We'll Refer You to the Best Listing Agent For Your Needs
Though
we do not list property for sale, because we represent buyers exclusively -
we DO help home sellers select the best listing agent for their needs.
Each day - we run across listing agents that put up a good fight for their seller - and some, that don't put up much of a fight at all. There are listing agents who have lots of listings in communities - because they do what is called "buying the listing." That means - that they give the seller a higher figure than other agents quote for market value - even though it isn't reasonable. Then - they do price reductions perhaps a month down the line. Had the property been priced correctly to begin with - statistics show that sellers get more money when that happens.... (But the got the listing didn't they? Telling the seller what they wanted to hear...instead of what is right..)
Some agents list for sales prices that are way above real list price - over and over again. We see it in their statistics! But you - the public doesn't know it!
And some agents (many times - the ones that send you the most "junk mail") - are poor negotiators. We see it in their statistics!
As a service to the home seller - we research agents in your area (their statistics via the MLS system - something the public can't access), and interview the agents about what they would do for you. We might even sit in on their listing presentation - and help evaluate which agent will work the best for you - and which agent has done a comparable analysis that is the closest to reality...
We know who's blowing smoke and who isn't! "Top agent" doesn't mean an agent that has listed the most homes - as that is irrelevant. In fact - it might be a major drawback. They might be so busy or have inexperienced "team members" handling things for them - that you never even hear from them!
Most important is list price to sale price ratio, lower market-times, and other factors we assess. Some agents may only do 12 deals per year - but they may put a lot of time and energy into each listing. Some may have great brochures - and some may have awful brochures. Some may have a history of errors in their past listing sheets - some may not. Some may include more data in listing sheets (making the property more likely to be found in the system) while others may include very sparse data....
Wouldn't you like to REALLY KNOW? Don't pick an agent by who sends you the most junk mail!!! Don't pick an agent that is "friend referred." (Are they really the expert?? Just because an agent may have done ok once - means nothing.... They may have just "lucked out." Why not have all of their statistics checked?) (It is sort of like having a background check on someone before you hire them - or marry them!)
This service costs you nothing, as we receive compensation from the listing firm for referring you (if your home actually sells)!
Get this......We not only do the research to find the best listing agent for you ---- we provide free professional home preparation tips as well. (We know what helps a house sell - and what doesn't.....we work with home buyers each day, and we know what they like.)
The only thing that really matters is being in the MLS, having your home priced-right, how well the agent does "agent to agent" marketing (because statistics say that there is more than a 95% chance that an agent other than your listing agent will bring the buyer) and having it professionally "staged" for sale.
If you don't have it "staged" - you are leaving a lot of money on the table!!
When you are in the grocery store - when you see a dented can of soda - which soda can do you want? Which one do you want to have discounted? Your home needs to be professionally packaged.... When you are shopping for a used car - do you want to discount it for having more dings?
It is a STATISTICAL FACT that the ADVERTISEMENTS that listing agents run do LITTLE TO NOTHING to help sell your home! In fact -- for all the huge money that an agent spends in advertising your home - there is less than a 2% effectiveness rate!!!
So why do they waste your money on ineffective advertising? Becuase it draws "buyer leads" to them (financed by your money!)
Not bad to have someone else (you the seller) pay for advertising that doesn't really help sell your property - but gives you more clients eh?
It is a STATISTICAL FACT that the OPEN HOUSES that listing agents run do LITTLE TO NOTHING to help sell your home. They just draw "buyer leads" to the listing agent.
It is a STATISTICAL FACT that the YARD SIGN that listing agents put in front of your home - does LITTLE TO NOTHING (but more than signs and ads) to help sell your home. It generally just draws "buyer leads" to the listing agent via "sign calls" (financed in-part by the commission that the agent receives.)
You should demand results from your agent's expenditures - instead of giving them free marketing dollars of yours so that they can augment the number of "buyer leads!!" they have!
You get your car professionally detailed before you sell it - don't you? Your home is worth 20X+ the value of your car and deserves the same treatment. How could you even think of not having your home professionally prepared for sale? Yet over 90% of all homeowners have their home listed in an un-staged condition. Listing agents don't have a clue (they think they do - and they will tell you that they do - but they don't) about how to professionally stage a home. This is a field where experts make all the difference.
