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Ken Brand

Tips On Preparing Your Home For Sale – How To Enhance The Perceived Value In The Eyes Of The Buyer.

04-07-10
Ken Brand

Let’s Face Facts

If your going to sell your property, you need to know it’s a competitive home selling market. It’s nothing to worry about. It’s a fact we should respect. Instead of getting all worked up and anxious, let’s use our heads, our imaginations and our commitment to position ourselves ahead of the competition. If we do that, we’ll create a successful and timely sale.

Let’s review some facts and buyer behavior.

Who’s Your Competition?

Every home a qualified buyer views when they view yours is competition. Don’t forget new construction.

Being Chosen Is A Three Trick Affair. Is Your Property Choosable?

Trick One

Prospective buyers are surfing the Internet, searching, dreaming and choosing propertiestheir next dream home. They search like you would. Price range, bedrooms, commute, baths, yard size, layout, design, location, schools, size, etc.

No surprise there. But here’s the trick, what prospective buyers choose to see is determined by the pictures. The more on-line pictures, the more your property will be viewed. If the pictures are sweet and the property shows dramatically, especially compared to others they’re viewing, the odds of it being chosen as “one to include and view” go WAY UP. Properties with fewer pictures or lame pictures that don’t create interest, curiosity or desire get kicked to the curb. You do this too, right? To insure your property is selected to “view” instead of “ignore”, use the Checklist below to prepare your property to both Show and Sell. Plus make sure you have great looking photos for you on-line marketing broadcast.

Trick Two

You must seduce the buyers agent. The buyer agent scours the MLS data base looking for gems. The buyers agent doesn’t want to look like an idiot. The buyers agent increases their odds of looking like a hero by choosing the best properties for their buyers to view. The key to being included in buyer agent showings are the same as Trick One. Use the Checklist below to prepare your property for showing and selling and make sure you have excellent photos posted to your MLS property information profile. Even if the buyers agent shows the home and their buyer doesn’t make an offer, if your property shows supremely, the buyer agent will remember it, and include it in future showings. Amen.

Trick Three

Congratulations, you’ve successfully completed Trick One and Two, your property is being show. My friends, like all areas of life, this is where smart and thoughtful pays off. When the buyer agent arrives, qualified buyer in-tow, it’s time to impress. Imagine a showing as a Job Interview for your dream job. If you want seduce and seal the deal, you have to pay attention to the details. If you’ll use the Checklist below and methodically evaluate and execute, inside and outside, top to bottom, you’ll position yourself for a faster and more profitable sale. You’ll be chosen. Yea!

Here’s the Checklist. Get to work and win.

Prepare Your Home For Sale – Things To Do Checklist.
If you have any other questions about the home selling process, or real estate in general, give me a call – Ken Brand 832-797-1779.

What's The Average Sold Price In The Woodlands TX? Here's a Month-To-Month Report.

04-07-10
Ken Brand

Blessings

Texas and Houston in general have faired well during the nation wide meltdown. The Woodlands specifically has been super-duper blessed.

Take a look at these graphs. Notice the steady-Eddie stability. These pictures show both Average Sold Price and Median Sold Prices over a two year period. Also, as I reported earlier, written sales in March were up 30% compared to March 2009.

We’re seeing brisk activity, lots of showings and prepping homes for the market. Business always surges this time of year, plus mortgage rates are still in the low 5% range and there’s still time for FREE Money (USA Homebuyer Tax Credit). All this adds up good news for owners, buyers and sellers.

If you’d like see a full collection of real estate reports for The Woodlands, you can find itHERE.

PS. Keep in mind the real estate is a hyper-local affair. If you’d like to know what is happening in your specific neighborhood, let me know. We’re happy to help. Ken Brand – 832-797-1779


Wondering where you can find reliable demographic data for The Woodlands TX? Here you go.

03-11-10
Ken Brand

The Woodlands Texas – Demographics / 2010

The Woodlands Development Company shared this demographic data with us and I’m sharing it with you.

Here’s a few interesting tidbits.

Population of The Woodlands TX = 92,348

Households with children = 45%

How many children are there in The Woodlands = 23,837

What’s the Median Income in The Woodlands TX = $116,732

What’s the Median Age of The Woodlands resident = 35Years

What’s the Average Square Footage of a home sold in 2009 = 3,068 Square Feet.

