Buying or selling a personal home is different from any other purchase you will make. For starters it is usually the largest purchase most people will make, but more importantly it is the most emotional purchase most will make.
As a realtor, I see the emotional side of this purchase most when it comes time to sell your home. A seller often has a hard time seeing their home objectively especially when it comes time to price it. I can show all of the statistical data available and I will still hear…“but our house is so much nicer than these that sold and should bring so much more”…even in today’s market, with lower home values, this comment comes up.
Many times I do run across a home that is updated to today’s standard or furnished impeccably. It is homes like this that often defy the odds and bring a higher price. These homes help raise the value in a neighborhood and allow homes in lesser condition to move up to a slightly higher value than before. If this phenomenon did not occur, a neighborhood would never experience rising values.
I hate to compare your personal home to a stock but it does offer me the best example. Let’s say you bought Wal-Mart stock a few years ago for $50 a share and now you need to sell it. The value has dropped to $40 a share. Would you be able to go to your stock broker and say, “but I paid $50 for it and I want to get that back.” The same holds true for your home… it does not matter what you paid for it or what you put into it. It is only worth the current market value and that has been established by what other homes in the same area in similar condition have sold for. Unfortunately your home is no different.
Written by Mary Beth Harrison, Keller Williams Realty
Other articles to reference:
Cities With the Most Overpriced Properties on www.realtor.org
