- Have 2 or 3 real estate agents analyze the value of your home. Have the agents compare this analysis with similar homes that have sold recently in your area. The average selling price can determine the value of your home. Most agents offer this service for "free" because they want listings! Be Honest when you approach an agent. Explain that you are thinking about selling your home, and are trying to get a feel for what the market is like at this time. Of course the agent will want to list your home, but simply advise them you are not ready to do that at the moment.
- Have an independent appraiser calculate the value of your home. There is a cost involved with this method; it is typically between $175 to over $600 depending on who you use. Having a home appraisal done by an independent can be more accurate because they are not competing for a listing.
- Simply go down the street, drive around your own neighborhood and check out the homes that have sold recently. Explain to the owners that you are going to sell your house and you are trying to determine the market value. Ask them if they would mind telling you the purchase price. Most will tell you. If they do not want to say, you can always go to the county court house with the addresses of the homes that sold. Since it is public information, you can get the information in the land records or tax assessor's office. Most public information is now available all on the Internet! Call the court house and ask for their web address. This will save you a trip to the court house and be less time consuming.
- Another way to establish a top dollar price is to advertise for the best reasonable offer. This is a great method because it really produces a spirit of competition among home buyers! When you start to promote your home for sale and are using a newspaper ad, do not put a sales price in your ad.
List as: For Best Reasonable Offer. Deadline for offers July 8th or whatever date you wish.
The deadline does 2 things:
1) You get fast sales action, and 2) It tells the home buyer that they better move or they will lose the deal
This is a powerful technique for getting the highest price for your home. Plus, it creates competition, which produces sales action.
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