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Pricing With Purpose – Step 3 of Selling Your Longtime Home
18 Plays3 months ago
Welcome to Part 3 of our four-part series, How to Sell Your Longtime Home for Top Dollar with Ease. In this episode, Lauren Watts takes you behind the scenes of one of the most important (and often misunderstood) steps in the home selling process: pricing.
Pricing your home isn’t about picking a number and crossing your fingers—it’s a strategic decision that can make or break your sale. Lauren walks you through the four key factors that influence your home’s value:
- Condition – What buyers see (and don’t) affects what they’ll pay
- Local Market Data – Why your zip code matters more than national headlines
- Current Economic Conditions – How interest rates, job markets, and the economy play a role
- Marketing Strategy – From staging to photography to timing, how you market matters
Whether your home is turnkey or needs some love, this episode gives you the insider knowledge to price with confidence, attract serious buyers, and retain negotiating power throughout the process.
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Transcript
Introduction to Engaging Aging
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Engaging Aging. I'm Erin DeCarlo. And I'm Lauren Watts. We believe life gets richer with age, and we're here to prove it. We bring you real conversations about aging well, living fully, and navigating this journey with confidence.
00:00:15
Speaker
So let's dive in, because aging isn't something to endure, it's something to embrace.
The Importance of Strategy in Home Pricing
00:00:23
Speaker
Hi there, I'm Lauren Watts. Welcome back to Selling Your Long Time Home for Top Dollar. Today, we are going to be diving into one of the most important and often misunderstood parts of the home selling process, and that is pricing.
00:00:39
Speaker
Whether you are downsizing, moving into a senior living community, or really just ready to start your next chapter, getting the best of value for your home is likely top of mind for you.
00:00:54
Speaker
But I'm here to tell you that pricing isn't just about picking a number and really hoping for the best. It's a strategy. And when it's done well, it's going to make all of the difference in your results.
Key Factors Influencing Home Pricing
00:01:09
Speaker
So in this episode, I'm going to walk you through the four key factors that improve or impact your home's listing and final sales price. And these aren't just my opinions. This is insider knowledge that we use every single day to help our clients succeed.
00:01:28
Speaker
So let's jump in. The first is the condition of your home. Let's start with the most obvious factor. Now that we might seem straightforward, but just stay with me here because I think the details here matter more than just what sellers realize.
00:01:48
Speaker
I think of your home like a product. Buyers are comparing it to everything else that's available in their price range. So if your home is move-in ready while others need updates,
00:02:02
Speaker
That's a major advantage for you. But if your home is dated or in need of repairs, buyers will absolutely expect a price adjustment or sometimes even worse, they might walk away entirely from your home and from making an offer.
00:02:21
Speaker
So here's what really influences your value when it comes to comparing the condition of your home. Number one, aesthetic updates. Ask yourself, is my kitchen outdated?
00:02:34
Speaker
Are your floors scratched? Simple upgrades like modern lighting, a fresh coat of paint, or even maybe refinishing your kitchen cabinets really can help elevate your home's appeal to buyers.
00:02:50
Speaker
The second piece is curb appeal. I always say first impressions are everything. When it comes to curb appeal, we're talking about landscaping, exterior paint, clean walkways.
00:03:04
Speaker
All of these visual cues when a buyer first approaches your home tells them how well your home has been maintained. And again, it's about that first impressions. What do they see when they first drive up to your home?
00:03:20
Speaker
The third piece is functional layout. a home with a great flow always is going to feel better. But if you have, say, four bedrooms,
00:03:31
Speaker
and only one bathroom and no garage, that may limit your buyer pool. So just keep that into consideration. What has worked for well for you over time may or may not work well for buyers.
00:03:46
Speaker
Number four is aging systems. Older furnaces, roofs, or windows. Buyers are really going to take the time to factor in all of your aging systems and improvements that need to be made into their offer.
00:04:03
Speaker
Ultimately, what's going to happen is they may even deduct that from the offer that they're making because it's the actual cost of the replacement. So here's a quick little pro tip for you.
00:04:15
Speaker
Most buyers today don't have extra cash laying around ah for a lot of these major repairs or upgrades after they buy.
The Role of Market Data in Pricing
00:04:24
Speaker
So rather than having them roll those costs into their mortgage, buying a by paying a bit more upfront for a turnkey home,
00:04:34
Speaker
um So when you just invest a little bit on your end to make your home shine, you're likely to see that effort come back to you, oftentimes multiplied in your final sales price.
00:04:49
Speaker
The second portion of this, we're going to get into your local market data. So this is one of my favorite topics because it's often overlooked. Many sellers are out there listening to the news, hearing the national headlines,
00:05:04
Speaker
home prices are up, um inventory is low, the market is cooling down, and they automatically assume that this directly applies to their situation and to their home.
