Sherry,

In order to anwer your question, a realtor would have to review the comps including the recent one your agent did not include. Every house and property is different and the sold prices of "comparable" properties must be adjusted based on differences including home features and location. As mentioned below, if your home were undervalued, you would have multiple buyers in line with offers. I suggest having your agent review the comps and waiting a little longer to see if you get more showings and then listening to the feedback. In today's real estate environment you must price at or slightly below market value to be competitive. The market continues to decline and sellers need to be ahead of the decline rather than following it. What happens if you raise the price in a declining market? And if you price aggresively?

Wishing you the Best.

Hey, Sherry!

I would strongly discourage you from raising your price. IF your house is such an amazing value, it would be sold by now, even if only a week to ten days on the market. The wisest thing you could do as relates to pricing, is identify what the top 10 to 15 competing properties are to yours right now, and be priced in the top 5 of those. Even if a $20,000 price increase would keep you in those top 5, I would still advise against it.

Watch Channel 4 (NBC WDIV) tomorrow, Monday, at 11 p.m. I think it will help you realize how things are and how important value pricing, staging, marketing, etc. is right now in metro-Detroit...

Best wishes

Derek Bauer, Associate Broker / Realtor
Real Estate One - Farmington Hills / West Bloomfield
http://www.DoorToDreams.com
derek@doortodreams.com

Sure, I've done it before successfully...

My feeling is that you can never underprice a home. I often underprice to generate multiple offers and create a bidding a war.......I still get market value. Do you have a ton of traffic thru your home? Several offers on the table? If not.....your home is priced appropriately....and if no offers in 30-45 days....you're too high. Good luck!

Sherry
The fact is that an appraiser will use a number of homes to come up with an appraised price. One property that is high is not going to make the difference.

Realtors are looking at inventory all the time. If your listing is a good deal, this is what should happen:
1. Many showings (more than 12 in the first two weeks.
2. Multiple offers (some above asking price)

If you are not receiving this type of activity, then your home is not perceived by the Realtors and their buyers as a "good deal". the market will not let your home sell for less than Fair Market Value

I just dont think houses in the 400,000 and up range are moving quickly even if they are a good deal. And believe me, this is a good deal. There are still buyers with money and there are still homes in my area selling for 1,000,000. But really - it seems the buyers out there are looking for deals and steals. Houses priced in the 250,000 are what seems to be moving in surrounding areas.

Sherry,

Ahhhh yes, the good old days. Those days before the FBI scutinized transactions, and when lenders suggested appraisers find higher comparables or not get more of their business. Is that what you're referring to?

Missy is correct. If your home is in Realcomp II MLS (MLS number starts with a 28xxxxxx) then there is a detailed history for any home. Ask your agent to show you the history for any comparables and/or neighborhood sales. You might also be able to find examples on Google with the right terms.

Personally, if buyers thought your home was bargain priced you would have multiple offers and your agent would be using the auction effect to get buyers to offer more. Does that appear to be happening?

What would be the consequenses of it showing up in the history that I raised the price?

I have had 1 showing in less than a week. I will discuss it with my realtor , but yes I was concerned about the history, but I feel 20,000 is not a big deal to a buyer, but to me it is. I still feel it is under value if I raise the price. If I dont, I will not negotiate at all on the price. I know buyers have to feel they got a deal also, so they want to take some off the price, right?

Yes, you can raise the price, if your Realtor says she is agreement. However, in our MLS, when we work with buyers we always check the history to see what has gone on with that home. So it will show up you raised the price when a buyer agent searches.
If you have only had 1 showing in 2 weeks, I would not do it. If a house is below market value, which I am assuming you think it is then you should have had more showings, as all buyers are after the "deals".

What does your realtor say? I defer to your realtor's opinion, but I mine is to keep it as is. JMO.

currently listed at 440,000

That's great! How much is your house listed at? In my market a 20,000 difference isn't very much.

Thanks JR. My house has only been on the market less than a week. I had a showing the very first day. No feedback from that showing. I only want to raise the price 20,000 and the other comp is still 20,000 over the new price I want to list at. I used to be an appraiser in a past life, so I know a little bit about it ;o)

Sherry how long has your house been on the market and have you had any offers? That is important information you need to give us.

you can do whatever you please, you are the homeowner. But I you need to think about these few important issues: 1) how long has you home been on the market already? 2) did you get any showing? if so, did you get any offers? if you answered yes to these, then go ahead. but if you answered no, than this is an indication that you home is already overpriced. Good Luck with the sale.

fyi. Appraisers need comps same style, within 6 mo, and within 1 mile. It is same style house in every way, SOLD IN MAY 2008, it is smaller than my house, BUT sold for way more than what we listed for (and my house is 800sq ft bigger). MY CMA actually had a house that was over 1000 sq feet than mine, so this one should have been used instead.

Yes you can raise the price of your listing and in the past it was very common. But always ask yourself that if your home did not receive any offers at the lower price than raising the price is not always the best idea.

PS GREAT QUESTION: if you have an concerns hire an appraiser comp your property for your best interest.
http://www.lynn911.com http://www.homes-for-sale-dallas.com

QUESTION to ask about why the agent missed this other home, does it = the same sq. ft of your home, year built, upgrades, pool no pool, where is the home located within the subdivision, is the house in the same ISD? http://www.lynn911.com http://www.homes-for-sale-dallas.com

Sure. You can raise the price of your house. In fact, if the comps support the higher price, it's in your best interest to.

However, be sure to discuss these issues with your agent. If he truly missed the comp, he'll recognize it's to your advantage to price your house accordingly. On the other hand, it's possible that he saw the property but felt that it wasn't a true comp. Maybe the property was vastly upgraded, to a level above yours. Or maybe it's in a nearby community that, for whatever reason, is a lot pricier than yours. Or maybe the "comp" is more than 180 days old. Could be a lot of reasons.

One other thought: How long has your home been on the market? And has it had many showings? Regardless of the comps, if your property has been on the market for awhile and hasn't had many showings, a higher price isn't likely to improve the situation. On the other hand, if you've just put it on the market and there's already been a flurry of interest, adjusting your price could make sense.

Good luck.

I would have to examine all the comps to give you the answer to that. That said, one comp does not a market make. There are always flukes, and sometimes someone gets lucky. Unless you've been inside said home, how do you know it is a comp? When I do comps I generally disregard the highest and lowest comps to come up with an average. How many comps did your agent show you, and how much higher is this sale that it would skew the price considerably higher?