Greensboro Triad Real Estate Blog

So Do You Really Want To Sell Your Home?

I have been working with some buyers that would love to buy a “mini-farm” with some land and a barn for their horses.  

Now granted that really narrows down the selection when you go from a 3 bedroom & 2 bathroom home to the same with at least 5 acres, pasture land, and a barn.  Now in the same frame of mind as a seller of such a property you really narrow down your market share of buyers since many do not consider a horse a pet that that would like to keep at home.  So with that in mind and if you had someone attempting to make an appointment to see your home would you consistently turn them down.   My buyers have asked to see this home and we have tried on four separate occasions.  We have given as much as 72 hours notice.  Each time they have declined our appointment.  Then on the last attempt the seller notified the appointment desk to tell us there will be no more appointments until otherwise notified.  I have sent emails to the listing agent asking for an explanation or if the home is still for sale or not.  Silence.

If you truly wish to sell your home you must make it as available for buyers to see as possible.

The appointment you turn down could have been the buyer you could have had that day.  I cannot tell you how many times I have taken buyers out and when our showing appointments are declined (after giving at least 24 hour notice) the buyers take it as a sign that the sellers are not motivated to sell so they will not negotiate.  

Set realistic showing instructions and for goodness sake NEGOTIATE

*If you are still living in the home you are selling then set realistic instructions for your agent and whomever is making appointments.  Tell them how much time you need before any showing. 

*Yes you will have those inconsiderate agents that will drive by your home and call as they sit out on the curb to see if they can view your home.  Just be prepared for that.

*Just remember that if you ask for two hours notice straighten up then if you keep it clean  you will not need to clean up.  

*Don’t forget to negotiate hey it is real estate everything is negotiable.  So if they want to come in one hour and you need more time ask if they can come in an hour and half.  Do not just blindly turn away a potential buyer offer a compromise.

Let these buyers know you are motivated to at least open the doors to working out a mutually beneficial deal.  As long as you keep the doors of communication open then the chances of you achieving your goals of selling your home have a greater chance of coming true. 

This blog was first posted at http://totalcarerealty.net/so-do-you-really-want-to-sell-your-home/

OK first things first, what is your motivation for selling your home?  This is a very important question that will determine the direction of the all the decisions made from this point on.  Are you being transferred by your work?  Do you want to move up in the size of your home or, would you like to downsize your home?  Are you know an Empty Nestor?  Can you not handle the payments on your home because of an economic situation at home or work?  As you will notice after this question, it will become apparent as to why this question is so important.

Now for discussion sake we are going to assume that you have to sell your home because of a work transfer. 

Now you can opt to go the rest of the way alone and try the For Sale By Owner route, but beware of alot of pitfalls out there.  I am not going to sit here and tell you that you cannot either there are flat fee brokerages out there that will put your home in the MLS service (that you have to do as a minimum you will see why later).  They may even give you a sign to put out.  If you decide to go that route to "save money" then just be aware that you need to go ahead and decide how much you are going to pay the buyers agent that comes up if his clients want to see your home.  One small note on that as a buyers agent I look forward to dealing with FSBO's  I have over twenty years of experience in negotiating international and domestic contracts for millions of dollars.  So yes I will sit down face to face with you and negotiate.

On the other hand you need to choose a good Realtor to sell your home.  This means interviewing several.  We are applying for the position of handling one of your families largest investments.  Do you want to trust that to your spouse's best friends sister?  You need to ask some pointed questions during the interview also.  For example; what is your marketing plan for my home?,  how will you find a buyer for my home?,  how are you going to communicate with me and how often?, are you going to have open houses?  where are you going to advertise my home on the Internet?  what are your average days on market for the homes you sell? 

        Believe me it is a tough decision.  I will give you an example.  I create an individual marketing plan for every home that I sell.  That plan specifically targets the market for the buyers that are going to be looking for that type, size, and price home.  I put your home on over 25 websites.  My national company will put it on approximately twelve depending on the home.  I in turn will create websites and push it up to another twelve to fifteen sites depending on the home and the buyers I am looking for.  They maybe from the local area they maybe international depending on the home.  I will communicate with you however you prefer on a weekly basis.  I can email you a progress report, call and update you personally, or simply mail you a progress report to let you know how many times you home has been viewed on the Internet, how many agents have viewed it, how many buyers have marked it as a favorite, I will tell you how often it has been shown and give you the comments from the buyers agent and the buyer.  My average days on market this year is right now well under 60 days.

Now that you have chosen an agent in Greensboro, NC to sell your home we need to get it ready to sell.

    First of all declutter.  You may not notice it because you live in your home but, your agent should let you know some tips to getting ready for buyers.  You will need to maybe remove some furniture if the room is too full.  You want the buyer to feel like the rooms are as large as possible.   You may need to take some pictures down off the walls and shelves.  Same reason while your family is precious to you (as mine is to me)  the new buyers need to see wall space so they can envision their pictures and belongings in the home.  I would tell you that if you have alot of knick knacks or a wonderful collection of items you might want go ahead and pack them up.  You do not want someone accidentally knocking one off a table or shelf and breaking something that your great grandmother passed down to you, or something that your baby boy made in his first grade.  Then just keep it clean we are making a showcase here to really show off your home.  Maybe a steam cleaning of the carpet and furniture is in order.  We want a very clean home for them to see.  If you have pets we are going to need to prearrange for them to be put up when there are showings schedule.  Not that your pets would ever harm anyone but, think maybe your prospective buyers are allergic or they have had a bad experience in their past and they would fear your pet.  Now the outside.  We need a wonderful inviting entrance to their new home.  Keep the yard mowed and immaculate. Maybe put out some fresh flowers depending on the season.  The first impression sometimes can make or break a sale.  I have had buyers pull up to the home and not even get out of the car. 

Now that your home is ready have you agent get the pictures of it for the listing.  I use only a professional photographer for my homes.  Frank is the best I feel and he can make your home look wonderful!  The idea behind this is not to be deceptive.  My job is to get them in the door.  Now with well over 80% of all buyers beginning their home search on the Internet those pictures are going to bring them to your doorstep. 

Now in Greensboro, NC to sell a home your agent needs to put it in the Triad area MLS system.  This will in turn make your home available on Listingbook.com.  This is a website we use here in the Triad that links directly to the MLS.  So that every buyer looking on that website can see every single home in the MLS service.  Do you remember me saying that it was important if you were a FSBO to get into the MLS?   Now you know why.

Now just let me do my job and sell your home.  Hopefully you will be staying in wonderful Greensboro, NC but, even if you are moving to another part of the Triad say High Point or Winston Salem, NC then you will still be in the Heart of North Carolina.

Hello all, Ok I am going to pose a question. How to sell a home in a down market? Now granted this is an isolated incident but, one I feel I will repeat often. I just had a nice little townhome listed. After speaking with the owner we agreed he did not want to sit on it. After pulling the comps we came up with a price that was 3% below market value. Then we added some incentives of some closing costs and a home warranty. Now we are sitting back and watching the excitement. Face it folks we know it is a buyers market right now. So we know there are buyers out there. We have had six different buyers come through. We have two more appointments on the books and one offer already on the table. I have been told there are more coming. So let's look at the results of The Price is Right. Of course one thing is nice I used a professional photographer for the the pic's. The result were excellent shots with a wide angle lens and yes the rooms looked larger, but in the case of one buyer they commented on the size of pictures in relation to the actual rooms. Guess what they are also considering putting in an offer also. So it worked we got them in the door.