Why List With Dane M. Rickard - Re/Max Professionals?
The decision to sell your home is not something I expect you to take lightly, and there are obviously a lot of concerns you have before you choose the Realtor(s) you want to make this happen.
At Re/Max Professionals, we understand how important it is for you to have your needs met to ensure a successful transaction in a reasonable period of time. We believe that in this day and age where technology drives almost every transaction, it is important to be the very best at what it takes to get your home sold!
One of the things we focus on are what we know to be the three keys to selling a home in 2012:
- Pricing
- Promotion
- Pride
When we list a home for sale, we know it to be fact that these key elements come from a combination of teamwork between the agent and the seller, and when the three P's are done right, your home will be sold quick and painlessly.
So, what do we mean when we say these three elements are the key to a successful sale?
Pricing
Pricing may be the most important factor in today's market. You might always hear the phrase "it's a buyer's market", but the truth is that in ANY market, pricing your home right for the market is extremely important, and is the foundation on which any other marketing is successful.
What many sellers don't understand is that pricing your home right from the start is often the key to moving quickly. What too many agents allow their sellers do is dictate a price that is unrealistic and too high. When that happens, their marketing efforts are not reaching the right target market, and the initial few weeks to a month where you typically see your heaviest traffic and most offers becomes a window that was closed on you before the house was even on the market.
The truth is, if you are looking to list your home with an agent that that will list it for higher than what it is worth, chances are that you are working with an agent that is desperate for business and probably doesn't have the resources or marketing funds to put towards other solid marketing efforts. They probably also haven't gone to the extent of research and analysis that we do to determine a solid price point.
The way I determine what pricing should be for a new listing comes from several angles:
1.) Comparative Market Analysis
A Comparative Market Analysis is your traditional, comprehensive look at the other homes similar to yours that are for sale or that have sold generally in the past 12 months. In some cases, we will look at more recent (6 months) or up to (18 months) history depending on the number of solid comparables and market fluctuation in the area.
This analysis will take into account homes that are similar in yours to things like size, age, beds, baths, upgrades, current condition, lot size, etc.. and we may also get much more detailed with other things like quality of upgrades ( i.e. granite countertops vs laminate countertops), hardwood floors vs. carpeting, and many other factors that might add or detract value in your home.
The CMA will provide you with an accurate tell of what your home is worth, and we always keep in mind that no matter what our opinion is, an appraiser's opinion is more significant when it comes to a transaction closing, so we try and think in ways that they do.
2.) Absorption Rate Pricing
Absorpotion rate pricing is something that is a relatively new way of thinking when it comes to home sales. Many agents still do not include this in their sales plans, but we find it extremely effective and important. The calculation of absorption rate can become quite complex, so in a nutshell:
Absorption rate is calculating how many months of inventory are in the real estate market, pertaining to your individual area, neighborhood, or city. To define this, you take:
# Listings available in said area divided by the # sales in said area in the past 12 months
For instance, lets say there are 30 homes for sale in your area, and in the past 12 months there have been 84 homes sold in that same area. That is an average of 7 homes per month being sold, and therefore 7 homes per month means it will take the current inventory of 30 homes approximately 4.3 months to sell.
So what does this mean for you and how does it help us price your home better? Well, part of it depends on you, the seller, and how much of a rush you are in to sell. If you want to sell your home as quick as possible, we need to discuss how we move you to the front of the line of inventory. This might include being the lowest priced property available, because you will automatically attract more potential buyers.
Part of absorption rate pricing is we also will rate your current competition to see if there are other things that move you to the front of the line so to speak. This includes looking at the quality of your home versus the competition. If you insist on being the highest priced property, but your home is in worse condition or has less appealing factors such as upgrades than your competition, your home will be at the back of the line, and chances are it will get lost in the inventory line forever.
What you have to remember is that not only are you going up against the whole market and past sold history in your area with a CMA, but you also have to consider what your CURRENT competition is and how you have to beat that as well.
Consider it like a team sport: If you are a college football team, and your competition is a group of high schools, you can probably always count on being number one. But if all of a sudden, your schedule includes professional teams, you better start preparing to beat that competition, otherwise you will just get lost in the shuffle!
