Selling a home
How to Price Your Home to Sell in the Sacramento Region
How a list price is built from nearby sales, why overpricing costs you, and when a price change makes sense.
How do you figure out what your house is worth?
Your home is worth what a ready buyer will pay for it, and what that buyer's appraiser will support. The strongest evidence of that number is recent sales of similar homes close to yours. Those are called comparable sales, or comps.
A good price starts with three questions. What sold nearby in the last few months? How does each of those homes compare to yours? And what are buyers choosing between right now? Maggie B. Hopkins is a real estate broker and a mortgage broker, so she also checks the price the way a lender's appraiser will read it.
What makes a home a good comparable sale?
A strong comp is close to your home in four ways:
- Location. Same neighborhood, and often the same side of a busy road. A few blocks can change value in parts of Sacramento, Carmichael and Davis.
- Time. Sold recently. Older sales may not reflect where prices are now.
- Size and layout. Similar square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms. A single-story home and a two-story home of the same size can draw different buyers.
- Condition. An updated kitchen and a 1970s kitchen are not the same product, even on the same street.
You'll rarely find a perfect match. That's why the next step, adjustments, matters.
What is the difference between active, pending and sold listings?
Each one tells you something different:
- Sold homes show what buyers actually paid. Appraisers lean on these most.
- Pending homes are under contract but not closed. The final price isn't public yet, but they show what buyers are agreeing to right now.
- Active homes are your competition. They show what buyers will compare you against this weekend. An asking price is a hope, not a result.
If the actives near you have sat for weeks, that's a signal too. Buyers are telling those sellers the price is high. We look at all three groups together before we suggest a number.
How do adjustments work when comparing homes?
An adjustment accounts for a difference between a comp and your home. If a comp has a third bathroom and yours has two, its price gets adjusted down to compare. If yours has a new roof and the comp didn't, yours may be worth more.
Here's a worked example in words. Say three similar homes on nearby streets sold recently. One had a remodeled kitchen. One backed onto a busy road. One was close to yours in every way. The close one carries the most weight. The remodeled one gets adjusted down for the kitchen. The busy-road one gets adjusted up for location. Where the three land after adjusting is the range your home likely belongs in.
Appraisers make the same kind of adjustments. That's why a price that ignores them can fall apart once a buyer's loan is in process.
Why do price bands and search filters matter?
Buyers search online with a price range. Many set round numbers, such as a top limit of $600,000 or $750,000. If you list at $605,000, buyers searching up to $600,000 may never see your home.
So pricing is partly about where you land in those searches. Listing a little under a round number can put your home in front of more buyers. It can also start a conversation among buyers who might compete. We look at where the buyers for your kind of home are searching before we pick the exact number.
Why does overpricing usually cost you money?
A new listing often gets the most attention in its first stretch on the market. Buyers who have been watching see it, tour it and decide. If the price is too high, those buyers move on. Some will buy something else.
Then the listing gets older. Buyers start to ask what's wrong with it. When the price finally drops, you may be negotiating with fewer buyers, and from a weaker position than if you had started at the right number. You also carry the mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities for those extra weeks.
There's a loan side too. Even if a buyer agrees to a high price, the appraisal may not support it. Then the price gets renegotiated in escrow, under a deadline.
Are online home value estimates accurate?
Online estimates are a starting point. They use public records and recent sales, but they can't see inside your home. They don't know about a new roof, a dated bathroom, a corner lot or a sale down the street that hasn't been recorded yet.
A comparative market analysis, or CMA, is your agent's written look at the comps, adjusted for your home after a walk-through. It isn't an appraisal. An appraisal is a licensed appraiser's opinion, usually ordered by the buyer's lender. A good CMA tries to predict what that appraiser will find. You can start with our free home price review or read how we do a home valuation.
How do you price a home that needs work?
A home that needs work is priced against what a buyer will pay for it as it sits, not after repairs. Buyers subtract what they think the work will cost. Most also subtract something for the hassle and the risk.
That's why we compare two or three paths in writing. One is selling in its current condition. Another is light prep, such as paint, cleaning and a few repairs. A third is more work before listing. For each path you see the likely price, the cost and what you'd net after selling costs. Our pages on selling without repairs and Turnkey Home Prep cover both sides, and our guide on staging and prep costs helps you decide what to fix.
When should you lower your asking price?
Watch what buyers do, not what they say. If showings are steady but no offers come, the price may be a little high for what buyers see. If showings are slow, the price may be keeping buyers from looking at all. Feedback that keeps naming the same issue is worth listening to.
A price change works well when it moves you into a new search range or brings you in line with recent sales. Small cuts spread over many weeks tend to do less than one clear change. Before any change, we look at new comps and pendings again. Sometimes the fix is a better photo, a repair or a cleaner presentation instead of a lower price.
How do you get started on pricing your home?
Start with a walk-through and a written range. Tell us about your home or call Maggie at (916) 549-3131. You'll see the sales we used, what would move the number and an estimate of your take-home after costs.
Want to read first? Our free seller guide walks through the whole sale. Our guide on what it costs to sell a house in Sacramento helps you turn a price into a net number.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a comparable sale?
A comparable sale, or comp, is a recent sale of a home similar to yours in location, size, layout and condition. Comps are the main evidence agents and appraisers use to set and support a price.
Is a CMA the same as an appraisal?
No. A CMA is your agent's analysis of comparable sales to recommend a list price. An appraisal is a licensed appraiser's opinion of value, usually ordered by the buyer's lender during escrow.
Should I price high and leave room to negotiate?
Usually not. A high price can keep buyers from touring at all, and an appraisal may not support it. A price close to the evidence tends to draw more buyers and stronger offers.
Why is my online estimate different from my agent's number?
Online estimates can't see your home's condition, updates or exact location, and they may miss recent sales. Your agent's number comes from a walk-through and adjusted comps.
Do pending sales count when pricing a home?
They don't show a final price yet, but they show what buyers are agreeing to now. We look at sold, pending and active listings together.
Should I fix things before I get a price?
No. Get the price first. Then we can show what each repair would cost and what it might change, so you only spend money that is likely to come back.
How soon should I lower the price if my home isn't selling?
There's no set rule. Look at showings, feedback and any new sales nearby. If buyers are touring but not offering, or not touring at all, it's time to revisit the price or the presentation.
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