Timing a House Sale and Setting the Price
From the Nolo.com Real Estate CenterBefore you sell your house, you must prepare the property and set the right price.
Savvy sellers understand the importance of timing their house sale and pricing it correctly.
What are the best and worst times to sell a house?
Too many people sell their house at the wrong time or are in too much of a hurry. Basically, you want to sell when there's the largest potential pool of buyers -- causing prices to go up -- something that occurs in the following situations :- Your area is considered especially attractive -- because of the schools, low crime rate, weather, proximity to major city or other factor such as employment opportunities.
- Mortgage interest rates are low.
- The economic climate of your region is healthy and people feel confident about the future.
- There's a jump in housebuying activity as often occurs in spring.
What's the best way to price a house for sale?
The key thing is determining how much your property is actually worth on the market -- called "appraising" a house's value. The most important factors that determine a house's value are recent sales prices of similar properties in the neighborhood ("comps").Real estate agents have access to sales data for the area ("comp books") and can give you a good estimate of what your house should sell for. Many real estate agents will offer this service free, in hopes that you will list your house with them. You can also hire a professional real estate appraiser to give you a documented opinion as to your house's value. Public record offices, such as county clerk or recorder's office, may also have information on recent house sales.
Finally, asking prices of houses still on the market can also provide guidance (adjusting for the fact that asking prices are typically 10% or more over the market). To find out asking prices, go to open houses and check newspaper real estate classified ads. You'll also find a lot of valuable information on the Internet.
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