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Choosing an Asking Price that Draws In Buyers

Choosing an Asking Price that Draws In Buyers

Selling a home can be difficult because you are actually selling your home and this is quite a personal act.  When you are selling your home you will find that people come into your home, have a look around and then say that they don’t like it enough to buy it.  But this is your home, this is your castle.  How can anyone not want to live in your home?  Yet this is the reality of the situation.  So it is really important that you have an asking price that will actually attract buyers and not act as a deterrent.

Many people think that their house is worth what they paid for the house, how much they have spent on the house and how much they think it is worth.  Yet in reality your house is only worth what another person (and their mortgage company) is willing to buy it for.  It doesn’t matter how much you spent on it, or how much you think it is worth.  The market is fickle and you cannot afford to price yourself out of the market.

What actually matters is what properties that are similar to yours actually sold for within the last 6 months and what the property market is like in your locality.  That is really important because the housing market can be booming in Kensington, but if you are selling a property in Kingston upon Hull, then what is happening in Kensington is an irrelevance.  What matters is what is happening near you!

If possible you should also look at how much houses in your locality that have a similar size, layout and amenities are being advertised for.  This will give you a really good indication of the market locally. 

You also need to be mindful of how some features can detract from the value of your home, or conversely can add to it.  For example having a swimming pool may have attracted you to buy your home, but it will not add anything to the value of your home generally, in fact it may deter some buyers. They may be concerned about child safety, keeping it in a useable state and the ongoing maintenance costs.

Thus it is really important that you stay realistic when you are setting or agreeing an asking price.  It is tempting to go as high as you can, but this will probably deter many potential buyers and it is better to sell your home for a few thousand less, rather than having it languishing on the market for what could literally be years!

Yes your home is your castle and as such it is really important to look at it objectively; but it is vital that you do look at it objectively and not as your home, but simply as an asset that you want to sell.  The more objective you can be, the more realistic your asking price will be and then your home will be more likely to sell.  It isn’t rocket science, but many people often get it wrong: so stay objective and realistic throughout the process!