The market is MOVING!! As we continue to take buyers out and write offers on homes we are consistently getting into multiple offer scenarios! My husband (Broker Owner of Caprika Realty) and I are starting to see a trend. Agents seem to be pricing places for less than what they could get!
When an agent lists your home, they use what is called a Competitive Market Analysis (or CMA) to look at comparable home sales in your sub division or the immediate area surrounding your home. They do this, because appraisers will look at the solds in order to gage what your home is worth.
The past few years, with prices decreasing, agents and even sellers are used to the startling numbers that their homes are now worth. However, a good real estate agent will also use their experience and their own "feeling" of the markets momentum. We always say real estate is a combination of an art and a science. Sometimes even if the numbers don't make sense on paper, they do make sense in the active market place.
Example, if prices are going to increase, there has to be comps that start raising the bar at some point. If you put a house on the market and on day 1 you have 20 offers (which is what is happening with some foreclosures and in the investment market in PG county) then, that house is under priced!
Using an agent that not only looks at the statistics but also works often in the area and knows the over all feel of momentum (or lack there of it in some cases) of the market is KEY! And it can save you THOUSANDS! IF you use an agent that does not have the feel of the market and prices it too low, it can be very costly.
Stay tuned for a video testimonial in the next couple days from a client that we saved $20,000 because they listed their home with us. YES, $20,000 on a townhouse right here in Bowie.