00:05:18
Speaker
But what I'm here to tell you today is that real estate is actually very hyper-local. So what matters most is really your neighborhood that you live in the town that you live in and the homes that are truly comparable to yours.
00:05:34
Speaker
Not just square footage, but what updates have been made in your home and what ultimately needs to be done in order for a buyer to move in. So when we start to look at pricing a home, there are some components of this that we're going to start to look into and share with you.
00:05:53
Speaker
The first one is comparable properties. Sometimes this is called comps. These are your recent sales of similar homes nearby your home.
00:06:04
Speaker
This really helps us give us a clear sense of what buyers are actually paying for a home that is like yours. Pricing is not a science.
00:06:17
Speaker
It is a strategy to really look at all of the different factors. Number two, we're going to look at the active listings. So of the current competition that is out there and whether or not the market is flooded with homes like yours or you are in a really good position where there aren't a lot of homes like yours, you want to be able to price accordingly so that you stand out with price and presentation of your home and or both.
00:06:48
Speaker
Number three component of that is looking at days on market. um How long have homes ah been on the market and how long are they taking to sell? If homes are sitting for 60 plus days, this is oftentimes a sign of overpricing. Again, this comes down to a conversation of it being very hyper local to your area. Sometimes homes are gonna sit a little bit longer, so we wanna look at that as well.
00:07:14
Speaker
We also want to look at number four, and that is list price versus sold price. So just because your neighbor listed your home for $400,000, $500,000, $800,000, that doesn't mean that they sold it for that.
00:07:31
Speaker
So be cautious of that. We also can't go to the large platforms like Zillow or anything and really say, this is the value of my home. without digging into that deeper with a real estate advisor that can help you understand those numbers.
00:07:48
Speaker
So the final sale price is really going to be what matters. It's not going to be what you think your home is worth. It's not going to be what your neighbor listed their property for. It really comes down to what is the price of the final sale of the home.
00:08:05
Speaker
So here's what all of this means for you. If you list your home too high based on personal emotions or outdated information, buyers may actually skip right past your home.
00:08:21
Speaker
You're going to get a lot less foot traffic. You're going to get fewer offers and eventually you may have to reduce the price anyways. So often below where you could have started and sometimes that often has a negative effect on sort of your thought process behind that.
00:08:40
Speaker
Instead of taking the time to really price yourself right so that you do motivate and find a larger buyer pool, coming in to your home So really what we wanted be able to do is create serious interest amongst buyers, find that pool of motivated buyers, and allow you to remain in control and hold on to that negotiating power because you've already done your due diligence to figure out what's
00:09:11
Speaker
What do I need to do to my home? How should I price this correctly? What is the cost going to be for me to make these updates? Or a what is the cost going to be for a buyer to make these updates?
00:09:24
Speaker
Number three of this podcast section is the current economic environment.
Economic Influences on Home Buying
00:09:31
Speaker
I want to take a moment to zoom out and really talk about the economy.
00:09:35
Speaker
I know that that sounds boring and trust me, this is important. The overall economic climate has a huge impact on what buyers are able and willing to spend.
00:09:50
Speaker
And that directly affects you as a seller. So here are some key economic factors that we really want to be able to keep an eye on. Number one is interest rates. This is a big one.
00:10:02
Speaker
When mortgage rates are low, buyers can afford larger homes and at higher sales prices. But when those rates climb, their bower buying power drops.
00:10:14
Speaker
and home prices too can really kind of suddenly start to feel out of reach for buyers and that kind of creates a little bit of um lag time or some other considerations that they need to think about.
00:10:30
Speaker
Number two is the stock market. For those higher end homes, buyers often use their investments to fund their down payments so when the market is strong they feel really confident but when the market is shaky they get a little bit more cautious and it may take more time for them to settle into making that offer in purchasing your home.
00:10:56
Speaker
Number three is employment trends. A thriving local job market is going to bring in more buyers. um However, on the other side, if there's layoffs or company relocations that are happening near nearby you, that could really kind of create that demand, that buyer pool to drop a little bit and then certainly there is some just general uncertainty things like inflation elections international conflict all of these things can really affect the buyer psychology and so even if a buyer can't afford your home
00:11:34
Speaker
uncertainty may actually make them hesitant to pull the trigger. So understanding all of these factors is really going to help you position yourself well when it comes to the pricing strategy.
00:11:47
Speaker
But also I want to mention that this is why it's so important for you to align yourself with a real estate agent approach. um that has a senior real estate specialty and that really understands not only all of these aspects that come into real estate, buyer pools, and the things that sort of correspond with that, but really can sit down and understand your needs.
00:12:14
Speaker
Selling your long-time home for top dollar, what is that going to take? What is that going to feel like for you? And what is your realistic timeline that Because at the end of the day, all we want to do is to be able to maximize your results.
00:12:32
Speaker
Number four is your marketing strategy.
