5 CRITERIA FOR PRICING A HOME

When you put your home up for sale, one of the best ways to determine the asking price is to look at comparable sales. There’s rarely a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, so a pricing decision often relies on comparisons to several recent sales in the area. As Realtors, it's our job to arm our sellers with all of the data and considerations they need to agree on a pricing strategy. Here are five criteria to look for in a sales comparison.

1. Location: Homes in the same neighborhood typically follow the same market trends. Comparing your home to another in the same neighborhood is a good start, but comparing it to homes on the same street or block is even better. For example, the homes and market in South Natick will be different from Natick Center and Nonantum will be different from Newton Center. How busy the street is, the school district, proximity to transportation and other amenities will be factors as well.
2. Date of sale: It varies by location, but housing markets can see a ton of fluctuation in a short time period. In the Northeast we tend to have the most competitive market in the spring. It‘s best to use the most recent sales data available.
3. Home build: Look for homes with similar architectural styles, numbers of bathrooms and bedrooms, square footage, and other basics.
4. Features and upgrades: Remodeled bathrooms and kitchens can raise a home’s price, and so can less flashy upgrades like a new roof or HVAC system. Be sure to look for similar bells and whistles.
5. Sale types: Homes that are sold as fixer-uppers to cash buyers or short sales and foreclosures are often in distress or sold at a lower price than they’d receive from a more typical sale. These homes are not as useful for comparisons.