PRICE DETERMINES TIME!

   Ready to sell your home? How long will it take? At what price is it likely to sell? You can determine both the price and the time by doing a little math.

   First, ask your agent for the average number of days homes in your neighborhood have remained on the market before selling. Throw away the longest and shortest times, and average the rest, using sales for the previous 6-12 months. This will provide an average expected sale time - provided you price your home at "fair market value."

   Next, ask your agent for the "list to sale" ratio for those same homes. This tells you how close to the asking price those homes have sold. Let’s day the ratio is 975 which means the homes have sold for only 3% less than asking price (on the average). Based on that knowledge, you should price your home no higher than 3% over your agent’s estimate of "fair market value."

   For example, say your home’s market value is $97,000 and the sale time is 93 days. You could ask $100,000, and reasonably expect to receive $97,000 within the average marketing time. If homes are appreciating at 5% per year in that area, and you ask $105,000 (5% + 3% over market value) you could conceivably wait an extra 12 months plus 93 days before it sells.