Buying & Selling A Home

There are a lot of things to take into account before you put a price on your home:

Where is the location of your house?

Location is very important when trying to price your house. You might have paid £50,000 for your home 5 years ago but if the crime rate is up, businesses have left the area etc. then the value of your house might have dropped. Or you might have paid £50,000 for it 5 years ago and businesses might be booming, no crime rate, a sought after area etc. then the value of your house will be “sky high”. It is very important that you do research before you even think of setting a price.

What is the condition of your home

If your house and your neighbors house are both on the market at the same price but your neighbors’ house looks more attractive and is more updated whose house do you think people will want to buy? Your neighbors. It may pay off to spend a few quid doing your house up a bit (that doesn`t mean you need to decorate the whole house). Look around your home and see if there is any thing that could be done to improve the value of your home. I.e. worn carpets, woodwork yellow and needing a paint, your garden is unkept and messy. You don`t have to spend a fortune to make your home look appealing. Just do it up where it is needed and the rest will sell itself.

Look at your home through a buyer’s eyes

Do you remember when you bought your home? How much you wanted to change it and add your own touches. You wouldn`t have given the pervious owner a second glimpse to what she/he had done to it and neither will the next owner. That’s how prospective buyers will look at your home. They won`t care how much time and effort you have put into making it your dream home. They are looking for a house that they can make their own. So don`t price your home on sentimental value.

Get the experts in

Invite at least three real estate agents to visit your home and give you their opinion of its likely selling price. Ask for a “comparative market analysis” (CMA), which shows the prices of comparable recently sold homes, on-the-market homes and homes that were on the market, but weren’t sold. This will give you an idea on competitors prices.

Do market research

Go see a real estate agent and pretend that you are looking to buy a house in your area. Ask what prices they are offering then go and view some that are similar to your home. Write out a checklist and tick off what they have on offer i.e. fitted kitchen, double glazing, garage, is the general condition better or poorer than your house ? When you get back home compare your home to the ones you have viewed and make your price from this. Or you could walk around your area and look for houses that are up for sale write down the address and make inquires over the phone about the price.

Personal property

Personal property should be excluded from the selling price. Washers, furniture, curtains, etc. You can either ask prospective buyers if they want to buy them or sell them separately to others. Or you could include them for free this will be an added bonus to prospective buyers.