Naples Florida Realtor

 (239) 315-1079            office@ajnaplesrealty.com      (239) 315-1078

Why Overpricing Your Home is a Huge Mistake

Why Overpricing Your Home is a Huge Mistake

When you sell a home in Naples, it’s absolutely essential that you price it properly. Overpricing your home results in only one outcome: The home sits on the market for too long, and the owner is forced to reduce the price (and sometimes it’s too late).

The good news is that overpricing is avoidable – but to avoid it, you’ll have to work closely with your Naples REALTOR® to figure out what it’s worth.

Why Overpricing Your Home is a Huge Mistake

Here’s the bottom line: Your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It doesn’t matter how much you owe on your mortgage, how many great memories you’ve made in the home, or how much you spent on upgrades and additions; all that matters is how much buyers believe it’s worth.

Related: How to add value to your home before you sell

The Mechanics of Overpricing a Home

Though you may believe that overpricing your home will encourage buyers to submit a lower offer, that’s not how it works. In fact, the right buyers – people who could and would buy your home if it were priced properly – won’t even see your home. That’s because most home-searches begin online, and the first thing people do when they search online is set their budgets. If prospective buyers are only searching for homes in the $500,000 range because those are the homes they can afford (people don’t normally look outside their price ranges) but yours is listed at $550,000, they’ll never even see your home.

But the people who will see your home are looking at houses in their own price range – in this case, the $550,000 price range. They’re comparing all the homes at that price and seeing which ones are the largest, the newest, the most amenity-packed and the most attractive, and yours is going to come up short. That means by overpricing your home, you shut out the people who would love to buy it and invited only people who are going to think that your home doesn’t stack up against the others they’re seeing. Even worse, if people do come to your home, their own real estate agents will point out that it may be overpriced and that they could get more for their money by looking elsewhere.

Related: How to prepare for a home inspection when you sell your house

Time is Your Enemy in Real Estate

In real estate, the longer a home remains on the market, the lower people perceive its value to be. Fresh listings – those that are under 30 days old, generally – get all the attention; people come to see them and make offers. When a home has been on the market for a while, buyers start to wonder why nobody else has purchased it yet; they may think that there’s something wrong with the home, or they may realize that it’s been overpriced and keep looking elsewhere.

Related: 7 easy staging tips for your bathroom

The Problem With Reducing Your Price

Reducing the price of your home is a sign that you’re desperate to sell – even if you’re not – and that can be a red flag to buyers. Like stale listings, reducing the price can make buyers think that something’s wrong with the home and you’re in a rush to get out from under it. Though reducing the price is the best way to correct an overpricing mistake, it may not work as well as you want it to – so the best thing you can do is list your home at the right price to begin with.

Related: Bedroom improvements that can help you sell your home

How Do You Decide the Right Asking Price for Your Home?

Overpricing your home is an avoidable mistake. All you need to do is talk to your REALTOR, who will go through the house and run a comparative market analysis, or CMA. This CMA draws on real-world data that tells your agent how much buyers are likely to pay for a home like yours, and your agent will give you a good starting point for setting your home’s asking price.

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Naples?

Selling your home is a big deal, so you need to work with a REALTOR® who can get it right. We know how to market your home to all the right buyers, regardless of its price point. We’ll help you sell your home quickly and at the best possible price!

If you’re looking for a home for sale in Naples, we’re here to help. We specialize in luxury real estate and can show you any listing. In the meantime, please feel free to explore what’s available now:

You can also browse all Naples homes for sale.

Contact