If you are looking to sell your house- whether you’re an investor that just put in tons of money and rehabbed a house or someone looking to sell your owner occupied property, please don’t be fooled by numbers on Zillow, or agents who are just looking to get your house listed at whatever price sounds good to you so that you’ll list it with them.
a) Zillow’s information is based on public record and takes an average of houses that sold within a given area, not considering the condition. A house that has similar square footage, that was just rehabbed and has a finished basement does not compare to a house that has been lived in for 10+ years. Additionally, location drives the price of a house and we all know that many times values of homes vary from block to block. A house on a wide tree lined street with parking on both sides, does not compare to a house on a narrow one way street with parking on 1 side. Think about this. If you were a buyer, would you pay the same price for a house that needs work and on a not so appealing block vs. a house that didn’t need work, was move-in ready and on a street that was easy to find parking? No. So don’t expect to list your house for the same price as a rehabbed house and get it sold.
b) Yes, there are agents who will tell you that they can sell your house for the price you want to sell it for, with no rhyme or reason for pricing, just to get your listing! Why? Because the MLS is a great way to market your property while also marketing for their own business. Not saying that agents who have lots of listings are only doing it so they can market their own business. Just saying that there are agents who will say that they can sell your house for the price that you want, without truly understanding how to get the pricing of your house right so that it will sell quickly.
As someone who is selling your house on your behalf, it is an agent’s job to get your house sold quickly and for the best price. Additionally, not all agents that have had listings that sat on the market before they sold, are bad agents. There are varying factors that effect the time in which a house can sell. One of them being its ability to be shown. If a house is priced right, it will sit longer than expected if it isn’t easily shown or if it doesn’t show well.
There are a multitude of factors that dictate what will make a house sell, so the key is to understand the buyers in your market and what they are looking for. If you’re in a city, looking at homes within .1-.25 mile should give you a good base.
- when meeting with your agent- (hopefully that’s me!) they should provide this to you- active, settled and pending. If not, ask for it.
- take a look at how long it took those houses to sell
- check out the block in which those houses are located
- consider how your house is different and how much more/less you would pay. Be realistic. Would you pay $20,000 more for a house that had an extra 1/2 bath? Probably not. How about for a garage? Depends where. Again, be realistic and look at the sale of your home from the buyer’s perspective, comparing your house to what has sold and what’s on the market.
If you’re in the Philadelphia or Main Line area and are looking to sell in the near future, let’s connect. I’d be happy to share info with you that will get your house sold quickly!