Trishgiassa's Blog

I want to list my home…how do I know what it is worth?

The answer is easy for the seller: call your professional real estate broker to have her view your home. She will make note of square footage, number of bed/bathrooms, living spaces, kitchen quality, upgrades, updates, amenities, interior and exterior condition, location, and many other factors that years of experience working with buyers and selling homes has taught her to include. She will then prepare a “competitive (or comparative) market analysis” based on recent sales of homes in your area, sometimes called “comps”. This may not be as easy for the agent as it sounds, especially if you own a custom home, or when sales data of similar properties is not available. However, market conditions and similar properties on the market (competition) will also help guide this analysis. She will then put all this together and review the findings with you in detail so that you can decide the price point for your home based on hard facts.

In spite of popular opinion, brokers do not set listing or selling prices. Rather, they should not. A good broker will come to you, the seller with all the facts that affect home values and sales in your area, review this information with you and together with you come up with the strategy that will help you meet your goal of selling your property. If the broker does not agree with your price and still takes the listing, that broker must defend that price and not go around telling other brokers and buyers they did not agree with your price and that you are “negotiable”. Not only does this violate our realtor ethics but it totally undermines your ability to get the best price and terms.

Choose your broker because you know you can trust her, because the marketing of your property will be top-notch and aggressive, and because the broker will work for YOU! Not because they happen to agree on price with you.

Your property is a significant asset that deserves professionalism and care. Rest assured, if I take your property listing I will work diligently to get the highest sales price for your property that the market will allow. I will work FOR you and provide you with all the information you need to make good decisions. If you are thinking of selling your Crested Butte property, call me. We can meet or talk over the phone to discuss the market and your options.