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Mistake #1 - Incorrect Pricing Mistake #2 -- Mistaking Re-finance Appraisals for Market Value Mistake #3 -- Failing to "Showcase" Mistake #4 - Trying to "Hard Sell" While Showing Mistake #5 - Trying to Sell to Lookers Your Realtor® should be able to distinguish realistic potential buyers from mere lookers. Realtors® should usually find out a prospective buyer's savings, credit rating, and purchasing power in general. If your Realtor® fails to find out this pertinent information, you should do some investigating and questioning on your own. This will help you avoid wasting valuable time marketing to the wrong people. If you have to do this work yourself, consider finding a new Realtor®. Mistake #6 -- Being Ignorant of Your Rights & Responsibilities Mistake #7 - Signing a Contract with No Escape Mistake #8 - Limited Marketing Your Realtor® should employ a wide variety of marketing techniques and should be committed to selling your property; he or she should be available for every phone call from a prospective buyer. Most calls are received, and open houses are scheduled, during business hours, so make sure that your Realtor® is working on selling your home during these hours (many Realtors® work part-time). Mistake #9 - Choosing the Wrong Realtor® Take your time when selecting a real estate agent. Interview several; ask them key questions. If you want to make your selling experience the best it can be, it is crucial that you select the best agent for you. |
When you're selling your home, the price you set is a critical factor in the return you'll receive. That's why you need a professional evaluation from an experienced Realtor®. This person can provide you with an honest assessment of your home, based on several factors, including:
In real estate terms, market value is the price at which a particular house, in its current condition, should sell within 30 to 90 days.
If the price of your home is too high, this could cause several things:
Realtors® have known it for years - well-kept homes that are properly priced in the beginning always get you the fastest sale for the best price! And that's why you need a professional to assist you in the selling of your home.
Often, in a seller's market, homes that are priced slightly below market value initially will sell for more, simply because of the extra interest they incite. This can be a risk, however, and when it comes to such a decision, an experienced, trusted Realtor® is your best ally.
Selling a home can sometimes be a long, stressful, and costly process. Like anything, though, equipping yourself with the right tools and the right knowledge can eliminate a great number of the potential negative aspects of the process - and get you the maximum return on your investment.
Your Team
The importance of having the right allies in the selling process cannot be overstated. Having an expert on your side, not only to assist you in making decisions and getting your home marketed, but also simply in terms of having an advocate in the process, is the single most important step you can take to reduce your stress.
The first step in selling any home should be to arrange to get Comparative Market Analyses for your home from three different Realtors®. Many sellers take this step, but what they do with the information they receive is not always in their best interest.
Once three CMAs have been prepared, the natural tendency is for a seller to hire the Realtor® who produces the highest number. This is often a mistake. Competing Realtors® sometimes inflate these numbers in order to ‘buy' your listing, intending to later drop their price. If one CMA is significantly higher than the others, be suspicious of how that number was reached.
More important to this process is getting an idea of these Realtors®' backgrounds, expertise, motivation, and simply their personalities - you may be working closely with this representative for many weeks, so it is important that it be someone you trust.
Your Goals
Goal #1: Make lots of money.
Most sellers fail to move beyond goal #1, and that can cause some problems. Another important goal that should be recognized is the attempt to minimize stress. Will getting an extra percentage or two for your home be worth the inconvenience of having it on the market for an extra month? Two months?
Your priorities are your own, of course, but sometimes sellers underestimate the stress that having their home on the market for an extended period can generate. Constant showings, constant interruptions, and concerns about selling your home before buying its replacement are not minor concerns - each can have a major impact on your life.
Sit down and discuss just where you place the most importance in the selling process. If profit is your only priority, perhaps you can afford to be firmer in your asking price, and can reject offers that are less than ideal. Most sellers who have had their home on the market for an extended period of time, though, would agree that the few extra dollars were not worth it in the end.
Your Trust
The correlative to assembling a strong team is putting your trust in that team.
Few people would second-guess their heart surgeon and insist they could do a better job themselves, or question whether their lawyer's knowledge of the law is more extensive than their own, but when it comes to selling a home, many homeowners find it difficult to put their faith in the knowledge of their Realtor® fully.
For example, despite the fact that studies show that less than 1% of homes are sold through open houses, many homeowners insist their Realtor® hold one. Indeed, if a yard sign and an open house were all it took to sell a home, there wouldn't be many Realtors® at all!
If you've put the right team in place, put your trust in that team. Realtors® have access to many highly-advanced marketing strategies that you may not even realize are being utilized.
It is your Realtor's® job to bring qualified buyers to the table - and keep in mind that he or she likely does not get paid at all if your house doesn't sell! In most markets, the combination of the right representative and the right listing price will result in a sold home. If you recognize this early on, it becomes much easier to take a step back from the process, let your professional representative market your home, and minimize your stress.
Don't hesitate to speak up if you think that things are not progressing as they should, but likewise, don't hesitate to sit back and be comfortable in the knowledge that the sale of your home is being handled professionally and effectively.
Whether your goal is to buy 4 properties a year or 100, you will need a team to help you with creating and implementing your marketing campaigns. What this means is that a lot of your time and attention should be spent in building your team to run this area of your business. You will need a team to help you lick envelopes and make cold calls, because it will be impossible to do it all yourself. Your attention should be on building an organization that runs on auto-pilot and the quality of people you hire and sub-contract will ultimately determine how quickly this happens.
In the beginning, this team will most likely be you and possibly your partner if you have one. However, as you grow your investment business, leveraging people and time will be a crucial and a necessary component of your success. You will find that your time WILL become scarce and therefore much more valuable. As the CEO of your own company, it is vitally important that you handle only the most important jobs and that you outsource everything else. In the house buying business, the most important jobs are evaluating deals, buying houses, and implementing marketing campaigns.
Another reason you must assemble a marketing team is because certain people will bring in more talent in certain areas of marketing. For example, there is no need for you to learn how to do graphic design work when you can hire an experienced graphic designer. As an investor, you should always remember not to "skip over dollars to pick up dimes".
More importantly, the right expertise will help you create and implement components of your marketing plan in the most efficient and cost effective way possible. Sure, you can try to do everything alone and probably in the beginning you will take on many of the jobs and responsibilities, however, in order for the business to mature, you will have to let go of fears and exercise your growth muscle by hiring support staff and sub-contractors who can help you. - Fortune Builders Inc.
Signage:
Internet:
Print Media
AD Placement in the:
TV/Radio
Direct Mail Campaigns / Cold Calling to Property Owners:
Networking with:
Whatever else the mind can fathom!
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