The Many Dangers of Overpricing Your Home

All of the home sellers we’ve worked with wanted to get the most they could out of their homes. No big shock there. And for many, time was also a factor. They didn’t want their homes to sit on the market for months, which often decreases how much you can get for your home as well.

Our goal is to help you set a list price that will get you the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle. If your home is listed at a price that is above market value, you will miss out on prospective buyers who would otherwise be prime candidates to purchase your home. (See the chart.) If you list at a price that is below market value, you lose out on potential profit and diminish the value of your home. 

More buyers purchase their properties at market value than they purchase above market value. The percentage increases as the price falls even further below market value. Therefore, by pricing your property at market value, you expose it to a much greater percentage of prospective buyers. This increases your chances for a sale while ensuring a final sale price that properly reflects the market value of your home.

Timing is of the essence

Another critical factor to keep in mind when pricing your home is timing. A property attracts the most attention, excitement, and interest from the real estate community

and potential buyers when it is first listed on the market. If your home is improperly priced initially, it can miss out on its peak interest period, which could cause it to languish on the market. This may lead to a below market value sale price or, even worse, no sale at all. 

Your home has the highest chances for a successful sale when it is new on the market and priced reasonably. This is where we can help. We can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms, and condition of competing properties. With these analyses and our experience, well help you find the right price for your home.

Source: Murney Associates, Realtors

Simple (and Inexpensive) Ways to Spruce Up Your Home

Realtor.com recently posted this great article, "6 Sneaky Ways to Make Your Home Look Expensive." It is worth reading. The tips are:

1. Declutter.
2. Eliminate grunge.
3. Add—or rearrange—lighting.
4. Upgrade your hardware.
5. Repaint.
6. Focus on the devil in the (decor) details.

We agree with these tips and are huge proponents of decluttering. It has shown up in several of our other blog posts. And we also tell our clients that painting is one of the least expensive and easiest ways to change the look of your home.

Another worthwhile tip not included here is repainting or restaining your front door. Holly just painted her door black. She said it really helped it pop and provided a nice change.

Holly recently repainted her front door,
shutters, and garage black.

Stacey liked the darker staining of her front
door and garage.

For Stacey, restaining her front door (and shutters) provided the face-lift her home needed. "I really struggled with the decision," she says. "But I ended up going darker and love it."

We would love to hear about any other ways you've spruced up your home. Feel free to post a comment.

5 Ways Buyers Can Make the Most Out of Open Houses

Open houses are a great entrée into the home-buying process. They help you figure out what features are important to you in a home. Finding out what you don't like is just as important. Here's how to make the most of your time spent visiting open houses.

We have three open houses this Sunday.
Make sure they are on your route!
Here's info on the first one
at 3934 Eaglescliffe.

1. Figure out your price range. If you are visiting open houses with an eye toward buying eventually, it really helps to figure out how much home you can afford. Of course, it is always fun to visit homes you hope to have one day. But you want your expectations to be in line with your budget. Check out this blog post for tips on finding how much home you can afford.
2. Plan your route. Consider focusing on a neighborhood or section of town that interests you each Sunday. You can go to this website to get an overview of popular subdivisions in the Springfield area. Open houses are posted here at 4 p.m. on Thursday for the upcoming Sunday. Zillow also compiles open houses each week. Murney's mobile app will give you the location of homes for sell based on your geographical location. Very handy!
3. Talk to the real estate agent hosting the open house. Use the agent as a resource. Ask any questions you may have and see what he or she thinks are the strengths of the home. It's also a great way to "interview" agents if you are looking for an agent to represent you. 
4. Weigh the home against your needs. No home is going to meet all of your needs. But you do want it to meet your most important needs. Think about whether this home does that, whether those needs involve the floor plan, a big backyard for kids to play in, a large kitchen or a hobby space. 
5. Experience the neighborhood. Find out as much as you can about what it is like to live there. The people create the neighborhood's personality. Are people out in their yards? Are they approachable? Do you like that? Would you prefer a more anonymous feel in your neighborhood? Do people take care of their homes? Look at the community amenities within the neighborhood and nearby. Again, evaluate the amenities according to what you think is important or would like to have nearby. Other neighborhood considerations include traffic amount and patterns, smells and home owners associations' involvement.

5229 S. Stonehaven in Highland Springs

310 N. Marie St. in Nixa