Don't get your pricing info from property ads

If you're selling your home, you should not make the mistake of setting the asking price for you home based on the adverts you may see for similar properties in your area, because these are not reliable as an indicator of current market conditions.

 For a start, they don't show how long a property has been on the market at a particular price, which would be useful to know since it might indicate buyer resistance at a certain level.

In addition, adverts won't reveal if a property is exactly comparable to yours. Even in a complex or an estate with very similar homes, some will have additional features that could persuade prospective buyers to pay more, or specific drawbacks that would make buyers inclined to pay less.

And the truth of the matter is that very few sellers end up selling for their initial asking price. According to the latest FNB Property Barometer, the average discount now necessary to achieve a sale is 9%, except in the affordable sector where it is 13%.

Thanks to the interest rate increases that have reduced affordability this year, it is also taking longer to achieve sales, with the average listing time in the third quarter being 71 days, compared to 67 days in the previous quarter. 

So if you want to sell for the highest possible price in the shortest possible time, you should rather consult a qualified, experienced agent in your area who is able to provide the very latest market intelligence, including the actual sale prices of similar properties.

These statistics are likely to be similar to those used by bank assessors when evaluating a property prior to granting a home loan, and they will be your best guide to setting an asking price calculated to attract the maximum number of prospective buyers.

It is also worth noting that buyers are much more in touch with market conditions and cycles than they used to be, and much more value-conscious, to the point where they will simply ignore a property that they deem to be overpriced for the area.

This is why sellers should never just award a mandate to the agent who gives them the highest sale price estimate - unless they are prepared for their property to languish on the market, getting increasingly "shop soiled" until they either withdraw it or lower the price drastically to finally achieve a sale.  

It is also why good agents will always take a stand against overpricing, by providing the correct information and advising sellers honestly that they will not get more than the market dictates, and refusing to engage in a price estimate "bidding war" just to secure a mandate.