THE MARKET WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOUR HOME IS WORTH

Pricing is critical to selling anything. Simple, right? The market, the intersection of home buyers and sellers, is a reality check.  It considers a multitude of factors beyond the size, location, condition and age of the house to include local economic conditions, the price for which distressed properties are selling and the average value of seller concessions taking place.A lack of buyer traffic through your home may signal that regardless of what the assessor or a now dated appraisal say,  regardless of "special nails" or type of insulation, and regardless of the price for which a similar house across town sold, the value of your home is not what your asking. This is not July 2005, when the market peaked. We are in a buyers market, where interest rates are at a historic low and supply outweighs demand, and just as gravity is a law of physics, the laws of supply and demand will require that you lower your price if you really want to sell. Ask your agent to research the list price to closed sale ratio in your subdivision or within a reasonable radius over the past year and compare your house to those that sold by square footage, tax assessment, features and location. In the current market, correct pricing when the house is first listed is critical because your house will never recapture the attention it gets in the first thirty days on the market.The real estate agents with the Stallings and Smith Group at Russell & Jeffcoat employ the most current tools to correctly price your home and place their listings in view of prospective buyers through internet marketing and social media, as well as traditional signs and print media. We bring buyer and seller together. For more information about real estate in Columbia, Forest Acres, the Northeast and Lake Murray, visit www.stallingsandsmithgroup.com, and please share this post and forward.