Pricing a home is one of the toughest things I do as a real estate agent. It's an art, much like hitting a curveball or knowing what shoes to wear with skinny jeans. And like these examples, it's wrought with pain if done incorrectly.

An asking price too high can, after a messy bout of price drops, cause the home to sell for less than market value. Yet a price too low may cause you to miss financial gain.

You  may assume the best approach to pricing is to list higher than you expect to receive, like listing for $350,000 but really expecting $340,000. This may have been true in past markets, but in today's climate with homes selling in single digit days, pricing at (or even below) the true market value could sell your home for more than market value. Why? This price point will attract the most buyers, increase marketing momentum, and increase the chances of receiving competing offers. Activity is strongest for a new listing within the first 2.5 weeks. Testing the market with a high price can neutralize those early buyers.

So how do you correctly come to a price? One way is to pay for an appraisal, which cost between $350 and $600 for residential properties. Appraisers will consider several comparable properties that have recently sold. The appraisal you order as a homeowner, however, will be good only for your informational purposes; lending institutions will order their own appraisal, generally paid for by the buyer.

Another approach to understand the true market value of your home is to ask a REALTOR® to conduct a competitive market analysis, or CMA. The CMA is a side-by-side comparison of homes for sale and homes that have recently sold in your neighborhood and price range. This information is further sorted by data such as type of home, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, lot size, property condition, and so on. In my CMAs, I also consider types of probable financing, time frame, sale price to list price ratio, and closing cost help. The CMA shows estimated market value, based on past sales, pending sales and homes recently put on the market. And it's free.

"We needed to sell my parent's home after my mom's passing, and really didn't know what the market would bring for her brick rancher," said Alice Rulapaugh from Annville. "In preparing to sell, we had the home appraised six months prior to listing it, but we were really surprised to see from a market analysis just days before listing that the market had shifted a bit, in our favor. Without the competitive analysis, we probably would have left money on the table."

Alice makes a great point: The market is constantly changing. If you're planning to list your home next month and create the CMA or order an appraisal today, keep watching  the market! Data can instantly become obsolete by a new listing or a change of status in  a comparable home. New listings, pending sales, closed sales, and expired listings pop up daily. A CMA from several weeks ago may not hold true today.

If you're planning to list your home, get professional help! Start talking with someone you trust, someone with local experience, intuition, market knowledge and guts. Depend on him/her to steer you right. A blundered price will cost you time and money and, like  that curve ball or fashion misstep, will leave a bruise.

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions. As always, I'm here to help, making your life better!

Eileen S. Voyles is a REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. She can be reached at 717- 508-4610, evoyles@homesale.com.

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