Setting a List Price for Your Home
Let’s talk about how real estate agents arrive at a recommended list price for your home.
It’s important to note that the process of setting a list price is subjective. Different agents may well suggest different prices – so the most important thing for homeowners to understand is how an agent arrives at a particular price.
The key to establishing, and understanding, a recommended price for a home is the Comparative Market Analysis (or CMA as it’s commonly referred to).
A CMA is used by agents to estimate the value of a home by evaluating similar homes that have recently sold in the same area. For a CMA to be accurate, these similar homes, or “comps”, must be as similar to the subject home as possible.
This means features such as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, overall condition, and so on, must be the same or very close in value.
Now, once an agent has identified strong comps, a general price range for a home can be established. From there, the agent will weigh current market conditions such as inventory levels, nearby competition and neighborhood trends, before arriving at a recommended list price.
In the end, the goal of your agent is to list your home for an amount that will attract substantial interest from buyers, while also helping you achieve a top dollar sale of your home.
Interested in learning how much your home is work?
I offer complementary home valuations – to submit your request for a complementary CMA please complete this form.
Do you have other questions about the home buying process? Please contact me for more information – I’d be happy to help.