The price is right

Proper pricing is a crucial part of selling your home

If you want to sell your home, it is critical to have it priced correctly. If it's priced too high, it will be passed over in the sea of listings at this busy time of year. If it's priced too low, you risk the chance of leaving thousands of dollars on the table.

A REALTOR®'s knowledge and experience are critical when it comes to setting the right price for your home.

"What you get when you hire a Realtor is more of an unbiased approach to selling your home and pricing it right," said Sarah Johnston, real estate advisor with MaxWell Capital Realty.

"There's always that feeling, no matter what, to overvalue your home because you love your home, you
love where you live, you've put so much time and effort into decorating and getting everything just right that you are emotionally tied to your home."

"Your gut is there, your intuition is there, but it's backed up by a lot of education and research and experience," - Sarah Johnston, MaxWell Capital Realty

She says most people will overvalue their home by about 10 per cent, so "a third party is always, always, always in your best interest."

There is a lot of easily accessible data about the local real estate market, but Johnston says the key is looking at that data and figuring out what it means for a specific property.

"The first thing I do when I look at a home is I look at the stats, and that comes down to community, it comes down to the style of home," said Johnston. "I will have a general idea of what I think it should be worth."

Other factors that impact how a home should be priced include other properties for sale in the same community, as well as comparable homes that have sold in the market recently.

At the end of the day, when your Realtor suggests a list price for your home, they aren't just pulling numbers out of thin air.

"Your gut is there, your intuition is there, but it's backed up by a lot of education and research and experience," said Johnston.