Asking More Than Market Value Can Be Justified Sometimes ... But It Still Will Not Sell Your Home

This is true no matter where you home is located in Northeast Florida ... Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine even Orange Park!

There are many reasons that you may feel that your home is worth more than its market value.  Unfortunately, the Phyllis Frankel Realty Group and other Realtors don't set the selling price of your home.  The selling price of your home is set by what other similar homes are selling for and what the eventual buyer offers for your home (after comparing all the other homes similar to yours).  Your Realtor can give you a comparative market analysis (CMA) which will show you what other homes the Buyers will be looking at and what recent sales that the Buyers and Appraisers will be using to gauge your home's value.  So if you find yourself in one of the situations listed below then you need to be realistic about what a buyer will pay for your home.  Listen to your Realtor who will give you an objective opinion of your properties value.

Here Are Some Reasons Sellers Have Told Us That Their Home Is Worth More:

"I Paid More Than That For The Home"

The Current Market Value Is Close To Or Below Your Purchase Price - You bought the home recently and haven't experienced much appreciation or the market is declining. Unfortunately, what you paid for the home doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters is what similar homes are selling for.  If the market is saying the home is worth less then what you paid for it and you are not willing to accept the loss ... then don't sell it.  Why go through the stress of selling your home?  Wait for the market to appreciate.  If history has told us anything, it has proven that homes the long run go up 4% - 5% a year.  Bottom Line is that your original cost does not affect the current market value.

"I Put Over $XX,XXX In Improvements"

You Put In A Ton Of Money In Improvements And Would Like To Get Your Money Back -  In the right market you can get extra value for the upgrades for your home.  But you need to make sure you don't over improve your home.  Meaning that you should not add extras that your neighbors don't have or will not have in the future.  The Buyer may love everything you have done but they don't want to pay that much more for it.  Most Buyers rather buy a home at fair value and then over time do their own improvements to their own taste. 

A perfect example is a pool.  Pools sometime sell homes, sometime they don't.  It all depends on the buyer.  But a pool does cost you $40,000 plus and you are lucky to get $20,000 value added to your home.

At least a pool adds some value to the home.  But there are many improvements or upgrades that you may do that either the Buyer won't appreciate or are improvements that really just bring the house into a more livable condition.  These improvements are not true improvement that adds value to the home, they just bring it up to standard. 

Adding a new roof because you need it really isn't an improvement.  It will help sell the home but a buyer really isn't going to give you that much more for your home. 

Getting rid of that carpet you had for the past ten years and upgrading to tile or wood floors is nice.  Buyers may love it.  But you are not going to get that much more for it.

So be smart and consult a Realtor before you go through any costly improvements.  This way you are sure you will get your money back, or at least know what you are walking into. 

"I Need The Money For My Down Payment On My Next Home"

You Need The Money For Your Next Home And You Want The Buyer To Pay For It - Most people move up to a more expensive home and need the extra money to buy the house they want.  Unfortunately, buyers won't pay you more just because you need it.  If this is the case then you need to decide if that home you want is worth it.  If so price your home to sell and move on to your dreams instead of being disappointed when your home doesn't sell.

"The Neighbor Down The Street Sold For More"

The Neighbor Down the Street Got What They Were Asking, Or So You Think - If your home has the same lot, same view, same square footage, same interior upgrades then it is a good comparable.  But most of the time you only know that the home is about the same size and the selling price (if that much).  But the Buyers and the market are going to look at the total package in order to judge the value of your home.  So if you don't have all the information you need to make the comparison then you can be dead wrong.  (And on a side note, we have run into a few cases where you neighbor lied or just told you want his was asking for his home and not what he actually sold it for).

"I Can Get What I Want Because It Is A Hot Sellers Market"

It Is A Hot Sellers Market But The Competition Still Matters  - Pricing in a hot sellers market is always difficult to do.  We want to capture the most money for your home but we also want to make sure we don't over-price you as compared to other homes on the market.  If you are priced way above comparable homes that the Buyers are looking at then it doesn't matter that it is a Hot Sellers Market; your home still will be overpriced.

"Another Agent Said My Home Is Worth More"

Joe Realtor Told Us It Was Worth $XXX,XXX - Joe Realtor doesn't determine market value.  The Phyllis Frankel Realty Group doesn't determine market value either.  It is what the Buyer offers for your home and what the end result of expert negotiating by your Realtor gets you that determines the market value for your home. 

