month. This type of behavior can lend an “I’m desperate to unload my home, or what’s wrong with this home” signal to potential buyers.
Two common pricing traps
I have seen sellers fall into two significantly different pricing challenges that they MUST overcome to get it right:
1. Confusing factual value with emotional value — in short this is what home sellers assume their home is worth because of how long they have lived there and all the memories they cherish etc.
2. Thinking that home renovations should equate to a dollar-for-dollar increase in the selling price — or sometimes thinking an even greater overall value since they performed the upgrade process.
Even though every home renovation varies, a basic rule of thumb is to take 50% of the original investment dollar off when it comes time to price up your home. Yes, there are some home renovations that garner a bigger return, such as kitchens, baths and adding additional bedrooms. Always consult your real estate agent to understand what is realistic.
Beware of online home pricing tools
Another major stumbling block for home Las Vegas home sellers is believing every single price and automated pricing tool based website that see. Tools like Zillow’s Zestimate offers an instant aggregated pricing model, derived from pure local data alone.
I’ll be the first to tell you that Zillow’s estimates are more often than not – brashly inaccurate. When you compare actual sold prices of homes with the predicted online estimates from Zillow, the predictions fail miserably over 50% of the time. Ouch!
Review accurate home sale stats to reach the right price
So what is the best pricing Las Vegas home pricing strategy? Obviously first and foremost, consult a real estate agent who will pull accurate sale comps, take the time to preview your home, learn about any upgrades or special features while discussing your overall financial goals. (Good thing I know the perfect real estate broker to recommend!). Using data and discussing any real-time market conditions that can affect the selling timeline is best way to determine the appropriate listing price. Quality agents won’t just look at your neighbors; they’ll research near-identical homes that have sold and are actively listed with similar square footage, floor plans, and amenities.
I work with my sellers to tailor the price to reach their personal goals best, and to determine a fair price that will ultimately entice solid buyers. The number could very well be less than you hope, but listing your home correctly — and not idealistically — is the only way to financial and emotional pains associated with a long, drawn-out home listing that just won’t sell.
Annette Daskalos,