Everyone wants the most money they can get for the sale of their house. Everyone wants to buy a house at the cheapest possible price and get the most value from it. This is an endless tug of war that pretty much goes back to the very first time a trade was made. However, it’s also true that even in property buying, even in a turbulent market, there is still some objective measure of how much your home is worth (even if it shifts occasionally).
To start with, the ultimate market is how much someone is willing to pay for it. If your $300,000 property gets a legitimate cash offer of $1,000,000, good for you! Although we’d suggest you don’t take that in cash for convenience’s sake. However, such fantasies are rarely going to be achievable. You can hold out for a long time in pursuit of that perfect buyer of course, but sometimes, after a long period of non-interest and worse offers, you have to consider if reducing your asking price is worthwhile.
It might not be that you’ve overvalued your house due to entitlement or comically misreading the market. You may have been very sensible and genuinely just want a return on investment. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always gain the kind of asking price you want. In this post, we’ll discuss how to know if you’ve overvalued your on-the-market property, and if so, what to do about that:
Consider Interest
Perhaps the most objective indicator of a home’s value is the amount of interest it gets, so you might want to look at your property’s online listing and see how many people have viewed it. Your estate agent should also provide you with data on this. If you’re getting a lot of clicks but few viewings, it could suggest that the photos are attracting people, but the price is scaring them off.
Alternatively, if you’re getting a good amount of viewings, but no one is making an offer, you may have set your price too high for the current market. A lack of viewings after a couple of weeks on the market is a very clear signal that the price might need to be reconsidered.
Compare To Like Value & Proximal Homes
A useful practice to try is to go and see what other homes in your area are selling for. You could try to put your own emotional connection aside and look at what other properties with a similar number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and garden size are being sold for. You can see how long they’ve been on the market with little effort.
Looking at homes that have recently sold is also a great idea, as that can give you a clear sense of what the market is willing to pay right now. Your estate agent will do this for you, but it’s always a good idea to stay aware of the market yourself as you may have more of a feel for the kind of property in the kind of area you live in.
Speak To Other Agencies
You could have a long and good relationship with a single estate agency. They can be a great help, and a relationship like that can be invaluable. However, it can also be a good idea to get a second opinion. A different agency may have a new perspective on your home’s value; perhaps they have a different client base that is more suitable for your property. For instance, maybe your current agent has you as the only listed property and their general market isn’t really focused on that – you may just need someone who has the connections and suggestions to assist.
For example, a new agent might see a feature that your current agent gnored or has a different pricing strategy that might be more successful in the current market. Getting a few valuations from different agencies can give you a better overall idea of your home’s value no matter what you choose to do.
Have A Full Assessment Made
Now and again, the initial valuation you get from an estate agent is more of an estimate. It is an informed opinion, but it might not be based on a full and detailed inspection. If you want a truly objective opinion, you could have a full assessment made of your property.
Professional surveyors will look at the condition of your home, its structural integrity, and any potential issues that could affect the sale price that an agent might not have considered. This can provide a much clearer picture of your home’s actual value and might help you figure out the hidden factors that are influencing a lack of interest, helping you to make an actually informed decision on the asking price.
Consider Profit Motivations
It’s completely normal to want to make a profit on your property, especially if you’ve invested a good amount time and money in renovations. However, sometimes that desire for a return can blur your judgment on what the market will actually pay. The amount of money you have spent on a new kitchen or bathroom doesn’t always translate directly into a higher sale price and certainly not always at a 1:1 ratio. You may get even more than you put in for a new kitchen, and that does happen (even quite a lot), but it’s not necessarily going to be the case with your home 100% of the time.
A buyer will also have their own ideas about how to use the space and may want to renovate it themselves. As such, you might be better off looking at your home through the eyes of a potential buyer, and not just the money you’ve spent on it.
With this advice, we hope you can tell if you’ve overpriced your house, and perhaps make adjustments if you think they’re necessary.
