Selecting The Right Listing Price

Added September 9, 2005 by Ilyce R. Glink

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Summary: When deciding on a listing price for your for-sale home, ask a few agents for a comparative marketing analysis. You can also visit open houses in the area to get an idea of the listing prices in your neighborhood. Seeing what amenities and prices compare to your own home will help you decide on a listing price.

Q: We are in the beginning stages of selling our house and have had several real estate agents out to look at the property.

We received suggested list prices ranging from $170,000 to $250,000.

How do we know how to price our house with such a wide range of advice? Would you suggest an appraisal? If so, is there a good way to choose an appraiser?

A: Before you hire an appraiser, I'd ask another top agent or two for your neighborhood to come through and do another comparative marketing analysis.

Then, you have to figure out who seems to be right given your own read of the market. Go visit other comparable local open houses in your neighborhood and see how your home compares when it comes to amenities and price. This little exercise will help you begin to understand what "true value" means in your neighborhood.

Ultimately, you'll have to make a decision on which agent to hire. I urge you to choose the agent whose view of the local residential real estate market is most similar to your own.

If you price your home right, you'll have a lot of traffic and may even sell for more than the asking price. But price your home even $25,000 too high and it could wind up sitting for months.

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