Home Selling

In today’s market, buyers are increasingly savvy with unlimited access to information and many are represented by a professional Buyer’s Agent to help them negotiate price and terms.  Housing inventory is increasing so competition is stiff.  Working together, we can make sure your home gets the attention it needs to stand out.  Your job is to make your home open, bright, and clean—as close to a “model” home as possible.  My job is to “tell the world” , work to gain maximum market exposure, and to use my negotiating skills to your benefit.

LOCATION

•The pricing of your home must reflect its location.  The better the location, the higher the acceptable price.  School districts, high or low traffic,  highway accessibility, and  condition/type of surrounding homes all need to be considered in determining the value of your home’s location.  Location is not something we can change, but we will do our best to highlight the positives and downplay the negatives.

CONDITION

•The pricing of your home must accurately reflect its condition.  The general upkeep and presentation of your home is critical to obtaining the highest value for your home.  Nature of the roof, plumbing, carpets, and paint all relate to condition.  Another good rule when listing –  If we can smell it…we can’t sell it! 🙂

MARKET

•Recession, inflation, interest rates, mortgage availability, competition, and the public’s perception of the general economy all make up the market.  It may be a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.  The pricing of your home must reflect the current nature of the market because we cannot influence the market.  We can, however, take advantage of the market.

TERMS

•The more financing terms and options you accept, the more potential buyers there will be for your property.  The pricing of your home must reflect the terms available.  The easier the terms, the more valuable your property becomes.  My trusted mortgage professionals are always standing by to assist as well with a variety of loan product that may assist a potential buyer in purchase of your home.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT AGENT

•Choose an agent with market experience,   a track record of trusting relationships with agents and clients,  a good understanding of the market,  a marketing strategy for your home, and excellent communication and negotiation skills.

PRICE and the RIGHT AGENT are probably the two most important factors in the sale of your home.•The consequences of making the wrong decision are painful. If you price your home too low, you will literally give away thousands of dollars that could have been in your pocket.

•Price it too high, and your home will sit unsold for months, developing the reputation of a problem property.  Even though there may be no issue with your home at all, buyers will wonder.  I prefer to start my showings by highlighting all of the great features, not explaining why the house hasn’t sold yet.

•Failure to understand market conditions and properly price your home can cost you thousands of dollars and/0 cause your home not to sell.  Let your home become a “house for sale” and distance yourself emotionally from how much it has meant to you over the years.  Do not impair good financial decisions by making emotional ones.

•Setting the proper asking price for your home is the single biggest factor that will determine the success (or failure) of your home sale.

•Utilizing the latest computer technology and my knowledge of the housing market, I will analyze current market conditions in combination with your personal time requirements to identify the best price range for your home.

BUYERS DETERMINE HOME VALUES!

•What you paid for your property does not effect its value.

•The amount of money you need to get out of the sale of your property does not effect its value.

•What you think it should be worth because your neighbor sold for “x” last year has no effect on today’s value.

•What another real estate agent says your property is worth does not affect its value.

•An appraisal does not always indicate what your property is worth on the open market.

•The value of your property is determined by what a ready willing and able buyer will pay for it in the open market, which will be based upon the value of other recent closed sales, the amount of available inventory, rates and other variable.   BUYERS DETERMINE VALUE!!

•DO NOT automatically list with the agent that suggest that you list for the highest price.  Look at the data used to determine that list price – would it seem reasonable to you if you were a buyer?

BENEFITS of PROPER PRICING

•FASTER SALE:  The proper price gets a faster sale, which means you save on mortgage payments, real estate taxes, insurance, and other carrying costs.

•LESS INCONVENIENCE: As you may know, it takes a lot of time and energy to prepare your home for showings, keep the property clean, make arrangements for children and pets, and generally alter your lifestyle. Proper pricing shortens market time.

DRAWBACKS of OVERPRICING

•REDUCES ACTIVITY: Agents won’t show the property if they feel it is priced too high.

•LOWER ADVERTISING RESPONSE: Buyer excitement will be with other properties that offer better value.

•LOSS OF INTERESTED BUYERS: The property will seem inferior in amenities to other properties in the same price range that are correctly priced.

•ATTRACTS THE WRONG PROSPECTS: Serious buyers will feel that they should be getting more for their money.

•HELPS THE COMPETITION: The high price makes the others look like a good deal.

•ELIMINATES OFFERS: Since a fair priced offer will be lower than asking price and may insult the seller, many buyers will just move on to another property.

•CAUSES APPRAISAL PROBLEMS: Appraisers must base their value on what comparable properties have sold for.

•LOWER NET PROCEEDS: Most of the time an overpriced property will eventually end up selling for less than if it had been properly priced to begin with, not to mention the extra carrying costs.

•INCREASED SALESPERSON RESPONSE: When salespeople are excited about a property and its price, they make special efforts to contact all their potential buyers and show the property whenever possible.

•EXPOSURE TO MORE PROSPECTS: Pricing at market value will open your home up to more people who can afford it.

•BETTER RESPONSE FROM MARKETING: Buyer inquiry calls and on-line showings are more readily converted into showing appointments when the price is not a deterrent.

•HIGHER OFFERS: When a property is priced right, buyers are much less likely to make a low offer, for fear of losing out on a great value.  Multiple offers are also likely when the property is listed at or below market value resulting in a selling price higher than the asking price.

•MORE MONEY TO SELLERS: When a property is priced right, the excitement of the market produces a higher sales price in less time. You NET more due to the higher sales price and lower carrying costs.