Greenville SC Real Estate - Upstate South Carolina Homes

As you may have expected, the most important aspect of selling your house quickly is the price.  A house that is priced correctly relative to the market, and advertised and marketed aggressively will sell faster than a house that is priced too high, no matter how much money is spent on advertising and marketing.  While this may seem like common sense, many people think their home is worth a lot more than it really is for various reasons.

In recent years, many have gotten their homes refinanced.  Part of this process involves getting an appraisal done.  The dirty little secret of the lending business as that these appraisals are often high.  Such high appraisals lead many homeowners to believe that their house is worth more than in actually is, and understandably so because we should presumably be able to trust to an appraisal.

The biggest reason for houses staying on the market too long is most definitely price.  The fault in this case lies mostly with the listing agents who are taking listings at prices that they know are unattainable.  You see, many agents are eager to get home listings, regardless of how reasonable the price is.    These agents feel that after the home doesn't sell for a period of time, they can go back to the homeowner and negotiate a better price.  In fact, most homeowners would rather have an honest and accurate pricing evaluation done upfront.  Enter the CMA...

Getting the Right Price, The First Time. 

The CMA is the comparable market analysis.  This report is usually provided to you at no charge by potential listing agents.  Many potential home sellers may never know, but no two comparable market analysis reports are the same, even if done at the same time on the same home.  When you're getting a CMA done for your home, make sure that the listing agent takes all aspects of your home into account.  It is probably no surprise to you that no two homes are alike, even if they are on the same street.  Some real estate agents will try to prepare a CMA without first seeing your home.  This is probably not a good idea, because they are missing out on the opportunity to take measurements of your rooms, calculate an accurate heated square footage number, and see any improvements or damages that the home may have that would make it unique from the neighbors houses.

A good comparable market analysis will include all of the features of your home and will compare your home to nearby homes that are both presently on the market or have recently sold.  Homes currently on the market are very important to consider, because they are in effect your competition.  When a buyer is looking to buy a home in your neighborhood, they're going to consider all of the listings that are on the market.  If your home is priced well above market, you are not likely to be considered at the top of their list.

Luckily, the Greenville market has had steady appreciation over the last five years, and current forecasts tell us that the same is true going forward.  If you live in a neighborhood that doesn't have many recent sales, the agent who is preparing your CMA may have to look at past sales, and then add some appreciation to that previous sale price to get the current value.  We are very fortunate to live in a stable real estate market, and in 2007 we are projected to have approximately 6% growth, on average. 

You may still have questions about getting a CMA done correctly.  If so, please contact us and let us explain it.  Remember, getting a good CMA is the first step to selling your home.  The bonus for you is that a CMA does not require any obligation on your part.  Who knows, you may be surprised at how much your home has appreciated since you last checked its value!