The importance of the right price

News at Waterfords | 09/05/2017


Coming up with the right price when selling your home is a balancing act. Obviously you want to make as much money as possible on your investment, but not ask for so much that you turn away buyers before they even step through the door. Finally, you don’t want to cheat yourself with a price that’s lower than your home’s worth.

Fine tuning this is where a trusted local estate agent can help. The ‘right’ price is one that’s in tune with what similar homes are selling for in your local area. It’s a figure that you and the buyer agree accurately reflects the value of your home. Working with an experienced local estate agent means that you receive expert help in evaluating the local property market and resist the temptation to overprice your home – or face your fears and undervalue it.

Here are four reasons to let your Waterfords’ property expert value your home correctly from the beginning of the process:

1.       You attract more buyers

Some homeowners are tempted to ask for more than the local market value is indicating – even if they are willing to accept a lower offer – just to see if there are any takes at the larger number. In other words, they wish to ‘try their luck’. Unfortunately this strategy often backfires if the property is priced out of range for potential buyers.

For example, your home is worth £400,000 according to local property market intelligence, and you are willing to sell for that amount. But you decide to list your home at a price of £420,000 to see if you can push buyers to offer more money.

This is where you face a problem. A serious buyer may have a budget of £400,000 and so search property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla for home priced up to that amount or just over. This serious buyer may not even get to see your property listing.

Of course, if the buyer is registered with Waterfords, we would ensure that didn’t happen by regularly checking with our buyers as to what their expectations are. However, you would be surprised at the amount of buyers who only use property portals and do not register with local estate agents until they are serious about viewing a particular property.

It’s much more sensible to price your home accurately from the start, to maximise on the number of qualified buyers looking for a home just like yours.

2.       You will sell your home faster and for a higher price

In a competitive housing market with many buyers, a fairly priced home could receive multiple offers because people recognise it’s a sensible price. It may even spark a bidding war that drives the final offer over the asking price.

An overpriced home could scare away some of those buyers, who may think the seller is just being greedy and unreasonable. You may be willing to sell your home for less that the asking price states, but some buyers may not even approach for a viewing if the property is that overpriced.

Generally, the longer a house stays on the market, the lower its final selling price will be. Sellers may end up making less money than if they’d priced the house correctly when it was first marketed.

3.       Buyers will have more confidence in your property

Striking the perfect balance with property price is very important. For the reasons listed previously, you definitely do not want to overprice your property. On the other hand, you do not want to undervalue it either because a buyer may wonder if there is something wrong with the property.

If you market your home for a fair price, in-line with comparable house sales in your area, a buyer will feel more confident in the transaction.

4.       Waterfords price your property to sell

Many estate agents will tell you what you want to hear when it comes to price, just to get you to sign on the dotted line... This is why it’s important to get a selection of local agents to value your home.

Unlike, many agents, your local property market expert at Waterfords has access to the very latest property market statistics ensuring you get the price right the first time around. They use a range of sources including their own historic sales database going back 25 years, alongside Rightmove, Zoopla, Land Registry and the Office of National Statistics. We then take all of this information and create simple, digestible property market reports.

At your market appraisal appointment, your local property expert will talk you through our unique and bespoke property market report, which is specific to your home’s postcode.

When you offer your home at its true market value, you’re giving yourself the best possible chance to get a good offer in a reasonable amount of time.

Testament to this, Rightmove reports that Waterfords sell property 20% faster on average than well-known online only estate agents, so make sure you speak to your local Waterfords property expert to get the real lowdown on your local property market.

Call 01252 235348 to discuss pricing your property with your local Waterfords expert.