Thread: Looking to put house up for sale soon, have ??'s

I'll be putting my house up for sale in the next couple of months, and have a few questions. My neighbor sold his house last year. Our houses were pretty much the same size. His house was all siding and no basement, my home is all brick and has a large finished basement, with a 4th bedroom in the basement. Can these two differences make that much of a difference in the amount of money I can ask for my house. Not looking for an exact amount, just a ballpark. Thanks

The first thing I would do is contact a reputable REALTOR in your area and ask them to do a CMA for you. With that he can find out exactly how much more you can ask for your home. From what you just said I would say that you should be priced 8-15% higher than your neighbor, depending on comps. Good luck!

Have a couple of different agents do a CMA.
It has been my experience that agents can pick their own comps to make the price higher or lower to meet their own needs. or to try and tell you what they think you want to hear.

In addition to the fact that your homes are quite a bit different, keep in mind that it is a different market than it was a year ago. I would get a few different CMAs.

Be very careful with having multiple agents do a Comparitive Market Analysis on your home! Many agents will try to price your home as high as possible (even if the market doesn't support it) just to try and get your listing. Then you will have a hard time trying to sell it. I would choose one agent to do a CMA and then have them show you how they got to their price.

Originally Posted by Agent 007

Be very careful with having multiple agents do a Comparitive Market Analysis on your home! Many agents will try to price your home as high as possible (even if the market doesn't support it) just to try and get your listing. Then you will have a hard time trying to sell it. I would choose one agent to do a CMA and then have them show you how they got to their price.

That is the reason to have multiple CMA's done....Weed out the agents pricing it high to get the listing.
This way you can find an agent you TRUST to do the right thing.
I could justify just about anything in print to a customer and if they have nothing to bounce it off of , they would just have to trust me.

I agree that some disreputable/desperate/poorly trained agents will try to "buy" your listing with inflated comps.

On homes that have settled, look at what the original asking price was and what the home actually sold for. In this market you'll often find the sold price to be a lot lower than the original asking price.

Find a realtor with good references and ask him/her to explain why they chose the comps that they presented and how they relate to your home.

Last year the split between our listed price and sold price was about 2 percent.

Contact a reputable realtor who can give you a real estimate. Do not go with a realtor who give a high estimate. Bottom line is he/she wants your listing.
Or go to any of the sites and see for how much your neighborhood houses are listed. Based on that you will get a ballpark estimate and compare with your relators.

I would call an agent you trust to give you a CMA. However if you don't have a cash buyer the home is only worth what the lender will lend on. If the sales price is 300k and the appraisal is 280k the bank will only lend on 280k (in most cases). I have rarely found (in my market) that a buyer will purchase a property for more than the appraised price, although it does happen.

With this in mind your best source would be a licensed appraiser. appraisals don't cost that much (300-500) and you will truly know what your home is worth. You can also call a trusted agent or loan officer and they can get an appraiser to do a courtesy quote.