Sell My House - Downsize

Have You Decided It's Time to Downsize?

Ok, What’s It Going to Take to Sell Your Home Quick And For Top Dollar?

It is estimated that, by 2024, one in four people in the United States will be 60 or older. People are living longer. At some point, many seniors will sell their homes, whether it be a choice to downsize or because circumstances force them to make a move.

By the age of 55 or 60, most people have purchased or sold a home and just about everyone has been through a move. But, after 55, real estate transactions and even moving, are more complicated. If children were raised in the home, the thought of leaving the place where some of the dearest memories were made can be painful. Also, the logistics of preparing a family home for a sale and downsizing a lifetime’s worth of possessions can be daunting. Moreover, the financial and tax implications of selling a home can affect that long-awaited (and much deserved) retirement or change estate planning.

Let me show you how I can help make selling your home financially beneficial and a smooth transaction. There are really five main factors that determine how fast your home will sell and for how much.

Location
Condition
Price

Market Conditions
Marketing
**Commission Pledge & Hassle Free Listing Agreement

Location, Location, Location

We’ve all heard the importance of choosing the right location when buying real estate. Location creates desirability, desirability creates demand, and demand raises real estate prices. The location is the one thing about your home you cannot change so you have to pick right from the start. Let’s assume you did.

Condition

The next thing to consider is your home’s condition. This is something you can completely control. If the broken blinds, stained carpet or cracked window would turn you off of a house, it will turn off a potential buyer of your house too.

Here is a full article detailing what you can do about your homes condition (Preparing to Sell) In the meantime, here are the things you want to make sure to address: make repairs, finish projects, create curb appeal, declutter, think neutral paints, create a welcoming an entryway, remove personal items, fix pet issues, and of course clean, clean, clean.

Price

The importance of an effective pricing strategy cannot be overstated. Price your home too high and it will sit on the market for what seems like forever, if it even sells. Price your home too low and you’re giving away your money. A savvy real estate agent will devise a pricing strategy appropriate for the current market and that will make sure you maximize your profit on the sale.

As you can see in the graphic, when a home is priced ‘just-right’ about 60% of the buyers will see and be interested in your home. The higher your price is set above what the MARKET thinks is a just-right, the few potential buyers show interest.
But sometimes the best strategy is to price your home a little below the expected market price. What this does is expose your home to additional buyers that may not have looked at it otherwise. Having more buyers is often what leads to selling above list price due to BIDDING WARS.

Ah, the dreaded Days On Market. Simply put, the longer your home sits on the market (usually due to pricing being too high), the less it will ultimately sell for. For buyers that are still in the market, they are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the next-right property to hit the market.
As a result, interest in a new listing is highest in the first 2-4 weeks on the market. Since we know buyer interest equals more demand which equals high offers, we know then that your best chance at getting top dollar for your home is in the first few weeks on market.

Market Conditions

The real estate market is effected by many factors. Working with a professional full time realtor that is informed about the market can help you navigate this one. Some of the main factors are demographics, the overall and local economy, interest rates, and government policies.

A savvy realtor understands the demographics of the ideal buyer to market to and target for your home. Is it a single millenial or young couple? Maybe a family with 3 kids? Are they mid income or higher income? Do they appreciate the outdoors and are looking for a big backyard or do they want low maintenance and a concrete patio.

The economy and interest rates always influence the real estate market. As we can see now, there is a flood of buyers in the market because rates are so ridiculously low. Buyers are able to afford more house than ever. And although there is some employment uncertainty at this point, there is still enough confidence on the part of buyers that they are out there searching and driving up house prices.

So, right now, the market is favorable to you the seller. Rates are extremely low, there’s a shortage of homes for sale, and there are plenty of willing and qualified buyers able to give you top dollar for your house.

Marketing

And finally, there’s marketing. This is what truly distinguishes one real estate agent from another. Most agent will do the old school basic marketing:

Put a For Sale Sign in the front yard
Take some pictures with their cell phone
List your home in the Multiple Listing Service (catalog for all agents)
Send out a group email to the agents in their office….then wait for calls

Well, for me those first four steps are just the beginning. In order to sell your home in the least amount of time and for top dollar, we take these additional steps.

Have professional pictures taken to highlight features of your property. This might seem like a minor point but it isn’t. The majority of buyers do their house hunting online before they ever visit a neighborhood. If your pictures aren’t eye catching, your home (no matter how attractive in real life) will probably be passed over. Great pictures is one step that HAS to be done right.
Professionally record a 2 minute video (for properties that would benefit from video). Not all properties benefit from video but most properties do. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is at least worth ten thousand. A well done video is almost as good as a live tour.
Submission to over 300 major real estate websites. These sites are National, Regional and Local websites. These websites then also ‘syndicate’ out your listing to their website networks. When all is said and done, your home will be exposed to thousands of potential buyers.
Post your home on our active Social Media accounts
Run an ad campaign on Facebook for each of the first 4 weeks. Facebook most likely has at least a million DAILY users in your region of the world. Your home will show up in ads in users newsfeeds, articles, sidebars and more.
Run an ad campaign on Google Ads for each of the first 4 weeks. Anyone searching Google for homes in a 10 mile radius of your home will see your home is available.
Do a “Just Listed” flyer or postcard distribution to 150 homes surrounding your home. It might seem simple but not may agents do it and you’d be surprised how often your homes sell because a neighbor recommended it.
Perform a “Just Listed” telephone campaign to 200 of your neighbors. You may think that people don’t really answer their phones these days but they do. In the very least, they’ll get the voicemail announcing the listing of your home.
Hold an Open House on Saturday and Sunday for the first two weeks after entering the market. These can often just be an opportunity for “Lookie Loos” to check your house out but when marketed properly, an open house can draw in real buyers.
Follow up on every showing to ask for feedback from the agents & buyers. Relay the feedback to you. Follow up is essential. Potential home buyers usually have follow up questions or concerns and lots of agents just give them the quick and easy answers, never really coming back to the listing agent. By me calling, I can overcome any issue and have an opportunity to “do a personal pitch” for why your home is a good buy for them.

So as you can see, whether or not your home sells and for how much depends on a lot of factors, but a great agent knows how to go beyond just doing a good job, to actually provide phenomenal results.

If you accept my advice about market conditions, follow an effective pricing strategy and properly prepare your home for sale, my marketing strategy will get your home sold at it’s maximum price.

Flexible Commission Structure

I’d like you to understand that I’m not only different in my marketing expertise, but I’m willing to stand behind it. Take a moment and review my commission pledge.

6% Total Commission – 3% for the listing agent, 3% for the buyer’s agent
4% Total Commission – If I list your home AND I find the buyer without another agent involved (Rather than the customary 5%)
1% Commission Reduction – If I don’t get your home sold in 28 days, I’ll reduce my commission

So yes, if I list your home and I find the buyer passed 30 days, you could pay as little as 3% for the whole transaction.

No Hassle Listing Agreement

Like most agents, my listing agreement has a 6 month duration. Unlike other agents, I’m willing to add a 24 hour cancellation clause. I don’t want to lock you in to an arrangement you are not happy with. If you are not happy with my performance at any time during our listing agreement, notify me in writing (mail or email) and I’ll cancel our agreement in 24 hours. That’s it.

It’s that simple for us to work together to meet your goal. I look forward to hearing you and hopefully working together.