Pricing your home is really tricky. It’s the most important part of the selling process, and the one that can be the hardest to do. Not to mention the part that can derail the process fast. It’s easy to make mistakes.

Basing the price on what you paid

One mistake you could make is basing your price on what you paid for your home. This can be especially true if you purchased at the height of the market and are not trying to sell when it’s lower.

It also doesn’t matter if you need to make more on the sale than you paid. Buyers don’t care what you paid or what you need. They care about paying the right price for the home they want to purchase, not what you may think it’s worth based on what you paid.

Expecting to make money back on improvements

That leads to the second mistake, expecting to make back the money you put into improvements to your home. Generally there are some improvements that help your value and some that don’t, but expecting to make anything back is hubris. Too many other things feed into value.

Don’t price too high

Next mistake? Leaving too much room to negotiate and not in the right direction. That means pricing your home high in order to leave room to negotiate. Legitimate buyers will never find your home since most search online by price, and those who could buy based on price won’t be interested.

Don’t base your price on your neighbor’s

Another common mistake? Basing your asking price on your neighbor’s. There are so many different things that could make your neighbor’s home worth more or less than yours. They may have higher priced updates, a finished basement or other plusses that you don’t have. You could have things that they don’t. It’s just not a good idea.

Leave out emotions

Lastly, don’t get emotionally involved in the price of your home. Easy to say, hard to do. Your home has your memories and attachments. Buyers don’t have the same ones and they may not be willing to pay a huge price to make it their own.