As a home seller eager to make a profit on your sale, it can be easy to lose sight of an important truth: Your house is worth what a buyer is willing to pay.

Not what it sold for.

Not what you invested.

Not what you want a buyer to pay.

Your house is worth what a buyer is willing to pay.

So when you’re trying to price your home realistically, it’s helpful to think in terms of that fact, asking yourself what price a buyer would realistically be willing to pay for your home.

How can you best estimate what price that would be?

Ask yourself some questions:

• What do other sellers of similar homes think buyers will pay?
• What have other buyers paid for similar homes recently?
• How will my home compare to the competition?
• How fast are homes selling in my area?

These questions will help you gather valuable information that can lead to an estimated range for pricing your property. Ideally, you want to price just a little higher (around 2 to 5 %) than what you think a buyer will pay, in order to leave room for negotiation.

Of course it’s always tempting to price higher, in hopes that someone will come along who wants your place. But the only person who loses in that situation is you, while you wait longer on the market.

So price carefully, and you’ll price right.