This starts with employing what I call the Four "P's" of marketing: preparation, pricing, planning and process.
Proper preparation has to do with giving the best first impression possible given constraints of time, money and circumstances. I coach my clients that prospective buyers and their agents usually spend but a few minutes forming their opinions of your home so it's important to ask the following important questions quickly:
- is it competitively priced?
- does it have a clean/shows-well appearance?
- does it offer or add what I call "value" to the marketplace?
Since markets do change, being competitively priced is important because you need a buyer's agent phoning their client to say "we gotta see this one" and prospective buyers searching online for a new home to basically say the same thing! I consistently research market trends to develop the best marketing strategy to get your home sold in the quickest amount of time and for the most money.
For your home's appearance you need only put yourselves into a buyer's mindset to see where there can be improvements made and remember to not overlook the negative things! I advise you on the appropriate high-payback items to make your home market-ready and coach you that how you live in your home is not how you show it! Depending upon the situation, I may recommend differing levels of home staging from accessorizing (complimentary service to my clients) through partial or full staging using an accredited home staging professional I've worked with. I've built up an impressive array of trades people to refer my clients to for virtually anything you might want to do to maintain or market your home.
Think of "adding value" to the market as not just merely a reduction in price but features or benefits your home offers that "showcases" your home and differentiates it from others. For example, features would be remodeled kitchen/bath. Benefits would be better schools and community offerings. I ask questions to quickly learn of other features and benefits not apparent to a quick glance or tour. When advising clients to make changes, I'm careful to work within their budget and/or time constraints. I look for high-payback items designed to increase your net -- otherwise, why do them.
Proper planning and an effective process are the only ways to assure you get the most out of marketing your home -- that is, the highest net (or what I call "walkaway capital") that the market has to offer. I advise my clients how to balance time and money to accomplish their chief goals of obtaining the highest net within the least amount of time and do so smoothly. To that end, I advise you to begin any negotiating from a position of strength rather than a position of weakness as so many sellers do. The structure of this advice is held in a customized, comprehensive marketing plan and strategy that are crucial to the successful outcome of your sale.
The main marketing elements of my plan are the use of: traditional and new-technology based online approaches.
To learn more about me, please click the My Background link under my photo in the right column.
I was awarded the designation Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) because of my experience and education in dealing with seniors as their transactions tend to be more complicated due to their large equity positions and tax exposure. I advise my clients to obtain the legal, tax, loan, financial planning input before making a decision to sell as it may be in their best interests NOT to sell. If they don't have a trusted expert in these areas, I refer them to a professional. The only compensation I receive for these and other professional or trade referrals is the satisfaction that I've helped someone seek to be better informed and ultimately make a better decision for themselves.
Please give me a call at 408-830-0092 to include me when you're ready to interview agents or just to meet and get to know each other better. If you have questions or feedback, feel free to leave me a comment.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment