Pricing your home high can cost you money

SEDONA, Ariz. - June 17, 2015 - PRLog -- How to Avoid Pricing your Sedona Home Too High
The potential problems with pricing your home too high are significant, and can cost you a lot of money. There are several ways you can avoid falling into this trap, though.

Hire a Good Agent
A good agent that closes on a respectable amount of properties will not fill you with false hope. He will explain to you that, though you may have raised your family in this home, or purchased it at the height of the real estate bubble, that the market still rules. Respect it, and you will sell your home for a fair price.
Look for an agent that has been in business for a few years, and that tends to sell homes quickly and for near the original offering price. An honest agent that doesn’t NEED your business is critical. Understand what I mean by the word “need”. Agents that need business tend to give advice that suits them and not their clients.
If the Realtor you are working with has very few deals in the pipeline they are probably going to be very anxious for their next sale. This is not the kind of agent you want. A top producer never worries about where their next sale is coming from. Hire an Experienced Agent (http://movetosedonaaz.com/good-sedona-realtor/)

Visit Open Houses
You need to get an idea of the competition. It will help you see where your home stands, either better or worse than those on the market. Accurate information will help you make an informed pricing decision. Keep in mind however, that you should not base the value of your home on what one of the neighbors thinks their home is worth. There is a good chance the neighbors home is not priced correctly especially if it has been on the market for a while with no takers.
Don’t feel bad about scoping out the competition at an open house either. Real Estate open houses rarely ever work for selling a home and are typically heavily visited by other neighbors and tire kickers. There is nothing more synonymous about an open house than the term “nosy neighbors”! You might as well join the party to get a true handle of what is going on in the local real estate market.

Don’t Use Zillow Estimates as Your Guide
There are some sellers who mistakenly believe that Zillow pricing estimates can be used a good gauge of estimating real estate market value. Don’t be silly! You have better odds of meeting Big Foot that you do of seeing an accurate Zillow estimate or “Zestimate” as they like to call it. An online valuation tool is never going to be able to replace a local real estate agent who know the market. Don’t be foolish enough to believe a computer algorithm can determine the value of millions of homes across the country. I have seen values off by over $150,000 both high and low from Zillow!

Go In A Little Lower Than The Value
You should not be afraid to price your home a little below the comps in your area. If it is priced well, you will see numerous offers and then you will be the one with the upper hand. You may see enough offers to start bidding on your home, and eventually wind up with more money than you expected. Pricing just a hair below the market is a common strategy in real estate that works really well if you can achieve the goal of getting multiple bids on your property. This is the best position you can be in as a seller because buyers often times let their emotions dictate their decision making and not sound logic. A buyer overpaying for your property in a multiple bid situation is not out of the realm of possibility.

Put Time on Your Side
You can sell your home in a reasonable time frame and for a fair price. Pricing too high is never a good idea. Avoid making this mistake, consult a good agent, and make your sale. With the right mindset, a respect for the market and the help of an experienced agent, you can put time on your side.

Ralph Bredahl, Associate Broker and Tricia Bredahl, Realtor are Sedona Realtors with HomeSmart Realty (http://movetosedonaaz.com/contact-ralph-tricia-bredahl-n-...) and have been serving Arizona home buyers and home sellers since 1997. The Sedona and the Verde Valley include the cities and towns of Sedona, Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Jerome, Camp Verde, Montezuma Lakes and Rimrock