Sheryl Robinson

Always have your agent take multiple pictures when short selling your home in Gilbert, Chandler or Queen Creek…part 5

In this post we discuss pictures and presenting the house in the best light possible. We briefly touched on this in article 3, however I feel the need to delve into the topic deeper.

I’ve heard a picture paints a thousand words. People need pictures to decide if a home is worth viewing. When potential buyers are surfing the Internet for homes that is the number one thing they look at. Remember most home buyers make a decision on whether to consider a home for purchase within the first few minutes of viewing a home online.

When a home is advertised with little or no pictures it really is a disservice to the sellers, buyers and the home. I have seen many homes for sale where the marketing plan for a short sale is only price. It is important to show your home in its best light. We have had many buyers skip buy homes due to a lack of a set of good pictures and limited descirption. If over 80% of buyers find their home on the internet, then what do they see when they stumble upon yours listed for sale. Do they click by, or do they spend a little time viewing the pictures and envisioning themsleves living there?

Think about it like this – today’s home buyer lives a very busy life and he/she can be very selective in decided which house he/she will take the time to see. With the availability of the Internet, people will often rule out houses by looking at the pictures made available online. You as a home seller might be thinking ‘Why should I put a lot of effort into this home that I will be soon be leaving behind?’ As I have said before in earlier posts – the goal is to sell the home to avoid a foreclosure on your credit.

The goal is to make the home as attractive as possible to get a buyer contract sooner rather than later so the process of negotiating the sale can begin with the bank to obtain short sale approval. By giving a little extra effort in this area – you will be putting yourself in a better position to finding a buyer for your home.

The goal here is to do the best in helping you put the house behind you so you can get on with you life and building a better future for yourself and your family. A Real Estate agent may not be able to help with all aspects of your future but they can help on the real estate needs.

Strategies for Short Sales Properties in Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek AZ - Part 4. In part 4 of this article we take a look at things from the buyers point of view as well. There are many, homes on the market for buyers to view and in the 100 degree plus heat of the Arizona summer, if a home has no electric on and therefor no air conditioning, viewing these homes is hot work.

Its a fact of life that people will sometimes take the path of least resistance. If it is difficult to show a home or a seller makes it difficult to allow potential buyer to view the home – they might pass that home by, especially if they have other options. When your home is on the market as short sale, sellers need to do their best to be flexible in showing the home to potential buyers. When a buyer agent calls to make an appointment be ready to work out a time that works for everyone.

Do your part to make the home ‘sparkle’ when potential buyers are coming to view the home. Make the home ‘feel’ as welcoming as you are able. Buyers use their 5 senses of smell, sight, sound, touch and taste when viewing homes. Basically your home must smell and be pleasing the buyer’s eye. Soft calming music in the background can be relaxing, people like to touch things they are looking to buy, and a bowl of mints is a welcoming gesture. Out of all these - smell is probably the most important – as it is my experience working with buyers - no matter how visually clean and beautifully staged a property may be, if there is an unpleasant odor it will turn the buyer off with every breath they take.

When possible leave the home when it is being shown. Many times it is hard for a potential buyer to relax and really ‘see’ the home when the homeowners are there. Sometimes a potential buyer feels guilty knowing there is hardship behind the short sale and that if the homeowner didn’t have to move they wouldn’t. I feel that a short sale can be a win / win for all involved. If approved by the lender – the short sale will help the seller avoid a foreclosure against their credit and the buyer’s get to buy a new home. And the surrounding area has avoided another foreclosed home going up for sale in their neighborhood.

Strategies for Short Sale Properties in Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek AZ. In part 3 of this series of common mistakes of short sellers – I want to talk about the marketing plan needed to sell a short sale home.

Just because you are upside down on your home does not mean that an inferior marketing strategy should be used... should it?

Some believe pricing alone will sell a home when listed as a short sale, and this is the foundation of their marketing plan. Many times it's the only thing done and nothing can be further from the truth. I believe in advertising a home all the ‘usual’ steps need to be followed in selling a home regardless of what type of listing it is. I believe a home should be marketed to the widest possible pool of buyers. When I list a home as a short sale – I focus on the home, not the fact that it is a short sale. I will ask homeowners to do what they can to make the home ‘sparkle’ and take as many pictures as possible with my wide angle lens camera. A virtual tour will be created to show case the home. The property will be "showcased" on Realtor.com as well as all the major websites including the direct email marketing plan I run. The home will be featured on my website along with other agent websites - that I have ‘handshake’ agreements with to feature my listings. I pay particular attention to providing the best remarks about the home in the Multiple Listing Service. I will state the home is a short sale in the area prescribed per the Multiple Listing Service rules and regulations; however I refuse to make that the only aspect of my description of the home.