If you are paying a full service commission when you list - shouldn't you receive full service marketing? The most important thing you can do when you sell is to have your home professional "merchandised." Normally - professional home staging (which sellers typically pay out-of-pocket) can cost you anywhere between $500-$5,000 or more. (For expensive listings over $1 million dollars - the cost can be $10,000 and up)
(We have a method where the staging costs you and the agent - nothing out of pocket.....)
Did you know that home-staging can help you achieve a 3-6% better sales price and/or a much quicker sale? Netting 5% more on the sale of a $300,000 home is $15,000 extra in your pocket at closing! Not a bad thing to have....
Other than having a great negotiator on your side, home staging is the most effective thing that you can do to increase your final sales price, and minimize your chances of any price reductions.
You need to think of your house as a marketable commodity. It is property - Real Estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours. If you do not have your home professionally prepared in this manner, you can inadvertently create a situation where it takes longer to sell your property - or your homes sells for less - with un-wanted, and un-needed price reductions.
Your home gets professionally prepared - without the hassles and added expense of you taking the time to do it - as your time is money. Also - you don't want to unintentionally improve or spend money on things things that really don't need to be improved. Some things net a positive return - and others don't. A professional knows the difference.
| Your return on home-improvement investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source - HomeGain. HomeGain surveyed 2,000 real estate agents nationwide and found that moderately priced home improvements, ranging from $80 to $2,800, made in preparation for sale actually yield the highest returns when a house is sold.
Though
you can do the some of following ahead of time, yourself - we urge you to wait
until a professional "stager" sees your property - as there may be
some things that you think you need to do - that you really don't - and things
you don't think you need to do - that you do. Why GUESS and throw money down
the drain?? As the homeowner - it is difficult, if not impossible, to see your
home through the eyes of what a potential buyer would really want.
Do the Minor Repairs -- Note - if you have to do minor repairs - you are unlikely to recoup much of the cost of your repairs in the form of a higher sales price, since buyers are unlikely to pay you a premium for maintenance you should have been doing all along. Yet not making the fixes may turn off buyers altogether - especially as they are revealed from the home inspection.
Consider a Pre-sale Inspection -- Hiring your own inspector before you put your home on the market can alert you to problems you didn’t know about, giving you a chance to fix them before they complicate -- or ruin -- a potential sale.
Remodeling is typically for buyers, not sellers -- Major renovations usually don’t pay for themselves, let alone add enough value for you to make a profit. Why would you want to go through the hassle and the expense right before you move? Concentrate instead on smaller fixes with bigger impact, and let your buyers remodel to suit themselves. Your Life/Stylist can help.
Though you can do some of the following first - you may end up de-cluttering things that really need to be left out - or leaving items in the open that really need to be put away. It is best to use the services of a professional. Especially - when it doesn't cost you anything out of pocket - and the Real Estate agent picks it up....
Declutter -- Decluttering is hardest thing for most people to do because they are emotionally attached to everything in the house. You need to move anyway - so you might as well start packing early... After years of living in the same home, clutter collects in such a way that may not be evident to the homeowner. However, it does affect the way buyers see the home, even if you do not realize it. The kitchen is a good place to start removing clutter, because it is an easy place to start. Get everything off the counters. Find a place where you can store things. The dishes, pots and pans that rarely get used? Put them in a box and put that box in storage.
Many times - homebuyers will open all your cabinets and drawers, especially in the kitchen. They want to be sure there is enough room for their "stuff." If your kitchen cabinets, pantries, and drawers look jammed full, it sends a negative message to the buyer and does not promote an image of plentiful storage space. The best way to do that is to have as much "empty space" as possible.
Closets are great for accumulating clutter, though you may not think of it as clutter. Many people have too much furniture in certain rooms – not too much for your own personal living needs – but too much to give the illusion of space that a homebuyer would like to see. You may want to tour some builders’ models to see how they place furniture in the model homes. Observe how they place furniture in the models so you get some ideas on what to remove and what to leave in your house. Basements, garages, attics, and sheds accumulate not only clutter, but junk. These areas should be as empty as possible so that buyers can imagine what they would do with the space. Remove anything that is not essential and take it to the storage area. Or have a garage sale.
