Omaha Real Estate & Omaha Homes for Sale - The Trumm Team

A showing desk is the term used to describe a phone number for Realtors to call to schedule showings on homes that are for sale.

There are two types of showing desks. The duty desk and a dedicated showing desk. A duty desk is staffed by agents and they receive calls both from agents that are scheduling showing and receiving calls from buyers. A dedicated showing desk is staffed by operators trained to schedule showings from agents and nothing else.

Of the two the dedicated showing desk is far superior. To explain why let's look closely at the duty desk. The agents answering the phones on a duty desk are hoping for calls from buyers because this is how these agents hope to get business. Every call from an agent is time that is keeping them from answering buyer calls. As a result the service provided to agents calling to schedule showings is often less than great.

As a seller would you want some random agent, who knows nothing about your home, answering buyer calls concerning your home? Sellers be sure that the agent you hire has a dedicated showing desk for scheduling showings.

Agents don't waste your time sitting on a duty desk. It is a waste of your time. You will get very little business from doing it.

Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE

Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It!

A HUD Statement is the final statement of all expenses and profits from the sale or purchase of a home.

Outstanding service is what an excellent agent will provide his clients with.

What do HUD statements and outstanding service have to do with each other? Let me tell you. An agent that provides outstanding service will at the end of the year call his clients that bought or sold a home that year and ask if they would like a copy of their HUD statement mailed to them for preparing their tax return - there are items on the statement that can be used as tax deductions.

Do most agents do this? No, but I do. I like to ensure that my clients are taken care of even after the sale is complete.

Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE

Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It!

The last time you were looking for a house did you do a little driving around looking for homes for sale? I thought so, everybody does. And when you found one that was for sale were you disappointed when there was no flyer box or the flyer box was empty? Of course you were, everyone is. Did you call the number on the sign to get information? I didn't think so, no one ever does.

Buyers don't want to talk to an agent without first knowing that the house is of interest to them. A buyer needs to know how many bedrooms, bathrooms, how much square footage there is, and most importantly the price before they bother to call the number on the sign.

Some agents will say that they don't put up flyer boxes because this forces buyers to call them for information. They are either mistaken because buyers won't call or they are lazy and don't want to bother creating, printing and stocking the flyers.

Not only will a good flyer entice the buyer to want to see the home, it also gives them a marketing piece to take with them so they can show their spouse or save it until they are ready to start looking at houses.

Key points to remember are that the flyers have to be professionally produced and in color. There needs to be interior photos of the property. Of course agent contact information is a must. They flyer box cannot be allowed to run empty. This is where the seller has to do their part and check the box periodically. One trick I use is I print 30 color flyers with 5 black and white ones in the back. That way when the seller comes home at night they just have to glance at the flyer box and if they see it is a black and white flyer showing then they know to call me for more flyers.

Agents, use flyer boxes. Sellers, don't hire an agent that doesn't.

Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE

Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It!

This is a follow up to If Your Home is not Staged to Sell, then it Won't Sell. Below is a report that Ross Designs sent me after staging a listing of mine at 1306 Bryan Ave. Unfortunately the house sold in one day so I do not have before and after photos.

** -- **

Hello,

I worked with [the sellers] this morning; they were very agreeable and
involved in the staging plan. Below is a summary of the items we covered:

Exterior
- Will keep a diligent eye on snow and ice build up on the driveway and
walkways

Entry
- Will get a new, more neutral rug
- Will look into a product at the hardware store to recolor the grout in the
tile entry
- Will use Mr. Clean erasers on scuffs on walls
- Will clean cobwebs around corners on tall walls

Living Room
- Will repaint the main wall a neutral color (color selected and name left
with the sellers)
- Will repaint the ceiling (lots of dinginess and areas where the wall paint
was accidentally painted on the ceiling)
- Will remove some of the collectible items
- Will remove selected items from selected walls

Kitchen
- Will take dog and dog dishes away for showings
- Will remove bulletin board, etc hanging on cupboard wall
- Will remove shelf from wall

Coat Closet
- Will remove a few items

Office - looked good as is

Bedroom #1
- Will relocate bed so head is against North wall
- Will add fitted sheet or dust ruffle to bed

Bedroom #2
- Will remove items from closet floor

Bathroom
- Will replace shelf on wall with towel bar
- Will replace missing towel bar on shower wall
- Will stow trashcan under sink
- Will repaint ceiling a bright white
- Will repaint walls the same neutral selected for the living room
- Will replace light bulbs with high wattage clear bulbs to maximize light

Master
- Will look into adding doors to electrical closet and smaller closet niche;
either accordions or bifolds, whichever is easiest to install and find the
right sizes
- Will either move dresser or sofa into alcove and keep the doorway to the
electrical closet accessible

Garage
- Will straighten and clean as the moving progresses
- Will move dog kennel to less conspicuous area

I gave them some direction as to what type of paint to use and that they can
use my 25% off discount by using the Ross Designs account at Sherwin
Williams. They were eager to get started and will hopefully be able to get
the bulk of the work done this weekend.

Let me know if you have questions and good luck with this listing!

Thanks, Tori



Tori Lynn Ross
Ross Designs, LLC
402.490.3244

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Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE

Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It!

Home staging is the arrangement of furniture and decorations to best highlights a home's good points while at the same time draw attention away from any negatives. At the same time it neutralizes a seller's personal taste in décor in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Home staging is not interior decorating; it is marketing!

Buyers are going to look at many homes and it is the home that shows the best that is likely to be bought. Buyers equate a messy home with being a dirty home and a dirty home with being a poorly maintained home when in fact there is no correlation. Just because there is laundry on the floor does not mean that the sellers haven't serviced the furnace and taken care of the roof, but this is how buyers view it. Play into this view to your advantage. Make your home the best looking home and they will have a favorable feeling about it.

Even a vacant home can be staged by renting furniture. It is a misconception that an empty house looks bigger. A properly furnished house looks bigger. A vacant room is visually uninteresting - there is no focal point.

Here are two photos of a listing of mine at 16106 Edna St. both before and after home staging. The home was professionally staged by Tori Ross of Ross Designs.

Home staging is so important that I provide the services of Ross Designs to stage my listings at no cost to the seller!

Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE

Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It!