Chapter 5. Selling Strategy
Section A.
 Your first step in planning a selling / marketing strategy is during this first meeting with your agent at your home. Today's homes are not so much sold as marketed. We start marketing your home before it is even on the market. Agents, yours and others, will have a pool of qualified buyers. Some of these will be interest in your home. Actually, facts and experience show the difficulties of trying to sell your own home usually far outweigh the benefits. Agents have the tools to "market" your home to attract the qualified buyer that actually buys your home whether they represent that buyer or the buyer is represented by another agent or represents themselves. Here's what your agent does that an individual home seller can't do or finds hard to do:
- Places your property in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which exposes your home to all the buyers working with cooperating member agents and brokers. This effectively exposes every agent in town and all the buyers that they are working with to your home. Additionally, the professional brochures describing your home not only go on the sign in front of your home that attracts those buyers looking in your neighborhood for a house for sale, but a good agent sends copies of those flyers to every other agent in town to remind them of your home's availability.
- In addition, a good agent's personal Internet site as well as all of the other internet sites contains the MLS description of your home and its features for 70% of buyers who use the Internet as part of their home buying process. Be sure that your agent has an active Website or more than one site that is exposing your home to buyers around town, across the country, and around the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Only by using a Real Estate Agent do you get benefit of every other professional Agent who spends their career generating a pool of qualified buyers drawing on that pool of buyers to find one that wants exactly what your house has to offer. With out that network, a for-sale-by-owner home seller is reduced to a yard sign, some classified ads and lots of luck. . Your agent's job is not necessarily to sell your home, but rather to cause your home to sell.
- The Real Estate Agent provides solid up-to-date market information with recent sales and current listings, which help you, price your home appropriately and realistically. Such pricing is crucial to the possibility of a quick sale at the best price obtainable. The importance of this issue cannot be overstated. At the end of this Home Sellers Guide you will be able to get A FREE, NO OBLIGATION package containing information about all of the programs, documents, and many informative brochures that we have been discussing. One of the most important booklets that we include is: "Price is the Key to Selling."
- Before anything else happens, you and your agent have some "homework" to do. You both need to go over every part of your home, noting its floor plan and special features, which may not be obvious to the potential buyer. You need to discuss what items you are including with the sale of the home and what you are excluding from the sale. . You'll discuss how to show the positive points about your home and neighborhood. You and the agent will determine how to show your home most appealingly ("staging"). A complete discussion of Staging your home for sale is in the next section of this guide, and multiple helpful booklets to help you are included in the free package that you can request at the end of the guide. You need to be frank about any defects whether visible or not. You'll discuss any repairs, renovations, and improvements, which might increase the marketability of your home. The agent will know which repairs may bring you back more than they cost you, or even if they only return part, or none of their cost, they are likely to help sell your home faster and at a better price. Remember your home is in competition with every other home for sale at the time. Your agent will help you compare your home with other homes for sale, have sold, or have not sold in your area. This, plus a frank discussion of your reasons and motivation for selling, will help you arrive at a competitive asking price. Your agent will discuss different financing possibilities that may be useful to buyers, and thus facilitate their ability to make an offer on your home. In addition, there are a few other things that you can do to make your home more marketable than the other homes in your neighborhood. You can offer immediate or short possession time. Exposure sells homes. Provide for easy access for agents to show your home. Offer extras that convey with the home like appliances, and fixtures.
Section B. Preparing Your Home For Sale.
A big plus to having an agent is helping you prepare your home to be shown. After Pricing, this is the second most important factor that determines whether you sell your house and especially at the best possible price.
Properly preparing your home for sale can make the difference between a quick sale at full price, and a home that sits unsold for months, even after several price reductions.
- The first order of business is to forget your emotional attachment to your home and look at it through the eyes of a potential buyer. Be impartial, and recognize the weaknesses of your home. How does it stack up?
- Remember, potential buyers are going to be viewing lots of other homes, and if yours doesn't stand out, it will be much more difficult to sell. Buyers buy what they see. If what they see is dirty, messy, and worn looking, you don't stand a chance.
