For as complex as the home selling process is, it ultimately starts with a number; and that number, depending on where you set it, can either entice a large pool of buyers or completely wall off all interest in your property.

This is the juggling act of properly pricing your home. It’s a constant battle between wanting to strike the best deal for yourself and providing the most incentives for savvy buyers who are likely scouting a handful of homes in addition to yours.

Proper home pricing requires a lot of forethought, revision and objective honesty, but there are many small, intuitive tasks you can do to make the whole endeavor more streamlined and stress-free.

Here are several tips to consider when pricing your home:

Set Your Baseline Asking Price

If you’re selling your home, you’ve likely already thought about what you’d spend the money on—whether it’s tuition for your kids, a series of bucket list vacations or just capital to reinvest in another property. Whatever your aspirations are, make sure your baseline asking amount covers those expenses first and foremost. Your asking price will fluctuate as you trade concessions with buyers during the negotiation and home inspection processes; it’s an inescapable reality, but it’s important to never lose sight of why you’re selling your home to begin with.

Market Your Home effectively

Diversifying your home marketing efforts is also crucial if your strategy is to under price your home. If you live in a highly desired or up-and-coming neighborhood, this could pay huge dividends in the form of a bidding war—but only if you get the word out! List on the MLS with a Flat Fee MLS listing.  

Reach Out to an Appraiser

You can gain some key insights from a listing agent, but ultimately, their job is to drum up your enthusiasm about the possibilities of the process so you’re more inclined to work with them. That doesn’t make their advice any less valuable, but a home appraiser is more inclined to give you a warts-and-all assessment of your property.

For example, if your home is recently renovated and sports some very unique and attractive features—like hurricane-proof windows from a Florida-based remodeler or a contemporary metal roof from a reputable company —a listing agent may be more inclined to drive up the asking price based on the optics and namesake alone. An independent and impartial appraiser, however, will evaluate the construction quality and durability of your home’s most marketable attributes to give you the best sense of how much of a draw they will be for prospective buyers.

Scout the Competition

They say sports is a metaphor for life. It’s debatable, but there’s no mistaking the overlap between the tactics in sports and real estate. Properly pricing and marketing your home requires a game plan—and that game plan starts with gaining intel on your competitors.

After you’ve set your baseline asking price and reached out to TexasFSBO and/or appraiser, carve out some personal time to walkthrough your neighborhood looking for open houses and comparable properties going up for sale. As you do, make sure to note how many of those properties are being foreclosed. Hopefully none, but if a disproportionate amount of homes near you are being bought by banks at a reduced recoup price, it may lower the ceiling on your incoming offers. Your best course of action in this scenario may be to wait for these properties to be sold, if you can.

Future-Proof Your Asking Price

For example, if you know that home prices in your neighborhood have been steadily rising by one or two percentage points every couple of months and your worst-case scenario is having your home on the market for the next four months, raise your asking price to account for this future inflation. This way, you won’t settle for a lesser closing price simply because you set the original price a month or two prior.

If you’re a newcomer to the home selling process in the Greater Houston area, you need an expert realtor with a deep familiarity and understanding of the region. TexasFSBO/My Castle Realty has been recognized as a top-selling real estate firm in Houston for the past eight years because of our commitment to providing cost-effective service that is uniquely tailored to each client’s specific needs.

To get in touch with My Castle broker and co-founder, Gary Bisha, or any of their accomplished agents, simply call 713-683-0050, or email your inquiry to Gary@TexasFSBO.com.