Every homeowner wants to make sure they maximize their financial gain when selling their home. But how do you insure that you receive the most money for your house once it his the open real estate market?   Here are 2 ways to sell your Northern VA home for the most money!

1. Price your property a LITTLE LOW

Yes this may seem counterintuitive, but let’s consider this for a moment.  I often meet with homeowners who think that pricing their homes a little OVER market value will leave them with room to negotiation. In reality, this just dramatically lessens the demand for your house (see chart below).

Instead of the home seller attempting to win the negotiation with one offer, they should price it so that demand for the home is maximized. The seller will not be scaring off potential Northern Va home buyers over the price but will instead create the possibility of multiple buyers bidding over the house.

Realtor.com advice:

“... price your property at or just slightly below the going rate. Today’s buyers are highly informed, so if they sense they’re getting a deal, they’re likely to bid up a property that’s slightly underpriced, especially in areas with low inventory.”

Those who would prefer more analytics as proof, Spencer Rascoff the CEO of Zillow wrote in his book, Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate:

"The data tells us that when a listing is overpriced, it tends to sell for less than its estimated value"

2. Use a REALTOR

Again, this could seem counterintuitive.  Home sellers may think they would make more money if they didn’t have to pay a real estate commission. However, studies have shown that on average homes sell for more money when handled by a REALTOR.

A study by Collateral Analytics shows that FSBOs don’t actually save money, and in some cases may be costing more by not listing with an agent.  In the study, they analyzed home sales in a variety of markets in 2016 and the first half of 2017. The data showed that:

“FSBOs tend to sell for lower prices than comparable home sales, and in many cases below the average differential represented by the prevailing commission rate.”

The results of the study showed that the differential in selling prices for FSBOs when compared to MLS sales of similar properties is about 5.5%. Sales in 2017 suggest the average price was near 6% lower for FSBO sales of similar properties.

Bottom Line

Price your house at or slightly below the current market value and hire a professional full time REALTOR.  This will guarantee that you maximize the price you get for your house.  All agents are created equal, so hire an experienced agent!