Selling a home: price it right, and keep what's yours

01Price it right, not high

Price is the single biggest lever you control, and the most common mistake is reaching for a number that flatters you. An overpriced home sits, goes stale, and almost always sells for less than a well-priced one, buyers wonder what's wrong with it, and the eventual price cut signals weakness.

Set the price on evidence, not hope. Your agent's comparative market analysis (CMA) leans on recent comparable sales, the closest thing to ground truth. Read it alongside the assessed value and a modeled estimate shown as a range, each with its date, so you know where reality sits.

In a competitive market, pricing at or slightly below the comps can spark multiple offers and drive the final number above asking. Pricing above them does the opposite.

02Choose your listing agent

A listing agent prices the home, markets it, fields and negotiates offers, and steers the paperwork to closing. A flat-fee or discount broker does less for less, useful if you're comfortable driving more of the process yourself.

Interview two or three. Ask for their CMA and the reasoning behind it, their marketing plan (not just "the MLS"), how they handle multiple offers, and their commission, negotiable, and increasingly itemised since recent rule changes. The cheapest commission isn't the goal; your net proceeds are.

03Prep and stage, the 80/20

You don't need to renovate to sell well; you need the home to show at its best. A few high-leverage moves:

• A pre-listing inspection, find problems on your timeline, so they don't blow up the deal during the buyer's inspection.
• Declutter and depersonalise, buyers need to picture themselves there, not tour your life.
• Fix the cheap, visible things, paint, light, leaky taps, curb appeal. Skip the expensive renovations that rarely return their cost.
• A home stager, even light staging helps buyers read the space, and it photographs better.

04Market it to the right buyers

Most buyers meet your home online first, so the listing has to sell before the showing does. That means real photography (the single best marketing dollar you'll spend), often video or a 3D tour, and a listing written for the buyer this home actually fits. Time it thoughtfully, spring is busy but crowded; the right week depends on your market.

Open houses and private showings do the rest. Your agent should have a plan for both, and for the follow-up that turns interest into offers.

05Read the offers, then close

The highest price isn't automatically the best offer. Weigh the whole package: the buyer's financing (cash and a solid pre-approval beat a shaky loan), contingencies (fewer is stronger), the closing timeline, and how much of an appraisal gap they'll cover. A slightly lower, cleaner offer often nets more and actually closes.

Once you accept, you'll respond to the buyer's inspection, navigate the appraisal, and, in Massachusetts and much of the Northeast, close through a real-estate attorney with title and escrow. What you actually walk away with is the sale price minus commission, loan payoff, taxes and closing costs, so ask your agent for a net-proceeds estimate up front.