How Much to Sell my House?

What price is the best to sell my house?

Selling your home is one of the more significant decisions you will make in your life. If you do it the right way, it can have long-term positive impacts, but if you go about it the wrong way, it can unbalance your financial stability.

A key feature of a successful home sale is being able to sell your property at a price that is as close as possible to the property’s actual market value. But it will be impossible to set a price for your home that’s close to your property’s value if you don’t know the property’s actual worth.

Knowing how much your home is worth on the market

Factors such as your home’s location, age, size and condition will no doubt affect the value of your property. You can use an online property calculator to get a rough estimate of your property’s value. For a more accurate estimate, you should hire the service of a professional property valuator/appraiser.

Usually, when trying to sell your property to a company (such as a bank or a cash-for-home firm), such a buyer will hire their own valuator to appraise your property. However, you should never depend on the value provided by such valuators and should get a second opinion from an independent valuator of your own choosing. It’s the ideal way to get an unbiased estimate, because a buyer might well be in cahoots with their own valuator to lowball your property’s value, in order to get you to sell at a lower price.

Should you factor in negotiation when setting the price of your home?

Yes. This is because buyers will always presume that there is room for negotiation. This means that no matter how low you initially set the price of your property, a buyer will still attempt to beat it down. So, to avoid placing yourself in a tight position, be sure to offer your home for sale at a price that is at least 5-10% above the final price you are willing to accept for it.

By leaving ample room for negotiation, you can better haggle your property’s price and have a buyer negotiate it downwards to a price that you are still comfortable with.

Be careful when making room for negotiation in setting your price. If you set the price too high, you might drive off potential buyers without them even trying to negotiate. This is because buyers have likely also done their research concerning the value of your property. If the price you’ve set is way above what they expect, they’ll simply believe you are trying to cheat them and will walk away.

Deciding strategy for a house sale

Knowing and preparing the strategy with which to sell your house is an important step, if you intend on selling your home at a price that will leave you satisfied. One of the biggest factors to take into consideration when formulating your strategy is how fast you would like to sell your home.

Are you interested in selling quickly?

If your goal is to sell your home quickly, because you need the money as soon as possible or simply because you would like to relocate within a specific timeframe, there are fast sale options that you can explore.

You can try putting your house on the market at a price that’s less than what the properties in your neighbourhood are worth. A suitably low price will be attractive to potential buyers. At the same time, setting the price too low can lead to suspicion, as buyers will think the low price is due to a fundamental flaw with the property. However, the suspicion of such buyers can be allayed by stating in the advert the reason why the price has been reduced.

If you set the right low price, you can make your home sale happen really quickly, as a majority of buyers want nothing more than a good bargain.

Are you in no hurry to sell your home?

If you’ve got time and are under no pressure to sell your home, then there’s no reason not to patiently wait till you are able to sell at a price you are most comfortable with.

You can place your property on the market with a high asking price, but with the intention of reducing it during negotiations. If there are no immediate takers, you can gradually reduce the price tag on your home until people start showing interest. However, following this process can take a really long time and is suitable only for sellers who are prepared for the long haul.

Will a quick sale imply a ‘below market value’ sale?

Getting to sell your property quickly doesn’t mean you necessarily have to sacrifice your earnings. For example, if you manage to find a property investor to purchase your property, such a party will pay cash for your home without a lengthy negotiation and you will most likely be able to sell at market value.

However, if you need to sell quickly – be it for financial reasons or something else urgent – you can drop your price to below market value to lure more potential buyers and turn your property into a hot ticket item.

If willing to sell your home below market value and fast, you can also opt for the option of quick house sale companies. A quick house sale company – or cash for home buyer – can purchase your property within days of first contacting them. Also, by using the services of such a firm, you don’t have to worry about expenses such as legal costs, valuation fees and so on. This is because the quick house sale company will bear all such expenses. Also, you won’t need an estate agent to arrange such a sale and you therefore won’t need to pay any agent a commission upon sale.

The quick sale company can offer you a price that’s anywhere between 70 and 90 percent of your property’s value and will pay you cash. How much the company offers will depend on them, as well as the quality of your home. The good news is, no matter how unsellable you’ve been told your home is, a quick house sale company will still gladly pay cash for it.

On the other hand, if your home is located on prime real estate and the house itself is in great condition, you can have customers from the open market falling over themselves to purchase your home at market value and as quickly as possible. Of course, this is highly dependent on the quality of the property you have on offer.

Be cautious when using quick house sale companies

If you opt for the services of a quick sale company because you believe it’s the most beneficial for you, be careful when choosing which one to transact with. Proper research is necessary in order to avoid getting into bed with a phoney or incompetent quick sale company.

A lot of the companies advertising themselves as quick sale companies are in actuality property brokers. This means that they personally don’t possess the cash to buy your home directly from you. Instead, they’ll make you an offer, then go in search of another entity or individual to purchase your home. These are the sort of cash for home firms you need to steer clear of, because they can seriously complicate a sale and turn the whole transaction into a stressful and drawn-out one.

You can identify a trustworthy and professional quick sale buyer by verifying they possess the following;

1. Registered with The Property Ombudsman and the National Association of Property Buyers.
2. Proof of sufficient cash funds to buy your property.
3. An actual office and not just a phone number or an email.

Also, beware of cash home buyers that make very tempting offers, such as buying your home at a 100% market value.

Get a better deal on your home by boosting its value

Knowing the value of your home is key and a vital step to pricing your property correctly. The more recent the valuation report is, the better. This is because there is a possibility your property’s value might have risen since the last valuation – especially if that was more than a year ago.

You can get a rough estimate of the value of your home by discovering the prices of similar neighbouring properties. Properties you are comparing yours to must be as similar to yours as possible. You can also use the online property calculators of Rightmove and Zoopla to discover your home’s worth.

If dissatisfied with the current value of your home, you can boost it by performing the following cost effective renovations:

• Reduce the amount of clutter in your home: By reducing clutter, you’ll free-up more space and give potential buyers a clearer view of how roomy your home is.
• A paint job: A fresh coat of paint is the cheapest, yet most effective form of renovation you can perform to increase your property’s value.
• Fix and clean: Any obvious damages such as leaky roofs and pipes, creaky floors, broken windows and such, should be fixed. Cleaning your house all over will also freshen up your property and make it more attractive. You can also do some landscaping to improve the outside view of your home.