Tips for getting top dollar for your house

Top Dollar Properties

How does your house stand up against the best in the neighborhood?

Top dollar doesn’t mean that you can sell your house for 1000s and 1000s of dollars above the market price. Top dollar means that you get the most for your house given the economic climate of your area, the number of houses on the market at the time, and doing it as fast as possible.

Getting top dollar for your property requires several important factors being in your favor. Most important is to price your property at the right price from the beginning.

The best chance for selling your property is within the first 7 weeks of it being listed. The longer a property stays on the market, the less the seller will net.

Let’s look at what happens when a homeowner puts a too high of price on their property just to see if there are any suckers out there that might buy it at the inflated price. Most house shoppers are savvy when it comes to real estate prices. They’ve been studying the market for months if not years. With the growing importance of the internet, they can easily know the comparables for any given neighborhood. When an overpriced house becomes available, everyone knows it’s an over-priced house. Everyone knows that it won’t sell at that price. In fact, nobody will even want to tour the house. Serious buyers will wait till the price comes down.

In the meantime, the house sits on the market with little or no interest. Soon, it’s been on the market 60 days, 80 days, 90 days… with no results. The property becomes shop worn, meaning, that agents perceive the property as having a problem and don’t waste their prospects valuable time showing it to them. This is not good. This situation requires drastic PRICE REDUCTIONS to get any activity. Not only is this expensive for the seller, but it wastes your time trying to keep the property in selling shape.

• Price the property right from day 1. This will create the most interest and sell it the fastest. Even over-pricing by a few thousand dollars could mean that your house will not sell.

• Do pay attention to comparables for your neighborhood. Your prospects will be!

• Make sure your house is ready to show as soon as you list it.

• Get a home inspection prior to listing the house so you can address any issues that may throw water on an offer to buy.

• Before listing your house, visit other houses for sale in your area to give you the buyer’s eye that will help you see your house as a buyer would see it.

• Stage the house.

To get top dollar for your property it is absolutely critical that you price it right from the outset. A house that has been on the market for a long period of time may point toward inferior marketing and problems with the house, but mostly it points toward over-pricing regardless of what is right or wrong with the house.

Read also:

• What to do when price reductions are suggested