If you’re thinking about selling your home yourself, one of the first — and most important — questions you are likely to ask is:
How do I know what my home is worth?
When you don’t have a real estate agent suggesting a price, determining where your property sits in the current market can initially feel daunting.
But pricing your home doesn’t need to be guesswork.
With careful research, an understanding of your local market and the right professional guidance when you need it, you can make a well-informed decision about how to position your property for sale.
Start With the Market — Not What You Need to Achieve
Every homeowner naturally has a figure they would love to achieve.
Perhaps you have calculated how much you need for your next property. Perhaps you know what a neighbour sold for. Or you may have been following property prices in your suburb and already have a number in mind.
But the market doesn’t know what you need — and buyers will compare your home with the alternatives available to them.
The starting point should therefore be evidence.
Look at Recent Comparable Sales
When researching the value of your home, look for properties that have actually sold, rather than relying only on properties currently advertised.
Try to compare like with like.
Consider:
- location and proximity to amenities
- land size
- number of bedrooms and bathrooms
- garaging and parking
- age and condition
- renovations and improvements
- views, aspect and outdoor spaces
- unique features
- how recently the comparable property sold.
A renovated four-bedroom home on a quiet street may have little in common with an unrenovated four-bedroom home on a busy road, even if they are only a few streets apart.
The more genuinely comparable the properties, the more useful the information becomes.
Be Objective About Your Own Home
This can be one of the hardest parts of selling your home privately.
Your home is personal.
You may remember choosing every finish in the kitchen, building the deck yourself or watching your children grow up there.
Those things give a home enormous emotional value to you, but buyers will make their own assessment.
Try to look at your property through their eyes.
What are its strongest selling features? Where might buyers see compromises? How does its presentation compare with competing homes?
Objectivity is extremely valuable when determining your pricing strategy.
Understand Your Competition
Recent sales tell you what buyers have paid.
Current listings tell you what those same buyers can choose from right now.
Look closely at similar homes currently for sale in your area. If buyers can choose between your property and three comparable homes, you need to understand how your home fits within that group.
This doesn’t mean simply pricing below everybody else.
It means understanding your position in the marketplace.
Listen to the Market Once Your Property Is Listed
Pricing isn’t necessarily something you consider once and then forget.
Buyer activity provides information.
Are people enquiring? Are they attending inspections? Are interested buyers returning for a second look? What questions are they asking? What feedback are you receiving?
One of the advantages of selling your own home is that you receive much of that information firsthand.
You don’t have to wait for an agent to tell you what buyers are saying.
Listen carefully.
Avoid Letting Emotion Set the Price
No one knows your home better than you, and no one has a greater interest in achieving the best possible outcome.
But knowing your home better than anyone doesn’t automatically mean knowing how the current market will value it.
The two things are different.
A sensible pricing decision combines your knowledge of the property with objective market evidence.
You Don’t Have to Work It Out Alone
Determining how to position your property is exactly the sort of area where experienced guidance can be valuable.
With more than 25 years of experience in real estate sales, Madeline D’Anastasi can help you understand the information available to you, the factors worth considering and how the selling process works.
She doesn’t make the decisions for you.
The decision remains yours.
Her role is to give you the knowledge, practical guidance and support you need to make informed decisions with greater confidence.
Because selling your home yourself doesn’t mean figuring everything out yourself.
It means remaining in control while getting the right help when you need it.
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