Why did you buy that house in the first place?

This is a very relevant question when it comes time to sell your home.  Homeowners often forget that they were once prospective home buyers.
Smart, rational, buyers who had plenty of options available when they were searching for a home. Why did you choose the home you are currently selling?  Did the things that appealed to you still exist and would they hold the same appeal to todays buyers?  Are there new features to the property or neighborhood that make the home even more  appealing than when you bought it?  - or, (yikes) less appealing?

When you are finished reminiscing about the time you fell in love with your house,  you can shift gears and imagine yourself as a buyer in todays market.   This kind of mental exercise is very valuable and does not require sitting in an uncomfortable position or listening to new age music.

Simply get online and start searching MLS listings in your area as if you were a buyer with basic criteria that would coincide with your home, - for example,  3 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 story home in your zip code.  (You may have guessed this assumes that you have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story home)  In south central Wisconsin you can search all MLS listings on WisconsinHomes.com or the ever popular Realtor.com. 

In the last couple of years the number of photos allowed within MLS and websites like Realtor.com has expanded dramatically and most listings will have many photos posted to give you a good idea of the interior and exterior of the homes.  If you get back more than 100 properties on your initial search you will need to tighten up the search criteria, check to make sure only one property class is included in the search.  If you are searching for a single family homes, exclude condos and vacant land from the criteria.  If you have too few results (less than 10) try adding some adjacent neighborhoods or zip codes. Once you have a reasonable number of properties in your search results sort them by price from lowest to highest.  Make note of the price range,  -how much is the lowest priced home and how much is the highest priced home? It is likely that the asking price of your home will fall within this range.  Go back to the lowest price home and start your way up in price until you see something that even remotely, by appearance in the thumbnail, may be comparable to your home. Make a note of the properties location in the search results and then continue on up the price list until you come across a listing that is clearly (if this is possible) superior to your home. Again make a note of location of this one as well. 

Now you are ready to delve into the details of each listing in between these two as if you were an objective buyer with decent taste and an eye for value.  The point of this exercise is to see where your home lines up with the existing competiton in the marketplace.  I think too much attention is paid to previous sales in an area.  To me, if its not currently for sale, then I am not competing with the house down the street. Whether it sold for substantially more or less than my house, may or may not provide useful information about the market as it is today.
Remember that the “market” consists of properties that are currently for sale.

OK, back to your imaginary state as an objective buyer.  Go through the detailed listing page for each of the properties that may be in competition with your home.  Take a look at all the pictures and details and make a mental note of the price. Continue on up the list until you reach the one that was clearly superior to your property. Do this a couple of times, looking at the same houses, and it is likely that you will develop a sense of where your home would fall in this list. The most important thing to remember is to look objectively at these listings as well as at your own home (no, the orange shag carpet in your family room does not have a charming “retro” quality). Also, when looking objectively at your list of competitors be sure to keep any preconceived prices you had in your noggin tucked away safely somewhere.

If you are looking for more details than are available on the public websites, you can always send me an email with a MLS number or street address and I will email you the full listing direct from the MLS system.