And consider this with absorption rate pricing:
So in all, pricing is extremely important in putting you in the right position to get your home sold. Unfortunately, not every home seller we meet decides to list with us. But we still track those homes to see how the home seller eventually fares. It is rare for a home to sell for more than we recommended. So if another agent tells you they can sell your home for more, history suggests they will eventually ask for a price reduction to the same point (or lower?) than we initially proposed.
Promotion
Promotion, in essence, are the marketing efforts we utilize to get your home visible on the proper channels to attract the highest amount of potential buyers in order to get a purchase offer. I'd like you to take a look at this funny-but-true video to see why listing with Dane Rickard and Re/Max Professionals makes the most sense, and then read below how our custom listing/marketing strategies will beat the competition and get your home sold for the most money in the least amount of time.
Most brokers’ idea of marketing is to install a sign, put your home in the MLS, add your listing to their company’s ads and website and pray it sells.
We initiate an aggressive marketing campaign that includes:
- Installing a yard sign with a brochure box the features HD photos, Professional design, and utilizes technology features like QR codes to help drive more traffic into your home. We also provide a specialized phone number that provides details specific to your property, and can even text message photos to interested lookers. The great thing about this service is that we can track who is calling about the home and follow up with them! Flyer boxes can be useful, but are impossible to track the effectiveness of who is receiving them.
- Inserting your listing in the MLS with HDR interior and exterior photos. Let me make an EMPHASIS on how important it is to have EXTREMELY HIGH QUALITY photos taken of your house. Too often we see listings in the MLS where photos are fuzzy, poorly taken, not clean, and that do not exemplify the qualities of your home. Remember that photos are often times the first and potentially ONLY impression your home will make on prospective buyers because in today's market, some 95% of all home searches begin online. Quality photos are an absolute must, and I guarantee your photos will be 100% top quality, or we won't even attempt to list it
- Web Syndication:
- Cross-Marketing with other agents, including: open houses, networking, referral, and relocation services.
- Direct-Mail Campaign generating neighborhood interest and word-of-mouth traffic.
- Custom Web Site featuring your home with access to all information, photos, and guided tours
- YouTube Video Tours highlighting a walk-through of your home and giving potential buyers a true feel for your home.
- And More custom-designed marketing strategies that will help sell your home the fastest and for the most money.
Also, isn’t one of the reasons you hire a Realtor to negotiate on your behalf? Ask to see our “sold price” statistics for a current comparison against other agents. If you wonder how a Realtor can justify their fees, this is an eye-opener! I can demonstrate how we can most likely net you more sales proceeds than other real estate brokers can, even discount brokers. It’s because I actively represent you in negotiations…and draft contracts to protect you from unreliable, irresponsible buyers and brokers.
I work with your best interests in mind and net you more money in the process by doing the right type of pricing and marketing to get your home sold fast and to solid buyers.
Pride
Pride is where we combine our efforts as agents and sellers to help your home sell. Pride is a combination of using our expert knowledge on home appearance to help you stage your home to get the best response in addition to your willingness to keep the home in "show-home quality".
Nothing turns a prospective buyer off faster than walking into a home that looks or smells dirty or uncared for.
I preach this aspect so much because I know that in order for a home to show well and for a buyer to be intrested, they have to be able to envision for themselves their own family there. If there are kids' shoes lying around, dirty clothes on bedroom floors, and bathrooms not kept clean, they will never get a chance to envision themselves there.
One of the things I do "pre-listing" is walk through the home and give you ideas on things that will be the most important. As crazy as it may sound, prospective buyers are turned on or off by kitchens and bathrooms more than any other aspect of the home. Will will give you ideas on how to stage your home, even if it means hiring a stager to bring in furniture or art, as well as give possible ideas to touch up certain things like paint or broken trim, etc..
Don't underestimate how important it is to have pride in your home, especially when it is listed for sale. We can do the rest, but this part is up to you if you truly want to sell!
For more information, or for your FREE Comparative Market Analsysis and Absorption Rate Pricing Report, please contact me!
