Sizing Up the Competition: Will
Home Sell at Its Asking Price?

Editor's Note: This is the second installment of "Hitting the Market," a feature by columnist Jane Hodges that details her attempt to sell her Seattle home.

Friends have asked me if I considered skipping using a local real-estate agent and selling my Seattle home on my own or marketing my house through locally based companies Redfin.com, an online real-estate brokerage, or Zillow.com  instead of going through the local Multiple Listings Service.

If I had sold a home before or had a better financial cushion to tide me over should my efforts fail, I might have entertained trying a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) transaction or some other form of sale. I personally know investors who successfully sell on their own.

But my boyfriend and I have already committed to buying a new house -- a move that puts pressure on me to sell my place expediently. Before our purchase, we asked Samantha MacIntosh, the Prudential Northwest real-estate agent I used when buying my place in 2004, to help me sell it. It makes sense to enlist her, since she is familiar with my home's quirks and because she serves clients in my property's $400,000 and under price category (and is familiar with rival inventory).

Though I'm typically adventurous with my money, I'm old-school about real estate. I don't have confidence in my ability to get a fine-tuned read on the market or have a network of contractors and service folks at the ready to prepare my home for the market, as my agent does. (I am grateful for her referrals to a plumber, lawn-care pro, electrician, duct cleaner and stager. My agent also includes staging, window and carpet cleaning and a general house cleaning in her fee.)

Despite the availability of online home-valuation and marketing tools such as Housefront.com, Cyberhomes.com and RealEstateABC.com, I'd rather have an agent price my home to (hopefully) move it quickly instead of doing it myself and chance paying carrying costs while an experiment with self-selling lingers.

Ms. MacIntosh is quick and intuitive, a foil to my over-analytical tendencies. When shopping three years ago, I quickly warmed to my house -- the second one she showed me (meaning she quickly intuited and "got" the sort of home I wanted) -- but she happily let me exercise my itch to research by taking me to dozens more homes until I was "sure" about the house.

I trust her judgment on homes -- and pricing acumen. When we first discussed selling my home in March, Ms. MacIntosh said we could list it for $375,000, possibly more. (This puts my home at about $252 per square foot -- with 1,490 square feet, excluding my utility room.) We ultimately listed at $374,950.

During the three months leading up to my listing, Ms. MacIntosh forwarded me links to homes for sale that are similar to mine. In early May, she sent me links to two houses in my area that seemed like valid price comparisons at the time, and still are, now that we're in mid June.

The first home, a small 1950s ranch house, has only 930 square feet. It offers three bedrooms, one bathroom, a fireplace and an attached garage. Located about four blocks south of my place, it's in an area that lacks sidewalks but has a forest-like setting. The house backs to the Longfellow Creek Trail, a shady public walking path that weaves in and out of West Seattle neighborhoods for about five miles as it follows a small creek. The trail is carefully maintained by local volunteers. The home was priced at $344,950 or approximately $371 per square foot -- a high price tag for privacy. The price has since dropped to $334,950 ($172 per square foot), and its listing notes that the property is zoned for up to three lots -- indicating its teardown potential.

The second, billed as a 1906 "remodeled farmhouse," is painted a cheery red and has a slight view of the city and a public golf course. It is spacious with 1,950 square feet and three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fireplace and a detached carport. While out walking last year, I got into a chat with a homeowner who lives across the street from this property, and she told me that the home had been through a fire and was swiftly rebuilt. The house's $355,000 asking price placed it at $182 per square foot -- which seemed like a bargain, but I wonder if an inspection will air flaws.

The farmhouse looks welcoming, even if it's on a steep street. The road also doesn't have sidewalks and connects my neighborhood with a new housing development that is tasteful but, some say, uncharacteristically dense and suburban-looking for West Seattle. The home is flanked by a pair of "skinny" homes under construction on tiny lots.

Unfortunately, the home next door to mine sits vacant while its contractor-owner debates whether to remodel the house and move into it himself with his family, or prepare it for an investment resale. He hires mowers, etc., to keep up its appearance. The other neighboring home is a well-maintained bungalow, owned by the same family for more than 30 years.

Still, my house, despite its more than 60% price appreciation since I bought it if I get my asking price, is a bargain at its listing price, even in an affordable part of town. In May 2007, the median home-sale price in King County, where Seattle is located, was $469,000, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. "Starter" homes are now considered to be those that are at or below $400,000.

"I don't think your home will be on the market long," Ms. MacIntosh says. I hope she's right, as I ponder the most recent comparable listings she sent me in May -- two have sold above their asking prices, while one sold for its asking price. The others remain on the market. With news reports about rising inventory in Seattle, I wonder how my home -- not matter how well-maintained -- will fare.

-- Ms. Hodges is a a free-lance writer in Seattle.

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