Market value is the price at which something will sell within a reasonable period of time. In a normal or average real estate market, reasonable means one to three months.

Seawinds Realty provides you with a no-cost Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) as part of it's listing program. This CMA shows what similar properties have sold for in your area and helps you determine a reasonable asking price for your property.

When setting your asking price, you must always take into consideration the condition and features of your property compared to those in the CMA.

Condition is listed first because most home buyers want to buy the nicest property on the block. Is your property attractive and ready to occupy, or does it need repair or renovation?

Simply subtracting the amount of estimated repair or renovation costs from the selling prices of similar properties in the same area is not an accurate way to determine current market value for a particular property. The reason is fewer buyers want to buy a property that needs repair or renovation. When a property attracts fewer buyers, it takes longer for the house to sell. To attract more buyers and sell the property sooner, the price must often be reduced by much as two to three times the amount of repairs or renovation.

If a property doesn't sell within one to three months (30 to 90 days), the reason is usually very simple - the price is too high. Even perfect properties don't sell within this time frame if the price is too high. A property that sells within one to three months was typically priced at its true market value.