Maryland Home Sellers Information :: Providence Real Estate

STEP 1: SELF-RESEARCH. We designed this site to allow you to research information as your own pace, including the following options.

Pricing: we suggest you read The New Rules Of Home Pricing for a good overview of our current market and home pricing guidelines. You can also research homes currently on the market at our our home search page and/or look up prices for homes that have recently sold on the public tax records.
Sprucing Up: get our FREE 92-page book, Hot Tips For Today's Market, for excellent advice on many low-cost, high-profit 'spruce ups' for your home. For the best price, you want your home in the best condition.
Coordinating A Purchase And Sale: We explain how to make your purchase and sale "fit" together on this web site, and even more information is available in our FREE Hot Tips For Today's Market book.
If you are thinking about trying "For Sale By Owner" read this first.

STEP 2: PROFESSIONALLY-ASSISTED RESEARCH. After your self-research is complete, it's time to get specific advice that applies to your situation. For that, you need to consult a professional.

Many sellers don't call an agent for advice - even though they should - out of fear of high-pressure sales tactics. So, we've created Real-Estate-Tech-Support^TM to help you get the specific advice you need while you are still in the research stage, before you are ready to make any commitments or final decisions. Some types of Real-Estate-Tech-Support^TM currently available for sellers are:

'Fix Up, Spruce Up' Checklist. Learn how to make money on the right repairs for your home -- and avoid wasting thousands on unnecessary items.
Accu-Valuation^TM. Get the best pricing analysis for your home available anywhere.
"Ask John" Phone-In Questions (Tuesdays & Thursdays, Noon - 3:00 PM)
Home Buyer Consultation^TM. Understand the entire process before you make any commitments or expensive mistakes.

STEP 3: ACTION! Finally, when you are ready to sell we are ready to help you every step of the way. And, you will sell with a high level of trust and confidence, knowing that your home is in top shape, priced right, and you are prepared for what lies ahead.

Why You Can't Afford To Sell "By Owner"

The overwhelming majority of home owners choose to use a professional Realtor^Ž to help them sell their home. But, there are always a few hardy souls that try to go it alone and market their home "For Sale By Owner" (or "FSBO" for short).

The number one reason given for going FSBO is to "save money". Occasionally such transactions work out fine, for example when parents "sell" to their children. "Finding" the buyer in such cases is easy, and though you may not get top dollar for your home, that's hardly the point when selling to family.

Many of those who attempt to sell "by owner" ultimately choose to hire a professional. Interestingly, even of those who succeed in selling "by owner", 72% would never do it again (according to statistics from the National Association of Realtors^Ž). Why?

Those who try "by owner" sales may underestimate how much work is really involved. The Realtors^Ž are trained in contracts, negotiating and financing, and they do this every day. The experienced agents can tell which contract and buyer is "strong" and which one has "trouble" written all over it. It's not enough to locate a warm body who "likes" your house - you need to be sure they complete what they promised. That's just one of the jobs that Realtors^Ž do, and they do it every day.

Also, buyers may de-value your home when you market it "by owner" even before they see it. You might expect to see a "for sale by owner" sign in a dustbowl town in Oklahoma, but such a sign would seem out of place in front of a home on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Do you want buyers to view your home more like Rodeo Drive, or like a dustbowl home after the oil market collapsed?

A "fast" or seller's market may encourage owners to give "by owner" a try, thinking that it will be easy to find a buyer. It may be "easier" to find a buyer in a fast market, but it's even easier still to make mistakes in a fast market. A "little" mistake when driving 25 mph can be disastrous when you're going 90 mph. In a "fast" market you pay more dearly for mistakes, and have much less opportunity to recover.

Finally, buyers will often try to reduce their offer price by whatever amount they believe you are "saving" on a Realtor^Ž's fee. When they do that, you really haven't "saved" anything, have you?

Can selling "by owner" work? At times, sure, but for most people it is not a good idea. Over half of those who attempt to sell "by owner" ultimately choose to hire an agent. Of those who "successfully" sell without one, 72% would never do it again. If 72% of people told you to avoid a restaurant, would you go there? If 72% of your friends told you to avoid hiring Fred Smith as your attorney, would you hire him? Why not, then, take their advice about not hiring yourself to be your own agent?

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The New Rules Of Home Pricing

Ask most agents how they determine a home's value and they'll answer: "just find three comps" (comparable homes that have recently sold). In a slow market this system can work fine, but in the dynamic market that we're currently in, finding "three comps" is no longer enough.

Comparable Sales. Finding other homes that have recently sold and that are similar to the target property is still the starting point for establishing a market value. The typical rule for appraisers is that the sales must be "recent", meaning within the past six months or less. However, in a fast market even six months can be too long ago.

Appreciation Factor. When appreciation is high, at a clip of 12% a year or more, then you may need to add an appreciation factor to comparable sale values. If one "comp" sold for $400,000 four months ago, it may be proper to adjust it by, say, 4% and give it a value of $416,000 when setting a value for your target home.

At Providence^Ž, we track appreciation rates county by county, sometimes even by the zip code or even by neighborhood - whatever it takes to help you get the most accurate valuation possible.

Assessment/Price Ratios. We may also take into account the ratio between the county's assessed valuation of comparable sales and their actual sales price. Suppose, for example, the average home in your area is selling at 72% above its assessed tax value. That doesn't mean you have to price your home exactly 72% above its assessed value. But, it does offer guidance in a general way. If the target price we were thinking about asking was only 30% above assessed value, maybe we made a mistake and need to recalculate the price up.

The assessment/price ratio is like a "double check" on our other pricing methods, to make sure they are in line generally.

Active Homes - The "Competition". The final check is to look at other homes currently for sale on the market that are in a price range close to your target price. These homes are competing for attention from buyers in the market.

Suppose that, based on a review of the "comps", adjusted for appreciation, we had a value for your home of around $515,000 - $535,000. Our final check would be to look up homes currently active and for sale that are priced between $500,000 and $550,000. If your home seems to compare favorable to these other homes, it's an indication that the price should be toward the upper end, say $535,000 or possibly even higher. Likewise, if your home is smaller or other compares negatively to these active homes, it means we need to price it toward the lower end of the value range.

Free Accu-Valuation^TM. You now know the New Rules of Home Pricing. If you would like to see how these affect your home's specific value, call or email us to request a Free Accu-Valuation^TM.

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