- With a mental picture of a model home in your mind, YOU AND YOUR AGENT should make an attack list of items to be completed on your home. It may be a short or long list, depending on the condition of your home, but keep in mind that all your efforts now will pay off big on closing day.
- The objective is to make your home appear well maintained, spacious, organized and clean. Many factors such as how light it is, the colors, sounds and smell subtly effect the buyer's impression of your home.
- Start by walking out to the middle of the street and take a good, focused look at the overall appearance of the exterior of your home. Good curb appeal will make the critical proper first impression. Remember, if a home is unattractive from the outside, buyers won't bother to see the inside! "Staging" a home for sale starts with curb moves inside, then to the lot and landscaping and finally out to the garage
It can be a lot of work, but it will be worth it. Clean, organized, clutter-free homes are always the first to sell!
Multiple booklets are included in the Free Package that we offer to help you make your home a buyer's first choice.
Now that your home is ready to show, when an agent calls you to make an appointment, or if your home is shown while you are away the following will help:
- Air the rooms, perhaps use air freshener or run a lemon through the disposal
- Baking cookies, bread or simply a pan of cinnamon adds a "homey" aroma'
- Turn on lights, turn off stereos, TVs and radios;
- Keep children out of the way; park the pets outside - many prospects are afraid of or allergic to animals, and you don't want to give a potential buyer a reason not to thoroughly consider your home.
- In short, get the whole place ready for close inspection.
Greet prospects politely and excuse yourself. Leave the selling to the agent. Agents know what your home has to offer and what these particular buyers are looking for. Agents also know how to sell. Don't try to interrupt with suggestions; such as what personal property you might sell, what kind of financing you think would be good for the buyer, etc. Don't apologize for imperfections, but answer all questions put to you briefly and honestly. Do not discuss price or financing with a prospective buyer; refer them to your agent..
Section C. The Marketing Plan.
You will find Agents vary in the tools that they have available to market your home. I use many special marketing tools to attract the qualified buyer that actually buys your home whether I represent that buyer, or another agent represents the buyer
In my Premier Service Policy and my Quality Service Guarantee I describe in detail all of the things that I will do, and what should be done to market your home. Just like you have worked with the Agent to determine a staging plan. It is important that the Agent, with your input, presents you with a detailed, written Marketing Plan with specific strategies, programs, and buyer targets. This is the third step in getting your home sold quickly, for the most money and with the least inconvenience to you. Also included in our free listing package is a checklist to show you all the elements of a customized marketing plan, as well as the Premier Service Policy, and Quality Service Guarantee.
- Setting the "right price
- Make your home more marketable than the competition
- Place the Home
on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
- Place the Lockbox, Sign, and Flyers
- Expose your home to all the Agents in town and their buyer pool
- Place home on all of the national, local, company, and personal Agent Internet Websites. Exposure of your home through the GMAC national Relocation Service as well as National Advertising drawing buyers to the GMAC internet site to find your home.
- Multiple Pictures and Virtual Tour of your home on Internet and on all marketing pieces
- Direct promotion of your home to all of the Agents in MLS and their entire pool of potential buyers by flyers and emails
- Assurance that ONLY pre-qualified buyers suitable for your home are scheduled for showings.
- Home tour for all the MLS Agents & My office's Agents. Networking within the Steinborn offices ( far and away Steinborn Realtors sell the most homes year after year)
- Prestigious Agent and Company Yard Sign to attract buyer's attention.
- A professional high quality flyer/brochure describing your home and its features
- Information Hotline. You will find an additional sign in front of your home letting buyer have immediately call in access to information about your home 24/7, and schedule an appointment if desired. This Hotline and Virtual Tour is published in all marketing pieces
- Print Advertising in major home magazines especially the most high quality and most looked at "Real Estate Guide To Las Cruces" as well as Real Estate Press, Real Estate Weekly, Homes of Las Cruces.
- Target marketing via direct mail and directed email marketing.
- A lock box to allow ease of availability to show your home.
- In some cases open houses are used. Either the traditional Sunday open house for the public or special open houses for Agents and their clients.
A VERY IMPORTANT FACTOR IS COMMUNICATION. I will communicate with you regularly to keep you informed as to showings, agent comments, and market changes. We will use this information to consider any changes in your marketing plan.
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