NWHomePro Advice Center

Getting The Highest Price

The key ingredient to getting the highest price is skillful marketing. The better marketing a home gets, the more purchase offers the seller will get. The more offers the seller gets, the greater chance he'll have to get the price and terms he wants.

The most important factor in marketing a home is pricing the home accurately. The price must reflect market conditions, which are in turn a reflection of the property's location, features, condition, size and the uses best-suited to the property.

Quite honestly, homes are just like bananas or cars or, for that matter, widgets. Price moves product! Top quality homes command top prices, but poor quality homes will sell just as quickly as long as their prices are adjusted accordingly.

So the key to attracting the greatest number of qualified buyers, without giving a home away at a ridiculous price, is to price the home as close as possible to its fair market value, as dictated by the factors stated above. To do this, it is absolutely essential to have an experienced Realtor® or appraiser provide an ANALYSIS of the property's likely sales price.

The next most important factor in home marketing is "staging," that is, making the home appear the absolute best that it can. Even a poor home can be made to look more desirable, and more valuable, with a minimum of effort and expense through proper staging.

Careful attention to general cleanliness is important. Sellers should make sure the front door is freshly painted and clean. A stiff-bristled brush or pressure washer should be used to clean the siding, landing and walkway around the front door and to clean dirt and debris from parts of the house that are visible from the front yard or street. The lawn should be kept neatly mowed, and flower beds kept cleared of weeds, trash and children's toys. Sidewalks, driveways and yards should be kept clear of toys, tools and inoperable vehicles.

Inside the home, sellers should make sure the range, oven and vent hood are clean and free of grease. Countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms should be kept clean and free of clutter. Walls and ceilings should be washed with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Floors should be swept or vacuumed.

Every seller should seriously consider renting a storage unit to store items that aren't normally used, especially photographs, books, magazines, knick-knacks and most artwork. Kitchen and/or dining room tables should be kept cleared and clean. It can be helpful to place fresh cut flowers in a simple vase on the dining room table or kitchen island. When prudent, leaving curtains or window shades open during the day will let in as much light as possible, and make a home look more attractive and bigger.

Being tidy and clean can make a huge difference in how any home is perceived. However, it doesn't matter how good a home looks if its asking price is out of line with the realities of the market. And pricing a home high in the beginning, just to "test the market," can be extremely harmful. I have been absolutely amazed time and again at the number of sellers who have listed their properties with other brokers at prices the sellers were told were too high, only to have those homes sit on the market literally for years.

This is a ridiculous waste of time and money, both for the Realtor® listing the property and for the home owner. Having never had to deal with this situation personally, I cannot begin to imagine the frustration this must involve.

It's also important to get the word out about the home for sale. Sellers should list their property with an experienced broker who ensures that the property is listed with all of the multiple listing services in or near the home's area and with a broker who promises extensive Internet advertising. Make sure the broker has a well-thought-out advertising regimen and that he provides a comprehensive, written marketing plan.

Sellers also need to work on their own to get the word out. They should provide feedback to their broker about what they're hearing about the home, and they need to make sure that the house and yard sign continue to be visible to passersby. They should also pass the word to friends, family and acquaintances that the home is for sale, and tell them how to contact the broker.

Another important factor in how quickly and at what price a home sells is the condition of the home itself. Condition alone can sometimes prompt fast buying decisions.

It is often prudent to obtain a pre-listing inspection in order to detect any serious defects in advance. Then, these defects can be repaired before they create additional problems with respect to the home's overall condition and before they can become issues for a buyer.

Cosmetic defects are especially important to fix. As stated before, how a home appears affects buyers' perceptions of value. Sellers should caulk or seal any joints or cracks that need it, strip any peeling or faded paint, and re-paint as needed. This should be done both inside and outside the home. (IF THE HOME WAS BUILT BEFORE 1978, first read the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" BEFORE stripping or removing any paint.)

In achieving the most favorable sales outcome, skilled marketing and careful preparation are not the only answers, however. Learning how to negotiate aggressively will also help achieve the best combination of price and contract terms. The "terms" of the contract are other factors that can be offered in advance or adjusted during negotiations in order to stimulate buyer activity.

For example, if a seller insists on getting his full asking price, he might think of what he can offer buyers in return--perhaps improvements that could be made, or an offer of seller financing at a lower-than-market interest rate on a portion of the purchase price.

Every contract contains a variety of provisions that can be modified to make a transaction appear more or less attractive to one party or the other. Adjusting these contract terms can be a way for a seller to persuade a buyer to pay the price the seller has set.