FIND THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME ONLINE- FREE

The correct selling price of a home is the highest price that the market will bear. To assist you in determining the correct asking price I will provide you with an online market evaluation of comparable properties sold and offered for sale in your neighborhood.

Simply enter your criteria below, and I will provide you with a speedy response. The more information given, the more accurate the evaluation. All information you provide is secure and will be kept strictly confidential. There is no obligation. Please indicate when you are thinking of selling. If I can help you find a home in the area you are moving to just let me know. I work with agents all over the world and I can help you find a professional Realtor to assist you.

To provide a more detailed Professional Market Analysis, I would be more than happy to assess your listing in person. There is no charge for those wishing to put there home on the market in a reasonable time.

Please note that this service is not for those wanting an appraisal for re-financing purposes.

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Seven Costly Mistakes Sellers Make

There are always appropriate steps to investing in real estate and hopefully, you've garnered many of them right on these pages. However, there are also inappropriate steps sellers can walk down when it comes time to put their house on the market.

For instance, the seller in Virginia, who thought the half bath the builder had located at the front of the house would really be better situated toward the back of the main level (though all the other similar models had the powder room in the same place for the previous 20 years). He got hung up on this detail so much, that he just had to move it -- and did -- for thousands of dollars, just so he could get it on the market the "right way." His hang-up may have settled some deep-seated emotional need for him, but it didn't draw any more buyers, and it drained his bottom line. You might say, that was a costly mistake.

Real estate broker and author Sid Davis has identified in his book "A Survival Guide to Selling a Home," another seven costly mistakes that many sellers make when it comes time to put their home on the market. In my business, I've seen each one of these mistakes played out and it just makes me shake my head as to why, sellers forge ahead with unwise strategies, instead of listening to the voice of an experienced professional.

The seven costly mistakes
Mistake 1: Putting the home on the market before it's ready. Most times this happens because the seller gets impatient or is a procrastinator and has pushed himself up against a moving deadline without getting the pre-sale work done. So it comes on the market with the horrible carpet (that gets replaced during the marketing of the home); or they are painting it while it goes on the market. Presentation is everything -- so get the work done before marketing the property.

Mistake 2: Over improving the home for the neighborhood. This happens with additions, bump outs, and upgrades that make the home stick out from among its competitors so much that it's an anomaly, instead of a nice addition to the community.

Mistake 3: Pricing the home based on what the seller wants to net. This pricing strategy always ends in failure. Sellers can control the "asking" price, but they don't control the "sales" price. The market does. It doesn't matter what the seller wants, the price is determined by the black-and-white, matter-of-fact reality of the market.

Mistake 4: Hiring an agent based on non-business factors. Make sure you're hiring a professional with a proven track record. It might be nice to hand over your largest asset to your nephew who just got his license -- but make sure he has a mentor to keep your deal from going south.

Mistake 5: Getting emotionally involved in the sale of the home. This is one of the biggest challenges home sellers face when putting their house on the market. Once you decide to sell your house, it's no longer a home, but a commodity. It needs to be prepared as a commodity, marketed as a commodity, and priced as a commodity. It doesn't matter what you "want," only what the market can bear on pricing. People are going to come in to kick the tires, so to speak, and you can't get emotional about how they may or may not appreciate the nuances of your home of seven years.

Mistake 6: Trying to cover up problems, or not disclosing them. Most states have a property disclosure/disclaimer form -- use it wisely. Just because you disclaim doesn't mean you cannot be sued later for the leaky basement, or dilapidated heating/air system that's discovered 30 days after settlement.

Mistake 7: Not getting your ducks lined up before trying to sell. This would involve financing, reading the fine print on your current mortgage to ensure no pre-payment penalties, not listening to the particulars of your local market, etc. If your local market is dictating lower home prices, then lower it early, not later -- it will cost you more. If the local market dictates selling your home first, then buying second, do it in that order, or vice versa.

Avoiding these mistakes is not that difficult. There are plenty of resources (like this publication) and professionals, who are there to help you step over the pitfalls. Do the research early, and listen to that voice in your head (it's probably the whispers of the finance, real estate, insurance person who's warning you of a hole you're about to step into). Sell well.

What Is Your Home Worth?

The comparative market analysis is key to answer

When you are interviewing REALTORS® to market your home, you'll be introduced right away to a priceless document—the comparative market analysis(CMA.) This is one of the areas in which the real estate industry really earns its keep—by showing you in black and white what your competition is. But like a sword, it is a tool that can cut both ways. You and your agent will use the CMA, among other tools, to determine where your home will stand in comparison to others which are on the market, and those which have recently sold to determine the highest possible asking price. Your buyer will use it to find ways to reduce his or her offer.

CMA's are about facts which can be qualified and quantified. The CMA is typically designed to give quick capsules of information such as number of bedrooms and baths, approximate square footage, size of major rooms, amenities such as fireplaces and pools, age of the home, property taxes, listing agent contact information and more.

CMA's can include homes that are currently for sale and those which have recently sold. They can go back in time as long ago as a year or a month or week ago. CMA's can cover areas as narrow as one or two streets surrounding your home, or as broad as an entire subdivision.

What is not included in the CMA are those factors that affect perception, and that is the key difference between why one home with identical features will ultimately command a higher price than its twin. Perception alters reality, and this is a crucial consideration in understanding the buying and selling process and the value of the CMA. Much of a home's value will ultimately be determined by the emotional impact it has on buyers. These emotions are based on subjective elements such as drive-up appeal, interior dec or, colors, views from the windows, light, darkness, room flow, and hundreds of other factors.

At the end of each home's information on the CMA report there will be a brief statement provided by the listing agent. This statement is usually a combination of fact and subjective opinion, and will generally cover selling restrictions or selling points. It could be anything from "seller's agent must be present at all showings" to "kitchen and master bath completely remodeled in 1997" to "Charming! Must see!" (Keep in mind that Realtors are salespeople, self-employed and have individual styles of marketing and that some will be better at writing CMA reports than others.)

For privacy reasons the CMA that is offered for public consumption does not list every piece of information that has been obtained by the seller's agent. It will give the what, when, where, but it won't give the who (the seller's identity) and the why (why the home is being put up for sale.) The reasons are two-fold, to protect the seller's privacy and to keep from inadvertently giving the buyer an advantage in a distress situation.

The CMA is clearly a selling tool, but like any tool, it doesn't work very well by itself. It takes a skilled person to be able to use it. For this reason, the CMA will always need to be interpreted by a professional or with complete objectivity by the seller or buyer.

Remember that the CMA is also a buying tool; it is taken just as seriously by the buyer and his or her agent. As you and your agent are going to use the CMA to ask the highest possible price for your home, the buyer is going to use it to find reasons to either choose or eliminate your home, and to arrive at the lowest price possible.