Here's What Happens Next

So, how do you determine my home's value?

There are hundreds of factors that we take into consideration when estimating your home's value, and no two reports are the same. We first take a look at your address. This allows us to see how much neighboring homes have sold for, the desirability of the neighborhood you live in, unique features of your home and the surrounding geographical area, and many more factors. After we have a good idea of what that looks like, we then go more in-depth with our research, including checking the condition of your home, taking into consideration any updates you've made that could make it worth more than your neighbor's. All of this is done by a human being. None of our home value reports run on an algorithm, and this information isn't available to us or you at the push of a button.

Shouldn't we overprice my home at the beginning so that we can create a bidding war?

If you’re like most people that we meet with, you think that the longer your home stays on the market, the more offers will come in, creating competition around your home, resulting in the highest offer possible. 

It’s basically like an auction, right? Wrong. The longer your home stays on the market, the less likely it will sell for asking price (or above). 

Why? Well, if you go to an auction, the bidding price is set, and offers go up as time goes on. But your home isn’t a rare piece of art. Amongst a sea of other homes for sale, yours will quickly become stale and buyers will wonder why it hasn’t sold yet.

According to a study, homes that were on the market for about two months sold at 5% below asking price, and homes that were on the market for the longest amount of time (eleven months on average) sold at 12% below list price. 

Meanwhile, the homes that ended up selling at or above listing price sold right away.

Having an accurate, and more importantly, realistic pricing strategy from the start is how your home will be sold for the most money and quickly. You don’t want to price your home too low and neither do we. But you also don’t want to let it sit on the market for too long.