I was just having his conversation with a client the other day. He’s considering moving and asked the typical question a potential seller would ask about how to price his home. I gave him a little speech that I give to all my clients when they are considering moving. Then today I see this article about overpricing a listing! Funny how that happens. So here I am writing a blog about it. And because I love me some charts, I have some really great ones to share.

Let’s face it; the goal is to achieve the highest possible closing price in a reasonable amount of time (avg. days on market or less). Listing a property above market value turns away buyers and decreases the chances of successfully selling your home (see chart to the left). This is why I provide my clients with the very best Comparative Market Analysis or CMA, which is a report that show all the homes that have sold in your area recently that are similar to yours and based on that gives you an idea of what market value would be for your home.

It is well known that regardless of a home’s price, a home attracts the most attention, excitement and interest when it first comes on the market (see Chart to the left). And often, once that small window of opportunity is closed, your chances at obtaining the highest and best offer or any offer at all is greatly diminshed.

As you can see by the chart to the left, if the home is overpriced for too long in the beginning of a listing it will ultimately lead to a sale that is below market value. And in some cases, it may not sell at all. Gathering all the appropriate data from your real estate agent (me) so that you can make the most informed decision about how to price your home is the most important thing you can do when preparing to list you home for sale.