Pricing Your Home to Sell

Pricing your home is one of the most important items when choosing to sell your home and doing this wrong can be a costly mistake. You have to consider more than just the price to do this properly. The condition of your home, average market time for your area, availability for showings and the competing homes can all play a big role in choosing the proper price.

To accurately determine the right price for your home you need to find current prices for comparable homes in your area, as well as find recent comparable sales in your area, and know the demand for housing in your area.

Here are some helpful steps to help you select the appropriate price when selling your home:

Step #1: Measure Your Home

Measure your home against similar homes in your area that have recently been sold or currently are for sale.

Step#2: Compare Features

Find what features either make your home stand out against the comparable homes or maybe appear not as attractive. Items such as square footage, number of bedrooms, number of garage spaces and lot size can make a big difference. Buyers will be comparing your home to these others, so it's a good idea to do so yourself.

Step#3: Cosmetic Fix-Up's

Determine what cosmetic fix-ups you can complete to make your home more appealing than the competition but without spending too much. You don't want to invest money you will not recoup when you sell your home. This will highly increase the marketability of your home.

When Pricing Remember:

The right price is usually within 5% of the market value. If you select a price that is too high the home will have little interest and few showings. If the price is too low there will be many buyers and you will miss out on potential profit.

Gas Prices Continue to Spike

The average price of gasoline has jumped another 15 cents over the past two weeks to a national average of $3.62 per gallon of self-serve regular, according to a national survey.  That rise continued at virtually the same rate as the previous two weeks, and forecasts are, it will only get higher.

We'd love to hear what you think.  Do you think oil companies are just gouging us?  Or do you think it's wise to drop the tax on gasoline to help us consumers?  Use the comment link below to sound off on this gasoline price spike situation.  We'd love to hear your comments and feelings on this subject.  And don't worry, even though your email address is required to post a comment, that email address will never be published here for your protection.  So go ahead, tell us what you think about the high gas prices!

Cooling Bills: Cutting Costs This Summer

Air conditioning is an expensive way to stay cool, but there are ways to chill your house without burning up your bank account. Money editor Stacy Johnson takes a look at a few ways in this short video (runs 1:41).

The Real Estate Crisis: Congress Expected to Fail

An over-whelming majority surveyed say the U.S. Congress will fail in its attempt to solve the nation's real estate crisis.  That, according to a new poll conducted by Housing Predictor.

The online survey clearly indicated that Americans are fed up with Congressional failures, the government's stance on the nation's economic crisis and the White House.

Housing Predictor forecasts more than 250 local housing market futures in all 50 states, and regularly surveys visitors on real estate related issues, which are in the forefront of the national economic crisis. They also forecast the nation's top 25 real estate markets annually, the worst 25 markets and the nation's foreclosure epidemic.

Tell us what you think.  Do you think Congress will fail in its attempt to solve the nation's real estate crisis?  Click the comment link below and sound off.  We'd love to hear from you.

Housing Bailout Backlash Grows Stronger

Many Americans want no part of a government-funded bailout for troubled mortgage borrowers, and many are being heard saying things like, "why should American taxpayers have to pay to bailout reckless lenders and borrowers?"

The website Angryrenter.com, launched just recently, has a vitiation demanding that Congress not pass any bailout programs that reward risky borrowing and lending.  The petition is gathering 40 to 50 signatures per hour, according to spokesman Adam Brandon, who adds that the site is already getting 15,000 visitors a day.

Many people would prefer the government do nothing at all to prop up the housing market — especially those hoping to buy in a more affordable market.

Tell us what you think.  Use the comment link below to give us your feedback. And if you'd like to sign the petition, go to http://angryrenter.com to sign up.