Multiple factors can come into play while trying to sell your house in Detroit. Nine times out of ten the biggest of them all is the asking price. One of the biggest and most common mistakes we see is pricing the home way too high. Overpricing your house can be the worst thing possible, especially if you are looking to sell quickly. Some of these reasons might seem logical but some of them may not. Believe it or not, it takes a certain level of experience as a seller to clearly understand the reasoning for this. In this post, we’ll explain how to avoid the mistake of overpricing your house in Detroit when selling.
The Market Is The Market
The market conditions dictate everything when it comes to real estate sales. The market does not care how much you think or feel your house is worth or how much emotional attachment you may or may not have towards it. The market does not care how much work you put into the property or how much time and money you put into it. The market does not care how much you paid for the house when you purchased it either. All of this may sound very harsh but it’s the hard truth of the matter. Real estate value is mostly based upon supply and demand, which tends to determine whether or not it’s a seller’s or a buyer’s market. For example, if there are a lot of homes for sale in a specific area then typically that will drive down the property values in the neighborhood. Overpricing your house for sale in this situation will almost guarantee that your property will sit on the market for a very long time. As you know, if it isn’t selling then the buyer demand simply is not there. The housing market in Detroit was pretty hot over the last few years and was on a nice rebound from the last crash however, the COVID-19 pandemic created a big disruption in the economy. You must take this into consideration when selling your house in Detroit MI.
Do Some Research
To avoid the mistake of overpricing your house for sale you can start by looking up recent comparable sales online. First begin by looking for “sold comps”. These are properties with similar features to your house. You’ll be looking for houses with the same number of bedrooms, bathrooms and close in square footage. You will also be looking for houses that were built around the same year and the exterior should also be the same. In other words, if your house is brick, only compare to other brick homes. If it is wood-frame with siding then only compare with those because in Detroit, there can be a significant difference in value between houses with frame and brick exteriors. Also make sure that these sold comps are recent (within the last 3-6 months) in order to achieve an accurate evaluation. If your house is located in the city of Detroit then be sure to only use comps within a 3 to 5 block radius if possible. If you are familiar with the city then you already know that one block might look great but the next block may look like a war-zone with burned out structures with fire-damage. After finding the sold comps, next you should look at the properties listed as “active” and see how they are priced. Take it one step further and look to see how many days on the market each listing has. If you are noticing 30, 60 or 90 days on market then those houses are probably priced too high. Another thing to look out for is price reductions. Multiple price reductions can be like a cancer to selling a house. A lot of home buyers get turned off when they see price reductions because it makes them wonder if something might be wrong with the property (like foundation issues or a bad sewer line).
Other Consequences
The results of overpricing your house for sale can really hurt your pockets in the long run. It will scare buyers away and ultimately raise your holding costs. While your house sits on the market and potential buyers keep on passing it up, they will just buy another house in the area which is priced more fairly than yours. Why would someone buy your house when they can find a much better deal down the street? If there are a lot of houses for sale in the area then a home buyer has choices! Also if the house you are selling is vacant, there are security liabilities that go along with that as well, along with having to maintain an insurance policy and continue paying property taxes.
Get It Right The 1st Time
You can completely avoid the many pitfalls of overpricing your house by getting it right the first time around. Earlier we discussed how to use comps to determine the fair market value of your property and you can use that data to price your house much more competitively. If your house needs repairs or updating, it’s very important to factor that in as well.
We can help you avoid the mistake of overpricing your house. If you’d like a free property evaluation or even a cash offer from us today, contact us! 313-647-8806