When you are preparing to put your home on the market to sell, you have a huge pride of ownership and you certainly want to get the highest price for your house in the market in which it is competing. But be very careful at the beginning about overpricing; it’s a mistake which can be very costly.

Your house is very special to you and you have a lot of emotion invested in it. You’ve probably made lot of changes and improvements over the years, but you need to honestly ask yourself how important those changes are to a potential buyer. If you overprice your home and your improvements, you may attract buyers who will compare your home to others in your price range and perhaps not think yours compares well to the others.

At the same time, you may be eliminating a pool of buyers who are shopping for homes in the price range where yours really should be priced.

Another huge challenge is that if you price your home too high intitally, you will lose buyers in the “honeymoon” phase. A home receives the greatest number of showings and the most activity the first few weeks it’s on the market. Be careful about adopting a “price high, then drop it” strategy. Price it fairly at the beginning and you will attract the most appropriate buyers right away when it counts.

What can you do to ensure you’re not overpricing your home? You might want to hire and pay for an appraisal to get a professional opinion of what your home is worth. And work carefully with your real estate agent to look at comparable properties in your neighborhood. Visit these comps and see how they really compare to yours. You need to create a strategic marketing plan with a price that will create excitement from the moment your home debuts on the MLS.

Don’t let overpricing keep you from getting the best offer for your house and to get it quickly

Throughout the country, sellers of luxury homes are having a harder and harder time finding buyers for their properties.The current recession has hit consumers in the upper brackets particularly hard, and the would-be buyers have lost much money in the stock market. The numbers of buyers available to buy in the $1M plus categories is smaller and smaller.

As a result, sellers are adding perks to their houses to help them sell. Besides lowering prices, sellers are offering to pre-pay property taxes and are including furniture and other amenities with their properties.

Another factor adding to the difficulty is that lenders are hesitant to approve so-called jumbo loans that are necessary for some buyers to finance a million-dollar-plus property. Investors are needing to come up with cash outside of the traditional loan route.

In Southern California, particularly in areas such as Rancho Santa Fe, the luxury market is also being hit hard. Sellers of multi-million dollar homes are dropping their prices up to half.

If you are selling your home in Cardiff, Encinitas, or Carlsbad, do not price it too high. Choose a Real Estate Agent like Marilyn Dashe from Century 21 Sea Coast in Encinitas to research comparable home sales in your area and advice you of the appropriate price range for your Cardiff,Encinitas, or Carlsbad property. Choose a time in the market in Cardiff, Encinitas, or Carlsbad when the market cycle is poised to make you the most money. If you choose a down market to sell your home, buyers will not be willing to pay the price your home is worth to you.

After you decide to sell your home in Cardiff, Encinitas, or Carlsbad, you need to decide how to show your home. There are many ways to show your home. Showing by appointment only is the most restrictive. Lock boxes are the most accessible. If you home is easy for your real estate agent to show, more prospective buyers will see it, improving your odds of getting the deal you want; however, your specific lifestyle may not be compatible with frequent showings.  And when you show your home in Cardiff, Encinitas, or Carlsbad, you should put some items in storage, create lots of light, or do anything you can to imrpove the ambiance of your home. Your agent, Marilyn Dashe, a local Encinitas realtor, will help you determine a solution that will best fit the sale of your home.