Setting The Price
One of the first things you will need to decide before you put your home on the market is what you will price your home at. Contrary to the beliefs of some, home prices are not set by the seller, but by the prices similar homes in the area are selling for. After you have chosen a REALTOR®, they will do a market analysis on your home. This will give detailed insight to what other homes are selling for, how many days they were on the market, and what comparable features they had to your home. This data will give a reasonable price range that is suggested for you to price your home in. Using that range, your REALTOR® will be able to help you find the perfect balance between attracting solid offers and ultimately receiving top dollar.
Although you may want to increase the price of your home because you feel it is worth more, or you would like to get more money back from the sale, ultimately, you will be doing yourself a disservice. A home that is overpriced will sit on the market longer than a home that is priced correctly, and ultimately, you will have to bring down the price at some point. Amazingly, a house that is priced lower than market value may get multiple offers, which will then drive it up to the price of market value!