Many real estate professionals consider price, marketing, and condition the three most important controllable factors affecting the sale of a home, with price being the most important of them all. If you really think about it, pretty much anything will sell if it's priced right. An old non-classic beat up car would probably not attract many buyers at an asking price of $10,000, but at $500, fixer-upper buyers suddenly appear willing and able to purchase the vehicle. Market value of real estate is determined by what willing buyers will pay within a reasonable time period. How do you determine the market value of your home? The most common method used is the Comparative Market Analysis, also known as a ?CMA?. The CMA report will include comparable properties that closely match your property's characteristics and location, which are currently for sale or have recently sold. The purpose of the analysis is to arrive at an estimated fair market value, or the price at which a home will sell within a reasonable amount of time. Major factors that affect the value of a home include location, competition, market timing, and condition. Most real estate agents will be more than happy to prepare a CMA for you free of charge, and you may want to request an analysis from more than one agent. A professional appraiser can also be employed to determine home value. An appraiser can be particularly helpful where there are no comparables that closely match your property's characteristics and location.
When two or more agents present a CMA and marketing plan to a prospective client, many home sellers will be tempted to list with the agent who offers to try to sell their home at the highest price. It is important to remember that the market commands the price, and not the agent. The main reason that real estate doesn't sell is overpricing. It is hard to get real estate sales people excited about showing their buyer-clients a home, when they feel the home is priced above what people are willing to pay. Also, most people now utilize the internet when searching for a property, making today's home buyers savvy at home-comparison shopping. Therefore, it can be a challenge to get serious and qualified buyers to look at an over-priced listing. What's more, even if a buyer is found, and is willing to pay above market value, financing can be difficult to obtain. Lenders may be unwilling to finance a home they determine to be priced above fair market value according to their own appraisal.
?What about starting with a high price, as we can always come down?? This may not be such a great idea, because the first couple of weeks are most critical for a newly listed home. The current group of buyers looking for homes will rush out to see properties that are new to the market, and within their price range. The objective is to get the willing and able buyers of this group to view your home. Unfortunately, many qualified prospects will miss your home in this initial phase, because buyers search for homes within their price range and overpricing puts the home out of their sight. Ultimately, activity is reduced to buyers that are new to the market. After a while, a listing acquires a case of ?market age?, and buyers might feel something is wrong with the property. Offering a home in the competitive price range from the start can produce the most money, the quickest sale, and the fewest problems. After all?The Price is Right!
The Internet is truly the most wonderful technological innovation ever. As people find new applications for it, it's influencing newer and newer areas of our life. Take shopping for instance. Earlier if you needed to buy something, a visit to a store was mandatory, and you'd often get it for a higher price because you didn't know better. But now online auctions have made goods accessible and cheaper too.
In these auctions, you'll never find things selling at their retail price. They will always be priced lower, sometimes substantially lower. That's why when you buy from online auctions; you have the confidence that you're saving money on every purchase. Something you can not always guarantee from a purchase made at a store.
It is said America is not a saving economy. We're more interested in making money and spending it faster than it's made, than saving it. But it's hurting over homes and our country. In this recession there's stronger pressure on American homes to save than ever, that's why shopping from auctions is a smart idea. Online auctions can save an average home a lot of money through the year.
Consider the typical non-grocery expenses of a family over the year. The items purchased include clothes, personal electronic gadgets, accessories, jewelry, appliances, decorative items and other items of comfort and luxury. Most of these goods can be bought at a cheaper price from online auctions. And it's easier too. You can make your purchase from your home by just visiting a website.
It's easy to find both branded and non-branded alternatives to goods online. In a store they avoid keeping low-margin and low-priced stuff because they want to maximize their profit on every sale. Not online. On most shopping websites you'll find a huge range of products, of all big and lesser brands. From these auctions, you can select and pick exactly what you need, and not be limited by what the store has to offer.
On many shopping websites you will also find product comparisons, specifications, and user reviews. Imagine going to a store and asking another user of the product you intend to buy, how it worked for them. That sort of facility is only available in online auctions. Purchasing from these auctions is making informed purchase decisions.
It's also easier to find promotional offers and goods online. If you look at the right moment, you can buy some pretty expensive stuff at a ridiculously low price from online auctions. Sometimes companies also wish to clear their inventories and put goods for sale on low prices on these auctions. Keep your eyes open and you will find many incredible bargains online.
So if you haven't moved most of your shopping online already, it's time to do so. Every dollar that you save on your purchase today can be used to finance your retirement plan, your home, or your children's education. Buy from online auctions, and make planned purchases so that you can save the most amount of money. Happy shopping, and keep the auctions running.
Both James Obrien & Grojan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
James Obrien has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate, Finances and Home Management. The author is a contributing mortgage consultant with the popular . Visit today for free information and tools provided to help you learn about mor. James Obrien's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.