When putting your Honolulu home on the market, it is important to take the steps necessary to price it correctly. Failure to price your home correctly can certainly have some adverse effects: price it too low and you lose out on money, price is too high and it may sit on the market for a longer period of time and ultimately cause you to drop the price even lower than what you could have received if it had been priced correctly in the first place. Therefore, when pricing your Honolulu home, there are several factors that should be considered in order to ensure it is priced correctly.
Looking at Comparable Listings and Sales
One of the firsts steps that you should take when pricing your Honolulu home is taking a closer look at comparable listings and sales. This means looking at similar homes that have been listed in the same neighborhood as your property within the last three months. Ideally, these homes should be located no more than a ½ mile radius from your home. Neighborhood dividing lines and physical barriers such as major streets, freeways, railroads, and mountains should also be taken into consideration. Homes should also have similar square footage within a 10 percent variance and be of a similar age.
Analyzing Selling Prices
Of course, the listing price of a property is not necessarily the same as the actual sale price. Therefore, it is essential to compare original list prices to final sale prices on comparable properties. In a buyer’s market, it is not uncommon for homes to sell at less than list price. On the other hand, in a seller’s market, it is not uncommon for the home to sell at more than list price. Looking at these prices will help you to make the necessary adjustments to your list price.
Exploring Active Listings
Active listings can also give you an idea of how to price your property. Of course, sellers can ask whatever they want for a property, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will get that price. Therefore, active listings can provide a skewed look at pricing options. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to look at your competition and to include this information when trying to determine a price for your property.
Considering Market Conditions
Next, you will need to consider market conditions for the area where your home is located. If conditions have recently changed within your market, then even sales from a few months ago may no longer be relevant. If it has changed into a buyer’s market, for example, you may actually need to reduce your price a bit in order to be competitive. If, on the other hand, you are now in a seller’s market, there may be some room to ask a bit more for your property. You may also have a bit more room for negotiation in a seller’s market. This is particularly true if your home is located in a desirable area with very low available inventory.
