These Five Factors Make or Break Your Home’s Value
Let’s start with a direct statement: real estate agents don’t decide how much your home is worth. The market does. Only the market is the best determiner for where to price your property to sell and how to approach the marketing of it. We get asked a lot: “What determines home value?” so we set out to answer that question in a simple way. Here are the five factors that will make or break your home’s value:
1. Price
Pricing your home properly from the start is the deciding factor on how long it will take to sell it. It’s important to price your property at competitive market value. And that value is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay and what seller is willing to accept in today’s market. Pricing it too high may make it necessary to drop the price below market value later to even compete with new, well-priced listings. And the longer an overpriced home sits on the market the less attractive offers for it will be.
2. Location
Location is the single most important factor in determining the value of your property. You can always renovate your home or even knock it down and put up something brand new, but it’s impossible to change the neighborhood and surroundings. Conversely, selling a home located in a desirable neighborhood will net you a higher. If your home is located in a “hot” neighborhood, that may increase your chances for a sale.
A desirable neighborhood usually exhibits these characteristics:
- High or increasing property values.
- Reasonable commute and close proximity to employers, schools, hospitals, shopping and public facilities, like parks and community centers.
- Low crime rate.
- Well-planned traffic infrastructure.
- Well-maintained properties.
- Higher percentage of owner-occupants.
- Well-regarded school district.
3. Condition
The condition of the property affects the price and speed of the sale. As prospective buyers often make purchases based on emotion, first impressions are important. As your agents, we’ll be able to help in optimizing the physical appearance of your home to maximize the buyer’s perception of value.
4. Competition
Prospective buyers are going to compare your property – both the condition and the price – to other listing in and around your neighborhood. Those buyers will determine value based on properties that are listed or have recently sold in the area.
5. Timing
Property values are affected by the current real estate market. Because we can’t manipulate the market, a good real estate agent should be collaborating with you, the seller, on a pricing and marketing strategy that will take advantage of the first 30 days your property is listed. It’s the window of opportunity when buyers and their agents discover your property and are most likely to visit and make offers.