Marketing Strategies for Home Selling
00:12:36
Speaker
So let's talk about something that oftentimes gets overlooked in that pricing conversation. Sometimes that marketing strategy is the last part of the discussion.
00:12:46
Speaker
We want to make sure that it is part of the conversation every step of the way because your marketing strategy can vastly be different based on how you are going to market with your home and based on your pricing strategy.
00:13:02
Speaker
So the way that your home is marketed really determines how many people see it. how emotionally connected they feel to it, and whether they're willing to pay the asking price or even to put you in a really good position to go above the asking price.
00:13:21
Speaker
We want to be able to try and create demand, interest, and get you into a multiple offer situation so that can really help you Make a really true informed decision for yourself and ultimately sell your home for top dollar.
00:13:38
Speaker
So what are the aspects that go into your marketing strategy? Number one is staging. There are two different types of staging products that are out there.
00:13:48
Speaker
One is in-person staging, so that's literally bringing in furniture, items, really to kind of warm up your home, depersonalize your home from how you've lived in it for so many years, and make it a little bit more appealing to buyers.
00:14:05
Speaker
There are also virtual staging, ah products that are out there that can, through the photos of your home, add certain elements of the staging products to make your home ah look a little bit more warm and inviting and brighter and bigger so that buyers can truly see themselves living there. This is not a dig at how you've lived your life for so long. It's more so appealing to the buyers so that they can truly step back, envision their life there, envision your space as how to make it their own through staging products. so
00:14:44
Speaker
The second piece is professional photos and videos. When you are putting your home on the multiple listing service, your professional photos and videos go a long way.
00:14:56
Speaker
The goal is, is that you are properly marketing your home so that regardless of what time buyers are looking at your home, they are seeing professional photos and videos to really walk through your home, gain interest in an experience of going through your home before they're actually viewing it in person.
00:15:17
Speaker
Most buyers are going to start their search online. So just as a word of caution, if your photos are dark or there's a lot of clutter or your home appears to be very outdated, you might be missing out on gaining their interest when they're looking at your home at four o'clock in the afternoon, 12 o'clock in the morning, 1 a.m., whatever time they are looking. the important thing to understand is that So buyers have access to your home to view your home once you have put it on the market 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
00:16:00
Speaker
So you want to make sure that those photos are really warm and inviting to gain their interest so that they are coming to see your home in person. Number three, as part of the marketing strategy, is your open house strategy.
00:16:16
Speaker
So when you do this right, an open house isn't just for show, but it's really to help generate buzz, allow buyers to see how many people are coming to view your home.
00:16:29
Speaker
Ultimately, and hopefully creating a multiple offer situation for you. And then certainly your list timing. So the first two to three weeks of your home on the market is incredibly crucial.
00:16:43
Speaker
That's when you're going to get the most eyes and the strongest interest. So if your price and your presentation are on point, That's when the magic happens.
00:16:53
Speaker
Here's a little secret that I'll give you right now. Sometimes pricing slightly below the market value can actually spark a bidding war, resulting in a higher final sales price than you may have had when you first started high. and then had to reduce later.
00:17:12
Speaker
What we want to avoid is your home looking like a stigmatized property, where then we're handing that negotiating power over to the buyer. Again, we want to keep that negotiating power with you at all times.
00:17:28
Speaker
So there you have it. I hope this was really beneficial and informative for you. Really, the four key factors that are going to influence your home's price is condition, market data, economy, and your market strategy.
00:17:45
Speaker
Again, it's not just about luck. This is much about strategy. And when you work with a knowledgeable seniors real estate specialist, you get that strategy built in So here's what I'd like for you to remember today as part of this podcast.
The Benefits of Strategic Pricing
00:18:02
Speaker
Pricing too high can backfire and cause delays and lower offers, which is what we don't want. Pricing too low can leave money on the table, but strategic pricing based on the market data, the market insight and thoughtful preparation can get you the best possible outcome.
00:18:22
Speaker
So if you're thinking about selling and you wanna feel confident, informed and supportive, we are here to help guide you throughout this process. We can connect you with our team or one of our trusted local real estate experts ah nationwide who really understand the unique needs of long time homeowners and how to really help you through this process. So thank you so much for tuning in today.
00:18:50
Speaker
um We look forward to you experiencing the other three components of our four-part series, Listing Your Long Time Home for Top Dog.
00:19:00
Speaker
Thank you for joining us today. We love having these conversations and we hope they sparked something for you too. If you enjoyed this episode, please like comment and share it with your community because together we can change the way the world sees aging.
00:19:15
Speaker
You can find us at dovetailcompanies.com or on any of our social media channels at dovetail companies. And just a quick note, the opinions shared in this podcast are those of our guests and do not necessarily reflect The views of Engaging Aging dovetail companies or our team.
00:19:33
Speaker
So until we see you next time, keep engaging with aging.