Real estate

Pricing Your Home in Richardson, Texas: How Much Should I Sell For?

Richardson is a city in Texas with a population of 108,350. Richardson is in Dallas County and is one of the best places to live in Texas. Living in Richardson offers residents a suburban feel and most residents own their homes.

Setting a price is usually one of the very first steps when selling a home. And, it’s critical that you get it right. You need to ensure that the price is neither too high nor too low. An overly high asking price can scare away buyers, causing the property to stay in the market for a long period which can potentially affect the eventual selling price. You also don’t want to price it too low because although it might sell fast, you would end up leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table.

So, how do you arrive at the right asking price?

Well all sellers, whether selling your Richardson TX apartments or a mansion, have two ways to determine the true value of their property through a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and via a home appraisal.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

Prepared by a real estate agent, a comparative market analysis is where the price of a home is determined based on comparable sales in the same area of the Lone Star State.

If trying to price your Richardson home on your own using the CMA approach, the following are some of the key points to keep in mind:

  • You should only consider homes listed or sold within the past three months. This is because in Texas the market moves quickly so any data older than three months might be misleading.
  • Only take into account homes within 1 kilometer and no further, unless there are not many comparable listings and/or past sales in the general vicinity.
  • Dividing lines and physical barriers are critical. These include major streets, railroads, and highways. Do not compare to properties on the other side of the road. Identical homes on opposite sides of a street can easily vary by as much as $100,000. The median home cost in Richardson is $298,500. Home appreciation the last 10 years has been 9.04%.
  • Compare only to homes that are as big as yours. The rule of thumb is to only consider properties that are within 10% (up or down) of your home’s square footage.
  • To ensure that you’re only comparing apples to apples, you need to consider age too, because it’s usually a major factor when pricing a home. If your home was built in the 90s, only compare to similar homes that were built in the 90s.

With all these covered, you can then go ahead and look at final sale prices of comparable homes. Be keen on both listing prices and sale prices, noting down any price reductions. Also, consider the number of days each property stayed on the market and whether they were withdrawn and priced afresh at some stage. If so, then perhaps the initial price was too high. Find out by how much the price had to be reduced for the home to sell.

Considering all these factors will help you get close enough to the right asking price for your home as long as you adjust for lot size variances, configuration, and upgrades.

A major drawback to the CMA approach, as you can tell, is that it can be a long and tedious process which is why an experienced real estate professional would be invaluable. Aside from their knowledge, professionals have access to crucial sales and listing data that gives them an obvious edge.

Pricing Based on Real Estate Appraisals

Another very reliable way to determine the market value of your home is through an appraisal. In Texas, appraisals are conducted by licensed appraisers who also use comparable past sales, the replacement value of the home, and upgrades to determine the market value of the property.

One of the main advantages of hiring an appraiser in Richardson is their expertise. Appraisers have no attachment to the house, thus, unlike owners, are unlikely to be biased. Additionally, unlike agents, they are not anticipating a commission based on the sale price, meaning they will remain objective throughout the process.

Also, appraisers are accountable to their licensing boards, leaving them no other option but to be as accurate as possible. A few incorrect appraisals can cost an appraiser his or her license.

It explains why both buyers and sellers need appraisals. To buyers, they create a sense of transparency. To sellers, an appraisal will portray you as credible, which can help eliminate lowball offers. Simply print out a few copies of the appraisal and have them sitting out for buyers to look at during house shows.

Now, Proceed and List the Property!

As earlier mentioned, never under or over-price the property. With most buyers now using extensively experienced agents, they’ll quickly know if you’re under or over-pricing and may decide to keep off. So, after determining the market value, whether through a comparable market search or an appraisal, list the home at that price on both websites targeting Texas audience as well as national pages. You’ll sell faster and much closer to the asking price.

If you’re interested in getting more money from the sale, MarketWatch has created a long post packed with useful tips you can follow to sell faster and closer to the asking price. These include hiring a realtor and getting an estimate. They also recommend hiring an attorney and speaking with an accountant. Then, as we all know, painting and making repairs can also help increase a property’s value.

Though Richardson is a small city, we just want to add that you need to be proactive throughout the sale process. Get as involved as you need to as long as you don’t step on the agent’s toes. It speeds up the sale process.

If you have any questions, please ask below!