{"id":2446,"date":"2017-03-30T11:46:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T18:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2019-02-22T15:24:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T23:24:35","slug":"how-to-price-your-home-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/how-to-price-your-home-for-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ins, the Outs, the Lowdown on How to Price Your Home For Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

You raised your family in this house. You\u2019ve put a lot of love, money and sweat into your home, so it\u2019s natural to want to learn how to price your home for sale so you can get the most you possibly can for it.<\/p>\n

Set your price too high and you risk it sitting on the market without any bids. According to HomeLight\u2019s Top Agent Insights 2016 Home Seller\u2019s Report<\/a>, inaccurate pricing is the main reason sales fall through. Realtor Confidence Index December 2016 supports this statement citing financing issues (37 percent) and appraisal problems (19 percent) are the main reasons that 39 percent of transactions are delayed or terminated.<\/p>\n

If you and your Realtor are at odds about your listing price, here are five\u00a0steps to evaluate if you\u2019ve narrowed in on your best sale price.<\/p>\n

Step 1: How to Price a House: Know How an Appraiser Values Your Home<\/h2>\n

A home appraiser acts as a third party. They\u2019re best suited to make an objective estimate of your home\u2019s value since they don\u2019t work for you or the buyer.<\/p>\n

Two roads lead to this number. The cost method is the first; it means an appraiser adds up all the costs involved to build your home \u2014 land, construction and improvements \u2014 and then subtracts the depreciation. New homes often use this method. Don\u2019t assume you\u2019ll make back all the costs of your renovations in the sale of your home.<\/p>\n

The sales comparison approach, the second method, is much more commonly used and means your house value depends on other comparable homes in your neighborhood. Read more about\u00a0the nitty-gritty of the home appraisal process in our home appraisal guide.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Right now you\u2019re probably thinking: \u201cBut\u2026 this all makes it sound like it\u2019s not an exact science…\u201d While a simple equation \u2014 +$5,000 for detached garage, +30,000 for pool, -3,000 for backing up to busy street \u2014 sure would be nice, it\u2019s just not so easy. Appraisers do work off a system of assigning values like these, but values differ from city to city, and neighborhood to neighborhood, and are based on the market.<\/p>\n

Before the appraisal process even starts, you should\u00a0get an estimate from an online home value estimator tool like HomeLight\u2019s\u00a0home value estimator<\/a>\u00a0to give yourself a ballpark of what your home might appraise for.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Charles\/ Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Step 2:\u00a0The Best Home Renovations to Increase Value<\/h2>\n

Some features consistently increase the value of a home. (Translation: here\u2019s how you can get a little more for your home when you sell it.) Consumer Reports details them in their article on how to boost home value<\/a>, but here\u2019s a snapshot of what makes your home worth more in the eye of a buyer.<\/p>\n