How To Price Your Idaho Home To Sell Immediately 

How To Price Your Idaho Home To Sell Immediately.  It can be emotionally difficult to put a price on your home, well, cause it's your home. That is to say, it's filled with all your family's memories, all those hopes and dreams-and those things can really muddy the waters in your judgment call,  as a result leading you toward the wrong choice in price.  Given these points, pricing your home too high can have major ramifications!  In effect, your home could sit stale on the market for months and possibly not even sell at all. Consequently, price your home too low and you could rob yourself of a lot of money.  Price right-sell Idaho home fast, it's that easy.

In the event that you decide to sell, let us help guide you through this rough but very critical decision; continue reading to help come to the right price for your home.

Unfortunately, what you paid doesn't really matter

You may have a specific price in mind—maybe it's based on what you paid originally, plus a little extra. Because homes appreciate, right?  Perhaps.. but maybe not.  Seeing a hefty increase in value is nice in theory, however it's ultimately up to the current local market.

In reality, you wouldn't buy a brownie for $1.00 if the same brownies down the street were for sale for  .60 cents, right?  Of course you wouldn't!  And obviously, a home isn't a brownie, but the same concept applies.

The real estate market values go up and down.  Again, this could work for you, or possibly against you.  Because, all that really matters on the open market is what buyers are willing to pay right now, not at all based on what you paid for your home.

Research and learn for yourself - collect all the info possible

The perfect way to figure out your home's ballpark sales price is by researching the prices of similar sized homes in your neighborhood, known as CMA or 'comparable market analysis'.  In other words, if a property near your home with the same square footage, amount of bedrooms, bathrooms and is in similar condition just sold for $300,000 in the previous three months, you can bet your own price is gonna be in that same ballpark.

Of course most potential sellers will search online websites for one of those 'automated valuation models', you know the ones you type in your home's address, press the submit button, and out pops a price based on an algorithm that factors in your comparable homes in your area.  AVMs are infamous for being highly inaccurate, not only...but also more so within the State of Idaho, as we are a non-disclosure state.  Because website algorithms are only as good as the info being entered into them, and if your state (like Idaho) doesn't give out that information, you can probably guess how good that "guesstimate" is gonna look?  It could be 10's of thousands over or even under what your home really will sell for!

A good Realtor can help factor in the strengths and weaknesses

No one has actually put eyes on your house, for this reason an AVM can’t really give you an accurate price point.  That's where your Realtor comes in.  Having a Realtor visit your home, so he/she can better factor in your home's specific strengths and weaknesses along with comparable homes from the MLS for your specific neighborhood will result in a much more accurate estimate.

With all things considered, ask your Realtor questions, when they give you a price range, ask them how they came up with that amount and look at the comps of your area, yourself.  Once you're able to examine all this info, you'll be able to price your home yourself, so you won't feel like you blindly trust your Realtor.  After all, the final decision on what to sell your home for, is up to you.

Before upgrading!  Pause and think about your 'ROI' first

Return On Investment, yup you just sank $10k into that brand new kitchen, or maybe you spent $15k on an in-ground swimming pool.  FUN!  So, of course you'll make all that money back when you sell it, right?  Then again, maybe not!  Surveys show that your ROI for home improvements really depends on what kind of renovation you've done and by how much prospective buyers want specific upgrade in your area.

For instance, refinishing your hardwood floors could potentially win you a 100% return on investment, thus paying for it'self.  If you converted the basement to living space, you may only recoup just 69% of the costs.  The hard truth is that not everyone will fall in love with your 10 seat built-in hot tub.  For this reason, do a little research and figure out what upgrades are really going to get you a return on that investment.

Prep your home to get the best offer immediatly

Here are some general preparations you could make to help ensure you get the best possible offer, in the shortest time possible:

• Repair. Just because you’ve gotten used to the cracks in the walls and the rattles in the radiators doesn’t mean a buyer will too. If you have hardwood floors that need refinishing, be sure to get it done—hardwood is a huge selling point. Buyers like to snoop around, so be sure to fix any sticky doors or drawers as well. Finally, don’t forget to address any issues with the exterior—fences, shingles, sidewalks, etc. After all, without curb appeal, some buyers may never get to see the inside.
• Neutralize. You want buyers to see themselves in your home. If your living room has lime green shag, wood-paneled walls, and all your collectibles and personal photographs, this will be much harder for them to do. Try replacing any bold color choices in your floors and walls with something more neutral—beige, tans, and whites. Repainting and re-flooring will make everything look fresh and new, and help prospective buyers imagine all the possibilities.
• Stage. Once your house is clean and updated, it’s time to play dress up. Home staggers can add small details and décor touches that will bring out the possibilities in the various spaces in your home: lamps, mirrors, throw rugs and pillows, flowers, decorative soaps and towels, patio furniture. Home staging can be particularly useful if your home is especially old or if the exterior looks dated. Think of it as a little mascara and rouge—if it’s done right, you notice the beauty, not the makeup.

Leave some wiggle room to negotiate the price

Majority of the time, buyers are going to want to negotiate when it comes to making a deal for your house.  It can stand to help, by increasing your price slightly instead of listing for the outright lowest price you can afford to go.  With a bit of a cushion, you can give the buyer "the win" without hurting your ultimate goal price.  How much?  Well round off your asking price in $5,000 increments.  If you ultimately want $277,000 for your home, round out the price to $280,000.

Keep in mind that many first-time home buyers may have a harder time coming up with the needed cash for closing costs in addition to the down payment they have to pay, even if their finances are good and have been pre-approved for a loan.  Offering to cover closing costs-while going with a higher asking price could help seal the deal.

List your home with online buyers in mind

You now have a ballpark price that you seem to be happy with, so it's time to fine-tune that number.  Today, most home buyers shop online with specific search parameters firmly in their minds and small differences in your price could potentially lead to a big difference in your overall buyer exposure.

Home buyers will typically fill out a web search form with a minimum and maximum price, if you’re just $1.00 outside of their search range it will be as if your house didn’t even exist, they will just never see it. In other words, set your homes price at $400,000, and you could miss out on everyone searching in the $350,000–$399,999 price range. So if you're on the apex, consider rounding down to capture more views. Remember what we said about padding the price? It goes both ways.

Let your Realtor test the waters out with coming soon

For the most part, choosing a price for your home can be daunting, so consider this last simple option.  We can have your home listed as "coming soon" online and within' the real estate brokerage without officially listing the house in the multiple listing service just yet.  A simple signed form is all that is needed to hold your home out of the MLS for a certain period of time.  This will buy you some time to test the local market, we can see if other buyers or agents are interested at that price point, and also give you time to finish those repairs and upgrades you may want to do.  Then we can adjust your price accordingly without officially lowering or raising your price on the record!