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You wouldn’t believe how many sellers literally pluck their asking price out of thin air! They have an idea of the amount they would like for their home, they have spoken to a couple of friends, and so they just decide on any old number. They then figure that they can always lower the asking price if they don’t seem to be getting the interest they had hoped for. This is a recipe for disaster!
Pricing your house correctly is one of the main factors in making sure you sell it. You should get several estate agents to value your home – at least three. Head to nerdwallet.com to find out more about how to value your home. Then, set your asking price at the average of the values; don’t just go for the cheapest! And, don’t make the rookie mistake of thinking you should set your asking price high, to begin with, and then lower it and lower it until you get an offer.
If you keep lowering your asking price it shows that you are not confident in your property, and if you are not confident, why should anyone else be?
Getting the asking price of your property wrong can be a slippery slope to go down. If you have randomly decided on a figure of $250,000 and then reduce this to $200,000 because you realise you overestimated, this doesn’t indicate a good bargain; it makes buyers think that there is a problem!
Projects that LOWER your home’s value!
Almost every homeowner that puts his or her property on the market embarks on some sort of home improvement project. Yet, one of the biggest mistakes is doing so with no direction or forethought!
Don’t assume that every ‘upgrade’ is going to increase the value of your home. Some projects can actually decrease your home’s worth, such as the following…
- Over-landscaping – Of course, your garden needs to look beautiful! So, trim the lawn, plant fresh flowers and give the fence a fresh coat of stain. But don’t go overboard! This does not add to the value, in fact, it screams high maintenance!
- Textured and coloured walls – Stick to neutrals. Textured walls are a mess to get rid of! Whilst bright and daring colours are too taste-specific. The buyer will look at the walls and see that they will have to embark on their won redecoration project. So, they offer a lower amount, if they indeed make an offer – not everyone wants the hassle of sanding down and removing textured walls.
- Converting bedrooms into other spaces – If a buyer sees a three-bedroom home advertised, they expect to see three bedrooms. If you convert a bedroom into a different room, such as a home office, you can lose a huge amount of value.
Instead, focus on getting more value from current rooms. You can find out more about this at perthrenovationsco.com.au. Home extensions can also work well, as can improving the hardware and appliances in your kitchen and bathroom.
Is your neighbourhood lowering the value of your home?
So, your home has been on the market for months! It’s staged beautifully and buyers seem impressed whilst viewing it. But, you don’t seem to be getting any offers, and the few you have got are way below the asking price. What’s going wrong?
There are various ways your neighbourhood can devalue your home. Noise pollution can devalue your property if it is situated near train tracks or an airport. Perhaps criminal activity has been on the rise over the past few years! Maybe a new nightclub has opened up near your property? Or, your local area received some bad news in the press as of late?
These are all potential scenarios that could lead to your property being devalued because of the area you live in. You may need to lower your asking price in order to adapt to this. But, before doing that, try some other tactics. Advertise the good things about your local area!
Provide your viewers with leaflets about things going on in the community, the quality of the local schools, nice places to eat in the area and such like. You can even include some of this information in your property’s brochure. You are selling your neighbourhood, as well as your home, and buyers will see the nice life they can have if they live there.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding regarding the different things that can lower the value of your property, as well as the importance of getting the price right.
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