Tips on Pricing Your Hawaii Property to Sell

To sell or not to sell?

Should I list my property now—or wait? How do I price my property to sell in today’s market? Just about everyone will agree that the key to selling your property today is to price it right at the beginning. Often, sellers want to start with a higher price in order to leave room to negotiate, or they want to test the market when they initially list their property for sale.

However, neither of these are good strategies today, as it is proven that most sellers will get the bulk of their inquiries within the first six weeks after listing their property. When a property is initially offered at a price higher than market value, it will lose the benefit of the interest that will be generated on a new property. Competitive pricing is the key!

Beautiful river lot home (MLS# 236320) with many upgrades that appears priced to sell in today’s market

How do you decide on a price for your property? The best method is to ask your real estate agent for a market analysis, which will compare your home to all other recent sales in your area.

This means that you will be comparing your property to other properties that have sold within the last six months. Obviously, you want to be comparing properties with similar square footage, lot size, age, upgrades, and views. This will give you a realistic picture of what you may expect to get for your property.

Another beautiful Kauai property (MLS# 244137) with many, many upgrades that appears priced to sell in today’s market

What about short sales and REOs? Will they affect the value of your property? This is a bit tricky. The answer is yes and no. In a short sale, the property is often initially offered at a lower price than a lender will actually accept in an effort to generate offers from buyers. Therefore, the short sale offering price will not necessarily affect your listing price because only a small percentage of short sales will sell at their initially offered price, or quickly enough to avoid a foreclosure.

Now, once a property becomes a foreclosure, or bank owned property (REO), it will no doubt affect your selling price because if this bank owned property is similar to yours and is in good condition, you will be competing against this property for a buyer. Pricing your property to fit in today’s competitive market is what will sell your property. No one knows where the real estate market is going, so if you don’t need to sell, it may make sense to wait and see what happens in the market.

However, if you need or want to sell, let your real estate agent provide you with the information you can use to price your property. Another good idea is to pay for an appraisal of your property. This will give you the price range what a lender will be willing to lend a new buyer. Sometimes, that price may not be what you want to hear, but only properties that are priced right are getting the consideration of interested buyers. Getting a Comparative Market Analysis is offered free of charge by your real estate agent.

If you don’t have an agent on Kauai, and would like us to assist you in providing information about your property, we will gladly provide you with this service with no obligation. Call Ilona at 808-635-1495, or Lucy at 808-651-5676. We are the Listing Sisters and we are here to help you with any real estate service needs.