In almost any property sale, price is everything. Whether it be a For Sale By Owner transaction or a sale with the help of an agent, coming up with a reasonable home price almost always determines the success of the sale. Unfortunately, setting a fair price for a property is not an effortless task. It is not easy even with the help of an agent, and it is even trickier in FSBO.
Price is one of the major, if not the top, considerations in a buyer’s checklist. A home price that is even just a little higher than market price can already be a big turn-off for them. An excessive price will not only drive offers away; even worse, no one will even bother checking out your property.
How do you determine a reasonable home price, then? You definitely have personal considerations in setting the price of your FSBO property. There are the occasional maintenance costs you have acquired over the years, mortgage balances, not to mention the profit that you have to make from the FSBO to be able to buy a new home. What factors should really be considered?
Sad fact is that nothing else can determine home price than the market. All your investments, let alone your desired profit, do not add worth to your home, unless otherwise dictated by the market. Regardless of how much has been spent to improve a property, no homebuyer is going to choose it over a similar one which has lower price.
Here is an even more painful truth – buyers tend to be reluctant with FSBO homes. For this reason, most sellers cut down selling price by about one percent lower than market price. Just consider it offset by the savings you get for not having to pay commission to agents. In any case, it will make your FSBO sale faster.
To be able to come up with a reasonable price for your FSBO home, seek the help of a real estate agent. Consult your agent for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). You may also choose to conduct your own CMA. Compare the price of your home to properties that have sold over the past six months, alongside the features of each property. There are also electronic appraisals accessible on the Internet.
When setting the price in a home FSBO, keep it close to the market price or if possible, even lower, in order to attract buyers. Make sure, however, that the price you set is not too small that you would not make any profit at all.