Don’t do it, do not do it. What am I talking about? Don’t overprice your house, even in this crazy sellers’ market. Okay, here’s the thing, we all think our house is worth more than it is, right? I do too. Oh, it’s hard not to. We’ve spent money on updates and improvements. We’ve created memories and had wonderful times, but here’s the thing, buyers, they don’t care about that stuff. Those things do not matter, the two up higher, especially if the home is overpriced, and especially in this market. Buyers are paying top dollar, so if your house isn’t selling, it’s probably a pretty safe bet that it’s overpriced.
Hey everyone, I’m Annemarie LaTulip with RE/MAX Triumph, serving Billerica, MA 01821 01862 and Middlesex County, Massachusetts. I want to talk to you a little bit about, how do we price a home? How do we price it correctly? What comps do we use? What data do we research? How do we find that sweet spot that will lead to multiple offers and ultimately a bidding war? Well, first off, it takes extensive knowledge of the local market. And second, we use the same techniques and strategies that the experts use. So, who are the experts? The appraisers, the appraisers are the experts. The appraiser has the final say and determining the home’s value and can make or break the transaction.
So now, when does an appraiser come into play? Okay. So when a buyer is financing a mortgage to purchase a home, the lender will call on the appraiser to make sure that the bank isn’t lending more than the home’s actual value. Now, it’s important to remember that appraisers have very strict guidelines that they need to follow, and they will only appraise the house on what it’s actually worth in the current market. The appraisal value must meet the original agreed purchase price between the buyer and seller in order to satisfy the lender. So, what happens if the appraisal doesn’t meet the agreed upon purchase price? Yeah, this is where it can get tricky, especially in this market.
If the appraisal value is less than the purchase price, there are two options, either you the seller will have to reduce your price to meet the appraisal value or the buyer will have to make up the difference. Now, right now in this crazy market, we are seeing multiple offers on almost every single property leading to bidding wars, ultimately driving that purchase price up sometimes $50,000 or more over the asking price. Now, that sounds great, right? Could be, but as your agent, I need to make sure that you accept the right offer and it doesn’t necessarily mean the highest.
Now, don’t get me wrong, a high offer is great. $50,000 over asking, of course that’s what every seller wants, but we have to ensure that the buyer has the finances and the means to end up at the price that we all agreed on in the offer, even if the home doesn’t appraise. Now, this is where I come into play. I’ve sold tons of homes in the Billerica 01821, 01862, Middlesex County, and surrounding areas. I know how to protect you and to prevent buyers from offering ridiculous amounts of money, just to make sure their offer gets accepted. Okay. So bottom line, we need to make sure the house is priced correctly from the beginning, and if we’re in a multiple offer situation, the highest offer isn’t always the best offer.
If the offer is too high and the appraisal comes in short, you may end up with a price even lower than your original asking price or worse, yet, you have to put your home back on the market. Thanks for watching everybody. If you like my videos, go ahead and click on that little red subscribe button. I know you know where it is, it’s right there. And go ahead and ring that bell so you can be notified when my next video comes out. Once again, I’m Annemarie LaTulip with RE/MAX Triumph, and always remember that your goals are my goals.