Too many times I see the verbiage ‘short sale opportunity or ‘take advantage of this short sale. I feel that is doing an injustice to the home. I believe the price should be reasonable and the home deserves the same type of treatment as any other listing, after all the bank will be looking for the most amount of money possible and if the home is presented in a "good light" then it will attract more buyers to it who see value in the place.

Once the paperwork is all together for the short sale – my clients home will be put in to my marketing machine which is to get the news of their home to potential buyers. Because when it is all said and done we need the buyers purchase offer so I can begin dealing with the banks to work towards getting an answer on the short sale approval of their house. Yes we can and will lower the price of the home to procure a contract in a "reasonable amount of time" if required and get the process started with the bank, however with the correct marketing and presentation of the home we may not have to wind list price back to far in order to find a buyer.

Strategies for Short Sale Properties in Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek AZ in part 2 we will examine what a seller should be looking for in an agent when looking to sell their via short sale…a few questions that a seller will want to ask and what they should expect from their agent.

Sellers should ask their Realtor to first and foremost to explain what a short sale is. Many people have the basic idea of what a short sale is, however there is a lot of misconception about the process. The more a seller understands about the ins and outs of the short sale process the better informed they will be and more importantly, better prepared to handle the curve balls that are thrown from both the banks and the buyers. If said agent can't explain a short sale and communicate it clearly, there may be a problem down the road as the short sale process involves more than simply listing the home for sale.

A homeowner looking to sell their house via short sale should feel confident with the agent they choose.

There is a process with short sales and I have a system that I follow with all my short sale clients. I provide my sellers with step by step detail of what can and does sometimes transpire throughout the process. As an experienced agent working in the short sale arena I can share with my client what most lenders require from the homeowner, what sort of documentation they will expect a homeowner to provide. It is also important to share with my clients that many times there may be extraordinary and frustrating circumstances related to working with the lender on short sale. They can expect to continue to receive calls from the lender as we move forward in the process, even after the lenders have received the short sale package and it has been assigned. I then create a web page for each person I help so they can see status updates on my progress with the lender at any time as we move towards an answer from the lender.

The "short sale package" that is submitted to the bank is extremely important. This must be professional and organized in a way that makes sense to the lender and person the file is assigned within the short sale department of banks. When I sit down with my clients on that first meeting – we usually spend at least 1 to 2 hours together to ensure I have a clear understanding of their situation, because each one is unique and different. It is my goal that my clients know that I am here for them throughout the whole process and I will make every diligent effort to obtain a short sale approval from the lender on their behalf. When an agent just says to a client that they will send everything out via email, asks a client to send in their own pictures of the house and never meets them face to face – I don’t see how an agent and seller can truly be on the same page in working together on the short sale approval.

There is sometimes a lot of emotion behind the short sale and I want to be there for my clients, because I know there are a lot of good people in bad situations. Circumstances many time beyond their control has brought them to this decision and I feel to represent them I need to have a full understanding and knowledge of that.

The Short Sale and Foreclosure market in Gilbert, Chandler & Queen Creek AZ is on fire right now. To sell a short sale one must have a good pricing strategy. It can’t be too high, can’t be to low it needs to be just right. Short sale properties should be attractive to potential buyers to procure showings and ultimately a purchase offer from a buyer. However it needs to be pleasing to the lender(s) that ultimately make the decision to approve the file. Upon an offer acceptable to lender(s) and the agreement notice sent out per the short sale addendum, then begins the standard escrow. During this time it begins to feel almost like a regular transaction. Once past the inspection period – then the purchase price needs to line up with the appraisal value.

How can you be sure to price a property correctly? I believe it is important to research the comparable homes in the nearby area.

When doing this I use the following criteria:

• -Stay in same subdivision and within a mile radius of the home

• -Research properties most similar to subject home ie: similar square footage, bedroom count, pool or no pool etc.

• -Research back 3 months when possible to find sold comparable homes to ensure the most recent data from the Multiple Listing Service.

Once I have this information I prepare a market summary for the homeowner so I can provide the needed information for them to make a decision on price. I recommend pricing at or slightly above market value, if needed we will adjust the price periodically until a buyer offer is produced. Once there is an offer that my clients are confident to move forward with I get everything together to send in to the lender. Along with the full short sale package, I also provide the lender(s) with a market summary so they can have a better understanding of the local area and why this is a good offer on the property. This is just a small piece of the puzzle to selling short sales…stay tuned for part 2 in this 7 part series.