Selling a home is often an emotional life experience

To you, your home might be priceless; the holder of your memories, hopes, dreams, even your sense of style and worth. But now, when you want to sell or have to sell, you have to start to think differently.

Every house has a price that someone is willing to pay. Your real estate agent will help you find that best price and the person who will pay it. That match lets you move on to your next life adventure.

The good news is, that in a sellers market, while your home isn’t priceless, its value might be increasing.

According to CNN Money, nationwide, the median home price was $225,000 during the first quarter of 2017, up 13 percent from a year ago. Expensive markets in California, for example, have seen six-figure price gains. In these markets, houses sell very quickly. Nationally, the average house was on the market for 45 days in the first quarter of 2017.

That is down substantially from 84 days during the same period in 2011.

That is not true for all housing markets. About 46 percent of housing markets still have depressed home values.

The key to selling a home quickly is pricing it right.

One key idea in pricing a home is finding a price that accurately reflects the market. You don’t want to post a high price and then lower it to find a buyer. That just makes buyers wonder what is wrong with the home. You don’t want to price your home too high. That turns off otherwise qualified buyers. The buyer and the seller want the best price. Your goal and the goal of the real estate agent is to make that match.

To that end, sellers must not be sentimental about their home’s worth or exceptionally optimistic about home sale prices in the area. A real estate agent will use comparable sales as a guide to pricing a home. They look for homes in the neighborhood that are, as nearly as possible, identical to the sellers home and what they have sold for in the last few months. This tells more about home worth than money spent on renovations or upgrades.
In fact, upgrading a home might not make it more sellable if the home becomes the most expensive house in the neighborhood. Buyers who can afford the home don’t want to buy where they are surrounded by less expensive homes. Other buyers who want the home might not be able to afford it after upgrades are done.

Location is crucial in home pricing. If, during your time in a home, the neighborhood has naturally upgraded, then you are in for a happy surprise as to current home prices. But if the neighborhood has deteriorated, then prices will also reflect that.

If everything remains the same, a house will not sell for more than a comparable property, no matter what the seller hopes to get out of it.