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Do
you want to know the importance of pricing your home right
the first time? How can the home's price, terms, conditions,
and marketing make the difference in selling vail properties for sale? What should a professional do to help market and sell your
home? Read this report to learn the answers!
Making
the decision to sell your home is an important decision.
Once you have made that decision, you want your home to sell
in the shortest time, at the best price, and without hassles
or problems. You may have asked yourself, What can
I do to help facilitate this process?
One
of the most important things for you and your real estate
professional to do is to look at your home through the
eyes of the buyer. And remember, those eyes
may change from week to week depending upon the availability
of other vail properties. Once you have done this, you and your
real estate professional need to market your home so
that buyers see and feel the benefits and value in ownership
of YOUR home.
So
what is it that a buyer will want? First of all, all home
buyers comparison shop for value. They judge price
and condition against the features and benefits
offered by each of the homes they are considering. Some homes
may be easily eliminated because of poor condition or overpricing.
After the two or three homes with the highest value are identified,
the final selection is usually based on pure emotion.
- Be
aware of your competition. Before you even list your
vail properties for sale, your real estate professional should provide
you with a summary of other properties that have recently
sold, are under contract, and/or are currently listed. An
effective Realtor will be able to tell you how your home
compares to the competition. In other words, your home
might be priced higher than other homes because of the location,
the size, the condition of the property, or features you
have in your home that are not present in others. On the
other hand, your home might need to be priced lower than
other homes because of these very same factors.
- Assess
the condition of your home. When buyers look at several
homes, the condition of each home plays a significant role
in their decision to consider it further. Therefore, you
and your real estate professional should honestly evaluate
the condition of your vail properties for sale. What can you do to improve
the curb appeal and first impressions? Repainting the home,
making sure the lawn is well maintained, cleaning the carpets,
removing any pets from the home when it is being shown,
eliminating any unnecessary furniture, making sure that
basements and garages are not cluttered...these are only
a few of the things you can do to improve the appeal of
the home. Remember...the first impressions are the most
important. Most buyers decide to buy in the first 5 minutes
they are in a home...then they spend the rest of the time
justifying their decision. Many times, you will not
have a second chance to appeal to a buyer. The more concerns
a buyer has with the condition of your home, the less appealing
it becomes, especially if there is another home that is
comparably priced that they are considering. Once you have
assessed the condition of your home, it is important that
you make any repairs or improvements BEFORE you place
it on the market! The first impression for another real
estate agent is just as critical as it is for potential
buyers. Once an agent has shown a property that is in
need of repair, it can be much more difficult to get them
to bring back another buyer to that home.
- Set
the right price the FIRST time. If you price your home
right from the onset, you will minimize the chances of a
buyer not selecting your home simply because of price. The
price that you and your real estate professional have established
often affects both the final sale price and the time that
your property will be on market. If it is fairly priced
and you know there are features that will appeal to a buyer,
it is easier to get them into the home and see for themselves
why this is such a great value and why they should select
it for their next home.
One question to ask a real estate professional when you
are interviewing them to sell your home is to share their
list to sales price ratio and their average days
on market. The lower these numbers are, the better it
is for you...it means that your real estate professional
truly understands the market, and that your goal of selling
your home in the fastest time at the best price is accomplished!
The last thing you want is an agent who suggests you list
a home at a price that does not compete with the current
market. The higher the price, the longer the home will
be on the market, the less appealing it will become to agents
and buyers, and the more frustrated you will become. So
when a real estate agent says they can sell your home for
a certain price, you may want to ask them to prove it!
- What
happens after I sign the listing agreement? Another
question to ask real estate professionals you are considering
is, What will happen after I sign the listing agreement?
If the response is something similar to placing a sign
in the yard and an ad in the paper, you may want to reconsider.
Research shows that, in vail valley, very few individuals
actually buy property from advertisements in the newspaper.
Therefore, you need a real estate professional who knows
how to reach potential buyers.
For The Kleimer Company that includes using the Internet,
a 24-hour, 7 day-a-week, 365 days-a-year hotline for buyers
to easily access vail property information, a strategic plan
for marketing to other real estate agents who might have
a buyer for your home, targeted mailings to potential buyers,
using all forms of the media (television, newspaper, etc.),
in-property flyers for buyers who visit your home, referral
network throughout North America, weekly staff meetings
to review the status and generate new ideas to find a buyer,
monthly mailing to over 6,000 individuals who might be or
might know of someone interested in purchasing your home
and have flyers placed in hotels and businesses throughout
the valley highlighting your property, etc.
- Make
your home easy to show. Many sellers list their homes
and then make it very difficult for agents to show it to
prospective buyers. Although there are times when an agent
has the luxury of 24 to 48 hours to set up a showing, many
times they have an impromptu buyer who wants to look now.
The more accommodating you can be, the more chances you
have of finding the right buyer. So what should you
do? Always keep your home spotless so that it can be easily
shown. Make sure the windows are clean, lights are on, lots
of light comes into the home, the dishes are done, the closets
are clean, that the home smells like a home (perhaps
a pie in the oven, baked bread, or potpourri). And then,
LEAVE THE HOME. Buyers many times want to really
look through a home. Having the seller in the house may
be too intimidating, causing them to go onto another home
they are considering. If showings are being set up through
your real estate agent, ask them how accessible they
are so that agents are able to show the house at virtually
any time. If all they get is an answering machine and
no return phone calls over the weekend, the best buyer may
have been missed!
- So
tell me what's going on. One of the most common complaints
sellers have is that their real estate agent never communicates
with them. They don't know if the house has been shown,
whether there has been any interest, or whether or not there
are changes in the market that are causing the home not
to sell. Again, this is the responsibility of your real
estate professional. An effective agent will send you periodic
updates on the market as well as showing activity, speak
directly with you on a regular basis regarding activities
that are occurring to find the right buyer, and most importantly,
be honest with you. If market conditions change,
you want someone who will be honest with you and
let you know why your home is not being shown or selling.
Homes
do not sell by accident. The sale of your home will be
the direct result of a carefully planned, effectively executed
marketing program that is custom tailored to your home - a
plan that addresses each of the areas presented in this report.
What works for a home in one area may or may not work in another.
You made an important decision when you decided to sell your
home...you deserve to work with professionals who know what
your goal is and want to help you achieve it.
As
you make this very important decision, we encourage you to
ask your real estate professional lots of questions about
how they are going to design a marketing plan that is custom
tailored to your home - and what they are going to do to help
you accomplish your goal... to sell your home in the fastest
time, at the best price, and with no hassles!
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