Thanks to those who are sticking thru this series with me! While I think that the process of properly pricing homes is fascinating stuff, I know it's not nearly as sexy as other topics! (Although SELLING your properly priced listing is very sexy, indeed.)
In the previous installments...
Introduction
Step One - Before you price, prepare!
Step Two - Preview, preview, preview
Step Three - Play detective
...we talked about how to effectively preview the competition to figure out where your potential listing falls into the scheme of things. So, what about the SOLDs?
The problem with using SOLDs in your market analysis is, unless you've been a previewing mad(wo)man over the last eight months, you probably haven't seen the inside of the properties, and now it's too late. So you have to go off the MLS description - a very risky proposition!
But we'll do our best.
Print off all the SOLDs that seem to be comparable, even if they're much higher or lower than your assumption of the market value of "your" listing. Drive by all of them! Pay special attention to the outliers - the ones that seem to have sold way out of whack to the rest of the market, or whose Days on Market statistic is unusually low or high.
There's a good chance your drive-by will reveal the reason for the out-of-line price or DOM. Perhaps there's a commercial building next door, behind or across the street. Or, common in Denver, a corner lot that doesn't have a private back yard, or any back yard at all. Maybe it's a pop-top done wrong and doesn't fit in with the neighborhood. Busy street with a bus stop in the front yard?
Or conversely, you might see that it has a stellar location with an extra-large lot, a mountain view, or around the corner (at a suitable distance) from a popular coffee shop.
If the reason for the outlying price and/or DOM isn't obvious from your drive-by, go line-by line through the MLS listing. Is it missing a garage in a market that expects garages? No basement? One bathroom? Obviously, if the interior photos show that it needs work, that's relevant. Check the showing instructions to see if there are any obvious limitations on access.
If all else fails, and you really feel a particular house is a good comparable, call the listing agent. Hopefully they'll be helpful in helping you understand why the house sold at the price it did. Or, maybe not. But give it a try.
It really is the outliers that give you the most grief when looking at the SOLDs. There probably are some sold listings that fall right in line with what you're thinking the price of your listing ought to be, but the ones that don't give you fits. The more research you do on these outliers will not only make your CMA stronger, but will give you an air of confidence when going through your CMA with a seller.
Next Time - Putting it All Together
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Tips & Inspirations to Generate Business from the Very Important People Who Know You


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stuff than anyone else is going to. But part of our job as listing agents is to gently persuade our seller clients that we need to price properly in order to get their home sold.
In the 150+ comments, the question was raised - "So, how do you convince a seller to put some effort into getting his or her house ready for market?" I'd made the claim that at least 90% of my sellers hire my stager and my handyman and almost all spend at least $1000 (of their own money!) prior to going on the market.
By far the best way to get your sellers to clean up, fix-up and decorate-up is to help them do it. No, you don't have to do it yourself, although I've certainly rolled up my sleeves once or twice or a dozen times. By "help" I mean that you have the human resources on call to Get the Jobs Done. Contractors you know and trust... who know, trust and love you. How anyone sells real estate without a good handyman, stager and cleaning person on board is a mystery to me. When you can walk into a seller's home and confidently say "Yes, that needs to be fixed - we'll put it on the Bob-List," or "Yep, let's get Bob over here to give us an estimate on that," or "No big deal, Bob can fix that," you're golden. Not only are you the hero, but you'll also get yourself a sellable listing.
