If you’ve decided ‘now’ is the time to sell your home, one of the most crucial aspects of selling is determining a fair market value for your property.

SO, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT FIGURING OUT A FAIR MARKET VALUE?
If you choose to market your home with Harcourts, your Sales Consultant will provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).

The CMA will advise you of the market value of your property by comparing your home with others that have recently sold. Using these properties as a guide, and considering the unique aspects of your home, you can work out an accurate market value.

Of course, identical homes are not always readily available, so sometimes you will need to add or subtract the differing features. For example, if one of the comparative sold properties in the CMA has a single garage, yet your home has a double, you can discuss with your Sales Consultant how much more value that adds to your home. If on the other hand, the other home has three bedrooms and yours has two, then you may have to adjust the value down. There are also a lot of other attributes that should be taken into consideration such as location, block size, proximity to schools etc.

SELL WITH A PRICE OR AUCTION?
If you choose to auction, you will be letting the market determine the value of your property. If you sell with a price, this will limit what a keen buyer may pay. Once a price has been established for a property, a ceiling has been placed on what a buyer expects to pay for it. Auction, on the other hand, offers a real opportunity to get more for the property.

You may be very pleasantly surprised by the price your home achieves on auction day, however it is sensible to have in mind a fair price you will be prepared to accept. This is where your CMA will be invaluable.

If you choose to market your property with a price, it is critical to set a fair market price for the following reasons:

• The best buyers inspect early – the longer a property is on the market, the lesser sense of urgency there is amongst buyers.
• Activity is at its highest when a property enters the market. Many buyers have web alerts in place to notify them of new property listings.
• The right price will attract the right buyers for that property, rather than buyers in a higher price bracket inspecting the property and expecting more based on its price.
• A property that is priced correctly attracts more realistic offers from buyers, resulting in a faster sale and often a better price.
• All properties deteriorate with time on the market. This means that the longer an overpriced property is on the market, the less perceived market value it will have.
• An overpriced home makes the competition look good – it helps other houses to sell.

DID YOU KNOW?
The average time it is taking to sell a home in your market indicates the market climate. It is very important to understand which market you are in and the average time it is taking to sell a property within that market. Ask your Sales Consultant about the current market in your suburb.

For more information on getting selling your home, speak to one of our highly experienced Sales Consultants on 4628 7444.