What Factors Affect Your Asking Price?

	Urgency. How quickly must you sell?
	Competition. Are there just a few or many homes available in your price category and area?
	Available financing. Does your home come with on assumable loan that is below today's rate? What are the current home loan interest rates? What financing alternatives are available for your home and area?
	Competitive Market -Analysis. Do you know what similar homes in the area sold for within the last six months?
	Expenses. What are your selling costs?

What Factors Do Not Affect Your Asking Price?

	Original cost. Your price is determined by today's market.
	Investment in improvements Potential buyers will evaluate your home (i.e. wallpaper and carpet) and may include the costs to remove or replace in their offer
	The cost to build your home today A replacement value is determined for insurance purposes only.
	Personal attachment Prudent buyers purchase based on their emotions, not yours.
	Neighbor's claims Don't listen to what your neighbors tell you is the fair market value for your home. Other homes in your neighborhood may not be as similar as you think. Also the terms accepted by both the buyer and seller greatly affect the sale price

What Happens to an Overpriced House?

	You'll help sell the competition If your house is priced higher than similar houses in your market, the buyer will shop the competition.
	Your home will stay on the market a long time Did you know that 80% of your potential buyers will see your house in the first four to six weeks of the listing? If you don't sell then, it takes approximately three months to replace them with an equal number of newcomers.
	You'll lose market interest and qualified buyers Serious buyers use the value, quality and price of similar properties as deciding factors.
	A negative impression is created People will wonder why your house is still on the market. They'll believe something is wrong with your house.
	You (the seller) would lose money. You may have to make extra mortgage payments as well as incur taxes, insurance and unplanned maintenance costs.
	You (the seller) may have to accept less money. Studies show that the longer a house is on the market, the greater the discount off the list price. Often a seller will accept less than fair market value in order to sell because of an approaching deadline.
	There is the potential for appraisal problems The appraiser from your buyer's lending institution must agree that the home is worth the asking price. If the appraiser believes the price is inflated, the loan may not be approved.

Look to a CRS When You Need Answers Fast...
As you can see, there are a multitude of factors that determine the asking price of your home. Finding this price yourself can be a long and difficult task. That is why thousands of satisfied homeowners, like yourself, turn to a residential specialist. A residential specialist has all the tools necessary to compute the fair market value of your house quickly and accurately while allowing for personal considerations (such as the date by which you must sell). Your residential specialist can also confidently answer your questions about listing, pricing and showing.