The Art and Strategy of Pricing Your Home in Tulsa

Pricing a home in today's real estate market is more of an art and a strategy than an exact science.

I am Jennie Wolek with The Wolek Group here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After 25 years in real estate, I can confidently tell you that helping our clients price their homes correctly based on the current market is our most important job.

If you are thinking about listing your home soon, here is what you need to know about the strategy behind the numbers.

What NOT to Base Your Price On

Here is the hard truth: What you originally paid for your home, the amount of money you need to get out of your home, and what your neighbor's home sold for two years ago are not valid pricing strategies.

In fact, using those metrics is a guaranteed way to ensure your home does not sell in a timely manner. You cannot just "put a high number up there and see what happens". It doesn't work. If a client insists on aggressively overpricing their home, I am probably not going to suggest we move forward working together, simply because I do not want to let them down. My job is to help you achieve your goals, and that requires speaking the truth about today's market.

How We Analyze the Market Data

Even professional appraisers will come up with different valuations for the exact same home, which proves that pricing is not an exact science! When we build a pricing strategy, we have to look closely at the data:

• Historical Sales: We look at homes in your neighborhood with similar sizes and amenities that have successfully sold. However, we don't want to go back too far in history, because the market is always changing and old data may no longer be relevant.
  
  
• Active Properties: We get very clear on the active properties currently sitting on the market. This is your direct competition. This is who you have to beat out in the contest to win a buyer!
  
  
• Pending Properties: Homes that are currently under contract tell us that a buyer and seller recently agreed on a number. While we don't know the final closed price yet, we can usually guess it is within 2% to 3% of the list price, helping us gauge current buyer willingness.
  
  

The Good News: You Have Equity!

In a shifting or normalizing market, some sellers fear that a "crash" is coming. But unlike the previous mortgage industry debacle, today's homeowners actually have equity in their homes!

Even if you purchased in the last five years, you likely put some money down, and the market here in Tulsa has stabilized—it has not gone backwards. You should be in a great position with your equity to make an educated, smart decision on what you'd like to do next.

If you are curious about what the market really looks like for your specific home, shoot me a message! I am happy to send you an updated market report based on your neighborhood to give you a reality check of what is going on.