Expect to be educated, expect the truth. These are the cornerstones upon which you should build your price expectations when selling your home.
When comes that time in your life cycle when you want to sell your most important asset, you almost certainly have a price in mind. Whether it is realistic or not can only be determined through a process of research, education, and trust in your appointed agent.
Be educated
We all have a price we would like to achieve, and we all have a bottom line. The agent you choose is doing you a disservice if he or she tells you upfront that they can achieve your “dream” price. Chances are that within a very short period after securing your listing, they will begin the process of talking you down. That’s not the agent you want or deserve.
Education is the number one criteria in determining the true, or most likely, value of your property. It is the agent’s job to provide the information to you the seller to enable you to get a clearer picture of where that value sits. The agent with your interests truly at front of mind will provide you with all relevant local sales data. They will provide details of recent sales of comparable homes, they will invite you to attend the “opens” of other properties for sale that they consider relevant to your situation.
You should also undertake your own education. Do your own research. A good agent will encourage you to scour the main property sales sites yourself. If you make discoveries you think are important to the value of your home, discuss these with your agent. Be aware of the valuation a bank is likely to place on a property — often this can be frighteningly different to the expected price. But it may help you in formulating a realistic expectation of what your property is truly worth in a given market.
Honesty – the price guide
After your agent has helped educate you with market data, there should be a conversation about a price guide very early in your discussions. This is where the truth is paramount. You will ultimately make the best decision for yourself in relation to price, as long as there has been total transparency in the information provided to you.
Once you have set a price, it is important that you should give yourself every chance of selling the property by doing the things which seem completely logical. Firstly, present your home in the very best possible way. Secondly, invest in marketing. Again, a good agent will truthfully guide you into the best campaign for your property.
During the sales campaign, more education is helpful. Go to auctions and more opens, look at your competition. Your agent should continually provide you with updates sales and comparable listings.
Realistic expectations
You need to have realistic expectations, but you can only arrive at the right decision if your agent has helped to educate you, has been honest and transparent with you – which is why your choice of agent is so important.