Geoff Thomas

Selling your home is an exciting process, since it usually means you are about to purchase your next home, while realizing a gain on your current home - but figuring how just how much of a gain you can expect to earn from your sale can be daunting. The best way to ensure that you have priced your home to sell without underpricing it, is to benchmark against homes with similar features that matter to buyers. Key features and criteria include the following:

Location, Location, Location: Yes, the old maxim is true. Take a look online at current listings and recent sales to see what other homes in your town are selling for. Remember that your town may add a premium, or necessitate a discount, depending on its school district's reputation and real estate taxes relative to nearby towns and cities. Many towns and cities have multiple schools for each grade level, and it is rare for them to be considered equal, so know whether yours is better for a higher selling price, or not, meaning a potentially lower selling price.

Consider whether your home is uniquely located. Is it within walking distance of a park, which can raise the selling price, or downwind from a sewer treatment facility, which will undoubtedly lower it. Proximity to the local downtown area (particularly those that are especially pedestrian friendly) will let you add a generous premium to your selling price, as will being conveniently located to commuter trains and bus stations if you are in a "bedroom community" near a large city.

Even within your town, there is likely a few different socioeconomic sections, so it is important to honestly consider where your home is located. If your home is more modest, but in a "good" area, then you may be able to sell your home for more money than you would otherwise - but if your home is located in a less reputable area, or if your home is more luxurious than neighboring houses, you likely will have to lower your expected selling price as a result.

Size Matters: Make sure that you are comparing your home to similarly sized homes - especially the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. If your home has a finished basement, an extra garage, screen in porch, or enclosed sun room, then you likely will be able to price your home higher than others on similar sized lots in the same town. Similarly, the size of your lot may matter.

Bigger is better - though homes on a corner lot may suffer a decrease in value, since potential buyers may be turned off by the prospect of shoveling three times as much snow from the sidewalk as on another property. Many towns also will not let homes built on street corners have their yards fenced in close to the street to give drivers the best possible view of their turns. This "dead space" still has to be mowed, and is still part of property tax calculations, but cannot be enjoyed by the prospective home owner, and so even though corner lots are often larger, this will not raise your home's selling price.

Extras: If you have recently updated your kitchen or bathrooms with luxurious fixtures or materials, like granite counter tops, an extra oven, hot tub, or stainless steel appliances, then your home is worth more. Remember, though, that if you opted for brighter, bolder colors, than your renovations' value may be diminished, since not every buyer will be enamored of lime green tiled back splashes in the kitchen or a stark, all white color scheme. A new home owner can paint over even the brightest walls, but kitchens and bathrooms are more expensive to adjust to personal taste. On the other hand, if your kitchen is still sporting the original 1972 appliances, and our bathroom is outfitted in red Formica, then even the most favorably located property's potential selling price will be devalued since the buyer will expect to sink considerable amounts of money into remodeling these spaces.

The Outside Matters Too: Don't forget to do an honest self-assessment of your home's exterior (unless you are in a townhouse or condo community where the exterior is part of a monthly maintenance fee). Before buying your home, potential buyers will insist on an inspection that will turn up any flaws in your heating or air conditioning systems, problems with the plumbing, washer, dryer, and even chimney so you would be wise to find them out first. If you are handy and can repair them yourself, it can raise the selling price significantly to show a home that is fully functioning, instead of one that is a "fixer upper", since those are seen as prime for discounts by home buyers.