---
title: Pricing Your Home Without Leaving Money On The Table
description: New to FSBO? Chapter 1 breaks down what selling your home on your own really involves so you can decide if FSBO is the right move.
image: https://www.joedoeshomeloans.com/hubfs/image%20(34).png
---
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# Pricing Your Home Without Leaving Money On The Table
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#### Table of Content
Pricing your home is the part most owners worry about. You are not alone. If you ask too much, your home sits on the market and buyers scroll past it. If you ask too little, you leave money on the table. My goal here is to make this part simple. I want you to understand how buyers look at price, how I look at price as an agent, and how you can get close to a professional price even if you are selling on your own. I am not here to scare you into listing your home with an agent. I am here to help you get a clear plan so you feel confident when you pick your number.
## How Buyers Really See Your Price
Buyers never see your home by itself. They see your home next to other homes in the same price range.
When they search online they usually use price filters, for example
- Up to $400,000
- $400,000 to $450,000
- $450,000 to $500,000
Then they choose an area and pick how many bedrooms and bathrooms they want.
So when you pick a price, you are really choosing which group of homes you want to sit next to on those search pages.
Ask yourself
- At this price, which other homes will buyers see with mine
- If I were a buyer, would my home look like the best choice in that group, or would it feel a little too expensive compared to the others
That simple question will keep you honest.
## Start With Real Sales, Not Stories
Every neighborhood has stories.
A neighbor who says, “We got way over our asking price,” or “The house down the block sold for a crazy number.”
Stories are not bad, but you cannot build your price on them.
You want real numbers from homes that actually sold. You can find these on public sites like Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, or your county tax records.
Look for
- Homes sold in the last 3 to 6 months
- Same town, and if possible the same school district
- Similar style, for example cape, ranch, colonial, condo
- Similar size in living square feet
- Similar number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Make a short list of six to twelve sales that feel somewhat close to your home. Do not worry about being perfect, just try to be honest.
## Compare Those Homes To Yours In A Simple Way
For each sale, ask yourself
- Is their kitchen newer, older, or about the same as mine
- Are their bathrooms updated, or do they look original
- Does their home feel bigger or smaller than mine
- Is their street busier, quieter, or similar to mine
You can write quick notes like
- “Newer kitchen, similar size, busier street”
- “Older bath, smaller, great yard”
Then sort those homes into three simple groups
1. Homes that are clearly nicer than yours
2. Homes that feel very similar to yours
3. Homes that are clearly more dated or smaller than yours
You are already thinking like an appraiser and like an agent.
## Be Honest About Your Own Home
This part is not always fun, but it is important. Buyers do not pay extra for your memories in the home. They pay for condition, size, and location.
Walk through your home as if you were a picky buyer seeing it for the first time.
- Would you honestly call the kitchen updated, or is it just clean and well kept
- Do the bathrooms feel fresh, or do they show their age
- Do the floors and walls look move in ready, or would you want to repaint and replace things
- When you pull up outside, does the home feel welcoming, or a little tired
If you are not sure about something, it probably means a buyer will question it too.
Your home does not have to be perfect. You just need a clear idea of where it sits on that list of recent sales.
## Turn All Of This Into A Realistic Price Range
Now you have
- A list of recent sales
- A sense of which ones are better, similar, or worse than your home
From this, you can build a simple price range. For example
- The rougher homes, or the ones that are smaller, might have sold around $460,000 to $470,000
- The very updated homes, with nice kitchens and baths, might have sold around $510,000 to $525,000
- The homes that feel most like yours might have sold around $485,000 to $505,000
That middle group is where your price probably belongs.
Now ask yourself three questions
1. If all of these homes were for sale today, where would my home sit on that list
2. Would buyers see mine as the best value, the average one, or the most expensive one
3. If I were the buyer, would I choose my home at the price I have in mind
If your honest answer is no, it is a sign that you might be aiming a little too high.
## Choose A Simple Pricing Strategy
You do not need a complicated strategy. You just need to be clear about what you want. Most sellers fall into one of these three groups
1. You want a faster sale
- You price toward the lower end of your realistic range
- The goal is strong interest and more showings
- This can lead to better offers because more buyers see your home
1. You want a fair market sale
- You price near the middle of your realistic range
- You expect a good amount of interest if your photos and marketing are solid
- You know you might negotiate a bit, and you are fine with that
1. You want to test the very top of the marke
- You price at the high end of your range
- You understand that if buyers do not respond, you will need to adjust the price
- This is where many for sale by owner sellers start. The key is to be willing to change if the market is quiet
There is nothing wrong with any of these choices. What matters is that you pick one on purpose
## Use Price Points That Work With Online Searches
Online search sites tend to use round number filters.
This is important.
If your home is worth somewhere near 500,000, here is what happens
- At $505,000, you disappear from every search that says “up to $500,000”
- At $499,900, you show up for buyers searching “up to $500,000” and you still look reasonable to buyers browsing homes a little above $500,000
A small change in price can put you in front of many more buyers.
When you pick your number, ask
- Which price searches will my home actually appear in
- Am I making it easy for buyers to find me, or am I pricing myself out of their filters
## Have A Simple Plan For Adjusting The Price
Many for sale by owner homes sit too long because the owner waits and hopes instead of following a plan.
Before you put the sign in the yard, decide
- How many days on the market will you wait before you think about a price change
- How many showings would you like to see in the first two weeks
For example, you might say
- “If we have less than five showings in the first fourteen days, we will adjust the price.”
This is not failure. It is normal. Agents do this with their clients all the time.
You would rather make a small change early than hold a high number for months while buyers wonder what is wrong with the home.
## Remember The Appraiser Too
Even if a buyer agrees to your price, most will still need a mortgage.
That means an appraiser will come to your home.
The appraiser will look at the same type of sales you just pulled. They will ask the same basic question
“Does this price match what similar homes have sold for recently”
If you push way above the recent sales, a few things can happen
- The appraisal might come in low
- You and the buyer might have to renegotiate the price
- In some cases, the deal can fall apart
When your price lines up with recent sales, you make it easier for the appraiser to support the value and easier for the buyer to get their loan approved.
## A Simple Weekend Exercise To Set Your Price
Here is a quick plan you can follow over a weekend
1. Pull six to twelve recent sales that are close to your home in size, style, and area
2. Divide them into three groups, nicer than mine, similar to mine, more dated than mine
3. Look at the sale prices in the group that feels most like your home
4. Decide if you want to price for a faster sale, a fair market sale, or to test the top of the range
5. Pick a number that fits into common search ranges, for example 349,900, 399,900, 449,900
6. Write down a simple plan, if we do not see enough showings in the first two weeks, we will lower the price by X amount
If you do only this, you will already be ahead of many sellers who simply pick a number based on what they “need” or what a neighbor once mentioned.
## Closing Thoughts
You are taking on a job that most people hand to a professional. That is a big deal, and you deserve straightforward information, not pressure.
My hope is that this chapter gives you a clear, calm way to think about price. You do not have to be perfect. You just need to be close enough that buyers say, “This looks fair, we should go see it.”
If you ever feel stuck on price, even if you plan to stay for sale by owner, it is okay to ask for a second opinion. A short conversation can save you weeks of guesswork.
In the next chapter we will talk about where to actually place your listing so real buyers can find it, and how to handle interest and showings in a way that protects your time and your safety.
[Previous Post](https://www.joedoeshomeloans.com/blog/handling-calls-and-showings-safely) [Next Post](https://www.joedoeshomeloans.com/blog/getting-your-home-ready-to-sell-without-going-crazy)
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