Understand how different market settings affect how you should price your home. First, you need to determine whether you are in a buyer’s or seller’s market. While you’re scouting other homes for sale in your area, pay attention to how long they’ve been on the market. Sites such as prelist.org and REALTOR.ca often have a little section under each home that tells how long it has been for sale in their systems, although not necessarily how long they’ve been on the market. If homes in your neighbourhood are getting snatched up right and left, you stand a good chance of the same happening for you — if your home is priced right. That’s called a seller’s market, and you could get more profit from your home’s sale. On the other hand, if the “Home for Sale” signs in your area seem to be growing roots, you are probably in a buyer’s market. You might benefit by setting a slightly lower price than your competitors. You might not make as much profit as you would like, but some profit is better than none. Ever since the end of the short recession in 2008, much of Canada has experienced a more-or-less balanced or neutral market, in which neither seller nor buyer has the upper hand. This has generally been the case in every province. However, market shifts can — and do — happen. A variable, for instance, like a major company entering — or moving from — the area will tip the scale toward homeowners to make a swift market or toward buyers to make a slow market.
PRICING IN A S G IN A SELLER'S MARKE ELLER'S MARKET
The prices of homes that have already sold don’t matter much.
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