Take A LOOK

You Want To Sell Your House. How Do You Choose A Broker? Logic or Luck?

12-09-09
Ken Brand

Choosing A Broker To Sell Your House Can Be Tricky?

Should you choose a friend? Should you use the agent who sold you the house. Should you ask a trusted friend for a recommendation? Spin the bottle or throw a dart? Go with the lowest commission?

Start by defining what your goal is. For most sellers, the goal would be, “When I sell my house and I sign the closing documents, I want the escrow agent to hand me the biggest check possible!”

Or, let’s hope not, but it happens, depending upon your market, if you’re upside-down you want to write the tiniest check possible.

Is this your goal?

Selling For Top Dollar

This isn’t some lame sales pitch, spewing hot air, smoke and mirrors. It’s simple. Everyone you interview is going to tell you they are great and famous. We do this and we do that! In fact, you might think you’re listening to a chorus, all the agents singing the same tune.

How Can You Tell If A Broker’s Marketing Play Will Achieve Your Goal – Netting More Money At The Closing Table?

This is the hard part made simple. Everyone talks a good story, but, if someone is REALLY doing a better job, there should be a way to document it. Guess what. There is. Take a look at the Broker’s “Original List Price To Sales Price %”. The higher the percentage, the more net proceeds for the seller.

For example, in The Woodlands TX, the average Sold Price for November of 2009 was $332, 094. The difference between one broker at 93.2% and the leading broker (us:-) at 96.8% = $11,955.38

$11,955.38 would be huge, right? And what if the Broker who had the highest Original List Price To Sold Price % also had a Guarantee in writing — “Anytime you want, if you’re unhappy, you can terminate on the spot?

The Logical Choice

Everything a broker commits to doing is designed to net the seller the most money. Evaluating the Original List Price To Sold Price % is a way to determine if what you’re being told will help you achieve your goal — which is to sell for top dollar and net more money. The no hassle, terminate at any time, guarantee is assurance that you’re not taken for ride.

In our market, The Woodlands TX, here’s a comparison average from January to November 2009. My eyes are old so this graph is a bit difficult to read, if I click on the image it blows up to a readable size.

Original List Price To Sold Price %

If you’d like to look at more market data – check this out.

What Next?

So. If you’re gonna sell your house and you’re goal is have the escrow agent hand you the biggest possible check at closing, then we might be able help you. Give me a call if you have any questions: Ken Brand 832-797-1779

Cheers.

Do You Know Someone Who Feels Their Sales Couldn't Feed A Flea? Help'm Out. Send Them This.

09-21-09
Ken Brand

The Only 3 Reasons Sales Sag and What You Can DO About It.

21sep
2009
by: Ken Brand on September 21, 2009

Can't Feed A Flea

Flea Food

A Short Story – By Simpleton Ken Brand

Shoulders Slumped, Blue Eyes Castdown, She Leaned In, Whispering…

“My sales couldn’t feed a flea.”

I Thought…

Ugggg. Man, this business can be brutal.

Steven Rand’s words flit by, ”You’re doing all the business you’ll ever do based on the people who are aware of you now.”, trailed by Marilyn Eiland’s, “It takes contacts to make contracts.” and “You’re raise is effective as soon as you are.”

It’s fixable.

I think in quotes an cliché’. Sigh.

I said…

“The solution is a simple as 1, 2, 3. Sorta. It’s simple, but it ain’t easy.

People list and buy real estate in your market everyday. There are only three reasons they didn’t choose you.”

Reason 1: THEY Didn’t Think Of YOU

How do your friends, past clients, friends of friends and strangers choose a real estate agent?

They ask someone they know for the name of a trusted real estate agent. Or, they contact the 1st person they think of, sometimes the first 2 people. Either way, if you’re not the 1st or 2nd person they think of, you’re screwed.

In this case, you have some sweaty Top Of Mind Awareness to work on. I pointed her to AgentGenius.com and said, “Read UP, you’ll find bushels of bright ideas. Pick a few and ACT now.” I sent her HERE too.

“There’s a 2nd Reason your fleas aren’t fed”, I said.

You Can Read Reasons 2 and 3 at AgentGenius.com - Click HERE