Overprice and you won't sell!

The housing market in Colorado Springs has been impacted as other areas in the nation but homes are still selling in our city if they are priced correctly. Many sellers do not understand how market values affect how much they can ask for their home. Sure, you can ignore what the market values are in your area and list your home for much more, but it probably will not sell and that does not do any good. If your home is has been actively for sale and you have had many showings with no offers or have had few showings, your list price is probably too high for the market in your area. It is not wise to overprice your home and then drop it a few thousand here and a few thousand there every few of months, that does not work very well in today's market. You will lose marketing time if you do not price your home correctly from the beginning.

There are many factors that go into your asking price including the home's condition, recent upgrades, and the sellers' personal motivations and how quickly they need to sell. If you have another home being built and it will be ready in a couple months, you may want to list your home's asking price in the lower range of the market value in your neighborhood in order to sell more quickly and hopefully, avoid having to pay two mortgage payments. If you are not in a huge rush you may be able to list your home in the higher range of the market value for your area.

So what is the difference between cost, price, value, and market value? The cost of the home is the amount you actually paid for the home at the time you purchased it. The price of the home is essentially what you are asking for the home (i.e. listing your home for 250K). If your home has green carpet, bright orange paint, and very expensive and gaudy hardware throughout, the home would probably not appeal to many buyers in your area. On the other hand, there may be a specific buyer who has very similar taste to yours whom your home would appeal to and this would be what your home is worth to someone. What your home is worth to a specific buyer defines your home's value. Many sellers are hearing their agent mention what the market value is for their home and sometimes the market value is shockingly less than what the seller paid for the home or maybe the sellers spent a considerable amount of money on upgrades and remodels that do not significantly change the market value of their home. Many sellers want to list their home in relation to the amount or cost they paid for the home 2 years ago when the market value may be less.

The market value of a home appeals to many buyers, which in turn, produces a sale in a reasonable amount of time. A reasonable amount of time is not 200 days, I would say closer to 90 days or less is a more reasonable amount of time in the current market here in Colorado Springs. If you are serious about selling, listen to your Realtor and work together to price your home correctly within the range of the market value for a home similar to your own in the area. Otherwise, don't waste your time; you may just want to wait a while; if you price your home any more than 3% above market value, it just will not sell. I think appraisals are so important, especially in certain markets. If you have many updates in your home, if your home is unique compared to others in the area, or if there are not many comparable properties that have sold in the past 6 months, obtain an appraisal. A Realtor's Comparative Market Analysis is not an appraisal. More and more Realtors are encouraging their sellers to obtain an appraisal with the changing market.

Search the Pikes Peak MLS


For more information on Colorado Springs Real Estate or the Colorado Springs Area contact me or visit my website.