Cynthia Marchant’s Blog

Whether you own a home in Carmel Indiana or are thinking of buying a home; there are always many questions.  I hear some of them frequently and thought I’d take some time to answer them.  Today we will focus on the selling side of the equation.

1. How do you determine a price when listing a home?
2. What distinquishes you from other Realtors®?
3. What is your strategy around price reductions when you have a listing?
4. Do you think print advertising or internet advertising works best?
5. How long will it take to sell my home?

Let’s start with #1 and answer the pricing question. 

The first thing I do is pull the tax record for that particular real estate in Carmel and look at the subdivision and square footage and lot size.  While I am there I also double check to be sure the client has filed their appropriate exemptions (saving them approximately 30% in their property tax bills!).  You’d be surprised how many people refinance their homes and forget to refile their exemptions!

Then I pull comparable homes in the Carmel subdivision or area to include active, pends and solds for the last six months.  This is quite different than we did years ago.  We used to just pull the solds and for one year.  But with this changing market, only the last six months is relevant and often the actives tell a picture too.  

I don’t make my final determination until I go through the home.  I am interested in the way the home presents itself in terms of location, landscaping, upkeep and upgrades.  Unfortunately things like a new roof will not increase the value of a home, nor a new HVAC system.  These are considered maintenance items.  However, remodeling a kitchen or bath or finishing a basement definitely will impact the sell price. I have a remodeling calculator you can use to determine the resale value of your project.

With these three items in hand I can usually accurately predict the value of your home.  I often hear, “I need to get this much for my home”; but the market won’t care what you need so while I want to deliver the price that gets you what you need, I can’t price the house based on that.  I also hear, I have a second I need to cover.  If you used the second to remodel, it will most likely be at least partially covered.  If you used the money for college or something unrelated to the home, it will not.  There have been some neighborhoods that have appreciated over the last few years in Carmel and some that have not; it varies that much in our area.  If you’d like to know the value of your home, please email me and I’ll prepare a CMA for you.

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 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Carmel Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Carmel IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775