What a Realtor does is prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for your home to show you what comparable homes to yours are on the market for, are under contract at and what have recently sold for.  Realtors all have the same access to the market information to create this analysis.  So our market analysis should all be within range of each other. 

But what if the numbers are totally out whack?  Then you need to look hard at how the realtors derived their numbers.  Ask the Realtors to explain why they think the home will sell at that price.  Some Realtors will quote you a higher price just to get your listing ... all the time knowing that your home won't sell at that price.  So be careful.

"We Want Negotiating Room"

You Realize Your Home Will Not Sell At List Price But You Want To Get The Most Mone -  Chances are your home will be selling 97% - 98% of list price unless you are in a Sellers Market.  If this is the case then we will be pricing your home along the lines of similar homes to yours while taking into account the appreciation rate of the current market and adding that factor in. 

However in a normal market you need to be priced within line of similar homes and rely on our negotiating expertise to get your price.  If your price is out of line with competing homes because you want negotiating room then you are not going to have anything to negotiate on.  That is because no one is going to make you an offer.  The saying in the real estate industry is that "It is better to get 10 offers then not get any at all."  So it is better to be priced close to your selling price and not come down then not get any offers at all.

"We Can Try It At This Price And Come Down Later"

Start High And Come Down If You Don't Get An Offer Doesn't Work - Similar to wanting room to negotiate, pricing your home above your competition without sufficient justification will only lead to not getting any offers and possibly no showings whatsoever.  But it gets even worst. 

If you are overpriced then your home will sit on the market and get "shop worn".  Your home will get known in the Home Buyer and Realtor community as "that overpriced home".  Your home will sit on the market.  Then after time if you decide to price your home more realistically, it may not matter.  Home Buyers and Realtors will know that the home has been on the market for a long time and may assume that there maybe something else wrong with the home besides just being overpriced.  Small changes to the price may not help your marketing effort because your home already has a bad reputation.  Thus a downward spiral of chasing a bad reputation will cause it to take longer to sell your home and you will end up selling for a lower price. 

"Let The Buyer Make An Offer"

Buyers Will Look At My Home And Make An Offer Doesn't Work Either - Buyers have many homes to look at.  Buyers rather make offers on homes that are priced right in hopes of getting a great deal or in worst case paying market value than waste their time with a Seller who may believe their home is really worth more then the market. 

Buyers get pre-qualified for a mortgage amount.  They then go looking for homes within that price range.  If you home is not within that price range then it won't be shown.  Buyers who are looking in the higher price range will be comparing your home to the other homes in the higher price range.  These homes will either be in more popular communities, on a more attractive lot or be bigger.  Home Buyers want to get the most for their money so they won't even look at your home because it doesn't compare to other homes in the same price range.

"My Home is Much Nicer Then The Neighbors"

You Home May Be Nicer Than The Neighbors To You But Maybe Not To Buyers -  Everybody gets attached to their homes.  The home is a place of many fond memories and maybe many personal touches that you have added over the years.  But your Home Buyer may not feel that way.  You may love the way the sun reflects into the Kitchen in the afternoon giving you plenty of cheerful light.  Your Home Buyer may see it as you having a more expensive utility bill because you get the afternoon sun.

That is why it is important to find a Realtor you trust and have them do a comparative market analysis (CMA) for you.  They will give you an objective, third person review of your home and its current value.

"It Would Cost More To Rebuild This Home"

The Builder Is Selling This House For More Than What Your Realtor Says Yours Is Worth - In giving you a price we are going to be looking at what is on the market and what has recently sold.  This is what Buyers are willing to pay.  No matter what a Builder is selling the home for or what it would cost to rebuild the home ... the Buyer is only going to be look at and comparing your home to the other homes for sale and what has recently sold. 

Some Buyers prefer to have newer homes and value them more.  They want to choose all the colors and extras in the home instead of being forced to accept what is available in the resales.  Just because the builder is asking more for a floorplan that same floorplan maybe for sale for less on a resale in the neighborhood.  The builder could be offering financing incentives and other incentives that you don't know about that makes that new home more attractive.  For various reasons a Buyer may prefer a builder's home more, so don't use the builders price as a comparable for your home.

Set Your Price

Set the Price

Is Your Home Priced Right?

Another Realtor Told Me I Could Get More

Is It the Right Time to Sell? What Will My Home Sell For? When?