The Art and Science of 'Right-Pricing' a Home

Of course, every home for sale comes with an asking price.

Where that price came from, how close it is to today’s actual value, and how likely it is a qualified buyer will pay anything close to that is another matter altogether.

Add to that whether the house has had recent, tasteful upgrades, has been staged like a model home, is in a prime location, has a swimming pool or a killer view and you’re into the difficult science of right pricing a home.

Add further into the equation factors some sellers pack into their desired sales price, and the difficult job of right pricing becomes an art more than a science.

Here are a few examples of right pricing challenges.

• Upgraded to sell: So you have a condo in a great location with an attached garage and you’ve kept it in exactly the same condition as you bought it. Now it’s time to move on and get it sold.

Bring in a designer and a good, reasonably priced contactor, and now you’re the bomb. Quartz. Stainless steel. White. Brushed nickel. Add $20,000 to the recent comps and subtract two months from the time to get it sold.

• Lipstick on the pig: When you have a desirable floor plan in a great location, but don’t have recent, fashionable upgrades, you might just want to replace your light fixtures with something more up to date, change out the cabinet pulls to match the fixtures, give it a new coat of neutral paint and you’ve got a fighting chance of getting a great offer.

As long as you price it closer to the recent sales in more original condition and avoid the lure to ask what the fully remodeled flip just sold for, which is the highest price in the history of the neighborhood.

• Flipping for the big bucks: When you pick up an older house with the most amazing lot in the entire neighborhood (end of the cul de sac, at the top of the hill, with a 180-degree view), you have a unique opportunity to push your asking price even higher.

Say it’s a 1972 home in original condition. Rather than go to market for slightly less than similar recent sales, use your previous flipping expertise. That means flawless design touches, adding a few windows, removing a few walls and hiring a staging company with the best sense of style and emotional appeal.

Do that, and you might get multiple offers and end up selling it for the highest price in the history of the neighborhood.