Lillian Macken
Broker
Macken Realty, Inc

In a perfect world, you would sell your home for the most amount of money in the least amount of time. That doesn't happen often—and pricing your home too high could cost you money in the long run. In almost any market, the homes that sell the fastest and for the most money are those that are priced closest to what a reasonable buyer would expect to pay at that time. That is why you absolutely must know your competition and understand how key factors play into your pricing decision.

Key variables affecting price include:

• Comparable sales prices are the most reliable indicators of current market value are pending sales of properties similar to yours and comparable sales that have closed within the past six months. Find out whether or not these were full-price sales. If houses are selling for 95 percent of their list price, it's unwise to price your property more than 5 percent above what you expect to get.
• Market conditions
  Find out how long recently sold comparable properties were on the market before they sold. The longer properties are on the market in your area, the more vital it is to price your home close to market value if you want to sell quickly. Get a free estimate of your home's value to find out where you stand.
• Square footage
  Use square footage to compare your price against comparable listings and recent sales. For example, if you have 2000 square feet and you want to price your home at $500,000, that's $250 per square foot. If your neighbor has 2,200 square feet and has his home priced at $495,000, that's about $225 per square foot. Make sure your square footage calculation supports your expected price.
• Land
  The size of your lot may play a pivotal role in pricing your home, especially if there are many comparable homes for sale on varying sizes of lots. See what comparable lots alone are selling for in order to get a sense of land prices.
• Features
  The number of bedrooms and bathrooms is a key variable in pricing a property. If your area is full of homes with two bathrooms, and you have only one bath, you may need to adjust your price downward.