Regardless of what real estate market you are in, there are 3 things, and 3 things ONLY, that sell a home:
1. Price
2. Condition
3. Exposure
Contrary
to what real estate agents would like you to believe, one of the 3
things is NOT the real estate agent you've hired to sell your home.
When
thinking of selling or your home you have some choices as to how you go
about it. Being Realtors, we understand the perspective from the real
estate professional. Real estate agents are in the business of
brokering sales of real property—that’s how they earn their living. Since
competition is fierce, especially given the current economy, some
Realtors feel they must “fool” the public into thinking that they are
the better choice when it comes to selling real estate properties.
However, truth in fact, the Realtor's job is actually between CONTRACT
and CLOSING…this is when the proverbial rubber meets the road, so to
speak. The act of bringing the Buyer to the table is actually dependent
on the property itself (not necessarily the listing agent), AND, 3
important factors regarding that property --they are:
(1) Price; (2) Condition; (3) Exposure
Before
we expand on our discussion here, let’s first break down those three
factors since they are key in your understanding of selling your home:
(1) PRICE
– You get only one chance to price a property correctly – at the very
beginning of when you offer it for sale. Property priced too high won’t
get the attention it needs to move it swiftly. As
time passes, the listing becomes “stale” and buyers will be able to
take advantage of the situation by under bidding and ultimately,
getting the property for perhaps less than a good starting price might
have yielded. This is a common issue that arises with sellers on almost
every home we list for sale. Sellers in most cases feel their property
is worth more—because to them it is—but not necessarily to a
prospective buyer. A home priced correctly doesn’t mean under market—it
simply means at fair market value to a potential buyer—it’s a delicate
balance and the help of a seasoned real estate professional is
certainly warranted at this juncture.
(2) CONDITION –
The term condition covers not only the exterior and interior condition
of the property itself but, also the condition of the surrounding area
or, in other words, the “location”. For
example, is the home in a nice, well-kept residential neighborhood that
is highly sought after due to the school district, proximity to
conveniences, etc.? Or, is it in a rural area or an industrial area?
All of these fall under what buyers view as the “condition” of the
home. When selling your home, it must be in its best possible
condition. Not only will this greatly affect the price—it also plays
into the amount of time your home will remain on the market. Again, it
goes back to only getting one chance to make that first impression, be
it with price and condition. Our advice to sellers is ALWAYS to get the
home in tip-top shape PRIOR to listing! Too many times we see sellers
making the mistake of listing their home for sale while work is in
progress to get it in condition to show to prospective buyers. This is
one of the biggest mistakes you can make in selling your home—right up
there with pricing it incorrectly. The bottom line is—spend some time
making your home show-ready. We suggest you review our SELLER’S TIPS for making your property ready to go to market.
(3) EXPOSURE
– The third factor in selling your home is probably the most important
of the three. You might have priced the property correctly and its
condition is superb but, unless you have the optimum exposure for your
property, how will prospective buyers even know it’s for sale? This is
one of the areas that real estate agents, in their quest to rise to the
top of the pack, tend to fool the public into thinking that THEY are
what’s needed to sell the property. In truth, ANY real estate
professional can assist with the exposure of your property. Exposure
is simplistic really – in today’s internet age, besides of course
signage at the property, the best place to advertise your property for
sale is on the World Wide Web! Simple as it sounds—the latest
statistics from NAR (National Association of Realtors) published in
January 2009 show that 92% of all buyers begin their search ON-LINE.
That’s a staggering number! Therefore, getting your property out there
in the eyes of 92% of the buying population at any given time is all
you need in the way of exposure for your property.
This
is the area where real estate agents try to dazzle potential sellers
into doing business with them by showing statistics of the number of
properties they’ve sold over the last number of months, how their
marketing is superior to that of their competition’s, how they will
work harder to drive buyers to your property, how they sell homes
faster, for more money, etc., etc., etc…..we’ve seen many of the slick
ads and read the letters they send to expired listings and for sale by
owners. It’s all a bunch of hype, really. Real estate agents don’t want
you to know that you don’t need them to bring a buyer for your real
estate property. What you DO need them for is
everything that occurs from the point of the potential buyer showing an
interest in your property to closing. This goes back to “Contract to
Closing” that we discussed earlier. Seasoned Real estate agents have
experience in negotiating the contract to best protect you, the seller.
And GOOD real estate agents will stay on top of every detail (and there
are a lot of details to be sure) that needs to occur to make the deal
go to closing. For a behind the scenes detailed look at the details
handled by the real estate that can potentially occur as well as those
that must occur in every real estate transaction see our report
entitled “Contract to Closing”.
One
of the biggest misconceptions that the public has about real estate
agents is that they believe that the agent who has the sign in the yard
of the home is the one responsible for the sale of that home. That may
be true on occasion but, more often than not, it’s a buyer’s agent who
is actually responsible for selling that home. So,
if you see a lot of “FOR SALE” and “SOLD” signs in an area with the
same real estate agent’s name on them, it doesn’t mean that the agent
whose name is on the sign is the “best” there is for selling homes in
that area – it simply shows that he or she is good at getting sellers
to LIST their properties with him/her. Thanks to the MLS (Multiple
Listing Service) that just about every city in the US has, any real
estate agent can show and sell that home – it’s actually a great thing
for you as a seller – it just means that you have literally THOUSDANDS
of agents working to sell your home.
The
list agent comes out looking like the king or queen of that area –
however, with a closer look, you’ll see that the “selling agent” is
more times than not, someone other than the list agent. List agents
don’t want you to know this!
If
there is anything we would like you to take away from this article,
it’s that hiring a real estate professional to assist you with the sale
of your real estate property is certainly a prudent choice. However, we
want you to understand that all real estate agents are not created
equal. You may feel this is contrary to what
we said earlier when we stated that “any real estate agent can assist
with the exposure of your home”. That is true.
However, there are good, seasoned agents out there that are
technologically savvy and would better serve you when it comes to
getting your home exposed to as many buyers as possible. Also, good
seasoned agents will better serve you when dealing with the rest of the
transaction that goes beyond the exposure and bringing the buyer—again
the “Contract to Closing” negotiations and details. For more
information on selecting a real estate agent and what specific
questions to ask during the interview process see our report entitled,
“Before You Select a Realtor". www.NeighborhoodExaminer.com
Melanie & Jed DeHaven