Every seller wants the most money for their house. Unfortunately, the market does not care what you want or need to get. A full-time Realtor knows the market and will guide you through pricing strategies and help you avoid common pitfalls.

OVERPRICING: By following recent home sales in your area, you can avoid unrealistic expectations stemming from runaway price growth over the past few years. Each day an overpriced house sits on the market is another day the sellers miss the opportunity to attract the right buyer. Price the property close to what you’d actually accept. The days of building in “negotiating room” are in the past. It’s better to receive offers that you can negotiate than receive no offers at all due to overpricing.

UNDERPRICING: On the other hand, some sellers underprice their homes in hopes of starting a bidding war or making a quick sale. When your listing price is too low, you risk turning off prospective buyers who might suspect there’s something wrong with the house. You could also be leaving money on the table when would-be-buyers present a lowball offer on your underpriced property.

GLOSSING OVER THE COMPS: An experienced agent will find the best comparable sales of homes similar to yours in features, location, and size. This comparative market analysis can help you nail the asking price. You may not agree with everything in the comps, but try to be open to the information presented.

OVERVALUING UPGRADES AND IMPROVEMENTS: As frustrating as it may be, you are not likely to get back 100% of what you paid for upgrades to your property. It is important to study the comps to see what impact improvements have made on the selling price of other homes. Your Realtor also has a list of common improvements by project cost and approximate return on that investment.

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT: Selling a home that you’ve either built or have lived in for many years can be very emotional. Getting too emotional when selling can complicate what is essentially a financial business transaction. It makes better sense to think of your property as a large asset you can put towards the purchase of your new home.