How Do I Establish Price On A Small House
we are just finishing our first rehab. it is only 1675 sq feet but very up scale in a top end neighborhood
my problem is there is nothing in the area less than 3500 sq feet. very few properties in the area are on the market now so hopefully competition will not be a problem.
average sq ft price in this area is about $175, the top end is over $200. How much does my small size affect price? It will defiantly be the cheapest thing in the area even at $215 to $220 per sq ft.
Everything in the home is new with lots of nice amenities .. nice wooded lot nicely landscaped.
How accurate is Zillow? it clams to be within 10% for this area.
Call 3 LOCAL realtors in the area and ask for a comparative market analysis. This will include an estimate of what they would list the home for in a listing. You may decide to use them for the listing. If not, you will have an idea of the price. Another more costly option would be to hire an appraiser.
Zillow sucks. Sorry, it does. Sometimes its too high sometimes too low, every now and then its right. How do you know which is which? I am not sure. I would just do a price per square foot value. Take those homes that sold price per square foot and then use that figure and multipy by your square footage. It may not be an exact science but it may get you in the ball park. Or you could call a realtor. But I am one and I wouldnt give out the price I think a home would sell for until you sign with me. Cant have your cake and eat it to.
What a quandry,
A realtor , like any professional, works for you. Without you they starve. I have used Realtors before to get CMA and listing prices, but, remember also, they should be paid for their help, at least some of the time. We have built over the years relationships with several Realtors who do some services for free and we list with them depending on our needs and their past performance. Some things should be free to you, but not every time.
Realtors deserve to get paid too.
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finnigan and smith, Its a good thing you wouldnt work with me because i wouldnt work with you. People like you are ones that want something for nothing. If your going to sell your home FSBO then do just that, sell it yourself. I have a client right now who bought a home with me (because he didnt have to pay the commission) and now he wants to save some money selling his old house so he is trying FSBO. I said great! Good luck! and if that doesnt work please give me a call. What he did NOT say is "oh by the way what should I sell it for?" Because he knows that if would be extremely rude and inconsiderate to ask me to do my job for free. (by the way he didnt sell it FSBO and I am listing it on Monday). So simply my point is this. If you want to sell your home FSBO then thats fantastic, I encourage you to try and save some money. but please dont think you can have it both ways. FSBO is for sale by owner, not for sale by owner with some help from a realtor. If your gonna list your house your self then be ethical and price it, market it, and everything else your self. Dont cheat by talking to realtor that you and I both know you have no intentions of using. Unfortunately there are to many used car salesman that will run to finnigans and smiths trick CMA appointments.
Dan, agree, I have done the smith/fin approach, it only works a few times, then word gets around, plus, why would anyone want to go through the enourmouse hassel of CMA, listing, showing, paperwork, legals just to save 6%, you should have bought it right to start with then the 6% is a non-issue.
good luck to all.
Win-Win is the best way to go .
Well, thanks finn, I guess that clears it up.
thanks for the update..
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Hey Chris your plan worked. Tell the investors what they want to hear so you can get new buisness. Be careful though, you and I both know most investors are not loyal. finnigan is going to have you and four other realtors look for houses in Lansing.[ Edited by dlitedan on Date 03/05/2007 ]
Well finniganps I have an attorney in case something goes wrong. Totally agree about asking a realtor to help me with pricing though.
I think it is well worth the effort to do a mailer, news paper adds and hold an open house without involving a realtor. If I get activity in the first month I have saved $15k.. if not then I can always list it.
I have an idea this little house will be fairly hot. If it were a less desirable property then I agree. a realtor would be needed.
This morning there are 7017 active SF listings in the CVMLS, the average square footage is a little over 2100.
Jim
I love how some agents make a CMA sound like a big laborious task... what is it three clicks of a mouse in your MLS program?
Back in the day.. all listings were kept secretly in a well guarded three ring binder in the safe confines of a brokers office. We are in the age of the internet.. all information is available.. If an agent would not send me a CMA.. I would either find another agent (not something that is hard to do.. most brokers have 25-300 part-time agents, most agents are part-time...) or find another means to find the CMA.
However, saying this, I would not ask an agent to analyze or give suggestions regarding the information.. that you should pay for.
finnigan, you really take life seriously, thats good. Unfortunately you should not of taken my last reply seriously. I was just trying to get a rise out of you and Chris. It worked with you but not Chris. For the record I dont think Chris was just trying to tell you what you wanted to hear and I dont think all investors are not loyal (and yes believe it or not I work with them). So hopefully no hard feelings and if you ever sell a home FSBO in washington I would love to be one of the four realtors to give you a free CMA (that was a joke as well). Cheers.
NOt generally if that is the way that they were built and have been built that way for some time.
They have some type of foundation or they would be rotting into the earth.
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