You want potential buyers to picture themselves living in your home instead of being distracted by your personal effects. Consider renting a temporary storage space rather than stuffing your packed boxes in your closets or garage, which will make them look smaller.
Work on the exterior last -- There are two main reasons for this. First, the first steps in preparing the interior of the house are easier. Also - working on the interior helps you develop the proper mind set required for selling - beginning to think of your "home" as a marketable commodity. A homebuyer’s first impression is based on his or her view of the house from the real estate agent’s car. They call that first impression "curb appeal." Take a walk across the street and take a good look at your house. Look at nearby houses, too, and see how yours compares. You may even want to tour homes on the market in your neighborhood, to see what your competition looks like. Then it may be time to go to work.
Interviewing Listing Agents -- Most people schedule appointments with just one or two agents. Perhaps those that hung the most stuff on your front doorknob for years - or who mailed you the most "Bears Calendars."
Each Realtor comes prepared with a "Competitive Market Analysis" on fancy paper and they each recommend a specific sales price. A one of the Realtors comes up with a price that are lower than you expected. Although this agent backs up their recommendations with recent sales data of similar homes, you remain convinced your house is worth more. When you interview the second agent, they are much more in line with your own anticipated value, or maybe even higher. Suddenly, you are a happy and excited home seller, already counting the money.
If you are like many people, you pick Realtor number two. This is an agent who seems willing to listen to your input and work with you. This is an agent that cares about putting the most money in your pocket. This is an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if you need to drop the price later, you can do that easily, right? After all, everyone else does it! The truth is that you may have just met an agent engaging in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing." They "bought" the listing by suggesting you might be able to get a higher sales price than the other agents recommended. It is quite doubtful that your home will actually sell at that price.
Why do some agents "buy" listings this way? There are basically two reasons. A well-meaning and hard working agent can feel pressure from a homeowner who has an inflated perception of his home’s value. On the other hand, there are some agents who engage in this sales practice routinely.
The intention from the beginning is to eventually talk you into lowering the price. Because your home was not priced right from the start - it almost always sells for less than it would have if it had been priced right. Why is this? Because most showings of any home occur during the first few weeks. If a home gets the reputation that it is overpriced - it will receive many less showings than if it had been priced right to begin with. Homes that sit on the market get a "stigma" - and they end up for selling for much less than they would of had they been priced right in the first place.
If you start out with a high sales price, then drop it later -- your house is "old news." You will never be able to recapture that flurry of initial activity you would have had with a realistic price. Your house takes longer to sell. Potential buyers will think you might be getting desperate, so they will make lower offers. By overpricing your home in the beginning, you could actually end up settling for a lower price than you would have normally received.
In short, you may have ended up with an agent who was good at selling you, but not good at selling your house. (In fact - listing agents typically don't "sell" your house - some other agent does..) And you’re going to pay them a commission for it. It is human nature for you to want the highest price for your home. However, when you choose the agent who promises what you want to hear, it often leads to stress and frustration. Most of the time, it will take you longer to sell your home. Possibly, you will end up selling at a lower price instead.
How Homes Really Sell -- 99%+ of the time - is is not the listing agent that sells your house! Though the listing agents tout how they are gurus at marketing your house through advertising (including placing it online at various web sites and with "virtual tours"), and how great of a marketer they are - it is NOT their advertising that sells your house. Their advertisements are designed to attract buyer calls. The ads don't sell your house. Agents running queries of the MLS system and showing their buyer clients the homes that meet their criteria - and then comparing them - and picking the "best product for the best price" - is what sells the house! While an agent may market your home to other agents - that may help slightly - but it is the "law of attraction" via the MLS system that will bring buyers to your home (the right house, at the right price.) In the current "buyer's market" - the best way to market your home and have it sell - is to professionally "merchandise" it - PERIOD - and the best way to select an agent - is to not leave it up to chance -- have us research their statistics and refer them to you! Call 847-566-7558 to get the ball rolling!
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