Ottawa, ON

Sometimes it is a tough to convince a Seller that inviting the neighbours is a good thing. Most curious neighbours will slip in during an Open House anyway. Now, if you want to be proactive, set aside a special time just for the neighbours. Walk around the street and hand out invitations or drop them in the mailboxes. Try for 10 - 15 houses on each side of the street.

Remember, the neighbours can see the sign on the lawn and also will see the Open House sign. If they are asked to come early, then you, the agent, can spend some time with them talking about the neighbourhood, sales in the areaa and ask them to promote the house to their friends and family. Who better to talk up the neighbourhood than those living there. It just gives increased credibility.

Here is a sample of an invitation format that I have used in the past. I had the invitations printed on card stock and then cut to size. I added a note to the back of the card for people that I knew. The neighbours arrived with their invitation and thanked me for being so proactive. What most Sellers want to see is a hard working agent who will try things to get their home sold. This is just one more thing to put in your kit bag when making a Listing Presentation.

(as if).

When you are pricing your home, you will want to know the sold price of other homes in your neighbourhood. Using this information, you can adjust for the plus and minuses of what your home contains. One less bathroom, one more parking spot, no updates, lot size differences, etc. Remember, your improvements were to your taste and your values. Be realistic. Will others think that your man cave in black is worth what you paid or that your IKEA kitchen (which can be very nice, especially when professionally installed) is equivalent to the custom built kitchen your neighbour had done?

One of the best ways to determine the value it to ask a real estate agent and an appraiser. This will likely give you a bit of a range in asking price. Now, you can hope that a Buyer will offer something in between.

The only perfect price is what a buyer will pay.

Photo credit: IKEA in Singapore

Last week I was planning an Open House on one of my listings. During the week, a house across the street had come on the market and the agent scheduled an Open House for the same day and same time as mine was scheduled. Wow, I thought, this is terrific as we will have increased traffic. Sure enough, it was a very busy afternoon. I never got around to visiting the other house but the people who came to my Open House commented and compared both homes. A lightbulb came on that day.

If you are planning an Open House, check top see if other homes in the area are for sale. Call the listing agents and determine if they would like to plan a joint Open House tour. It may be two houses. It may be 5 or more but the greater the number, the more people who will attend. Picture your sign on the cross streets directing traffic. Now picture the same corners but with multiple signs. This will surely draw people into the area. Maybe you and the others can share in an advertisement. Draw up a little map with the addresses of each house and the name of the agent attending. What you want is traffic. Even 'lookie loos' and neighbours have friends who may be buying. Their word of mouth may be your powerful marketing tool.

There is nothing bleaker than sitting in an Open House for 2 hours with no visitors. What a wasted afternoon!

Increase your business by bringing the competition into your marketing plan.

BTW - Ask the FSBOs to join in. You never know if they might be looking for an agent and for help. Be generous. It will bounce back to you.

Photo credit: Houses for sale

As agents, we are often asked by friends and relatives to look up the price of the house for sale on their street, find out how much they could get if they sold, asked for staging tips (even when I say I have no taste) and generally comment on the housing market. I like doing these favours but they do get repetitive.

Sometimes friends ask for favours that have nothing to do with real estate - except by a very tenuous link.

I was never interested in photography until I started studying house photos and talking to the photographer that I hire for my listings. Eventually this got me interested enough to ask for a Nikon DSLR, a camera recommended to me by my very talented niece. Once I had the camera, I bought a couple of additional lenses, based upon the recommendations of the very talented salespeople at Henry's Camera Shop. So, one of the lenses has sat idle in the camera bag until yesterday. It is a short lens - used for close ups (macros).

Back to the favour. My friend is starting her own baking business, Mary Elizabeth Bakes. She needs a website and she needs some photos of her baking. I said that I have had NO experience with food photography. However, it is a favour and not a paying job so why not? She had made a carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting that she would like to feature, once she has a site. Here are a couple of the best photos that I took for her to use.

(BTW - when I came home I found that there are hundreds of sites that provide tips and hints on food photography. If she asks me again, I will have some new ideas to test and ways to improve these photos.)

Nothing strikes more fear (next to attack dogs) in the hearts of some real estate agents than to know that an alarm system is on at the home you are about to show. Once you have conquered the lock box and feel pretty smug that you can actually get in the house or condo, the next wave of anxiety is the alarm system. Sure the booking office has given you the code. Sure you know you have a few seconds to enter the home and disable the alarm but it doesn't always go as planned.

1. 1. Where is the box located? I have scrambled looking for the box. Sometimes it is near the door, sometimes you are asked to enter the back door only to find the box at the front door. The whole time you are looking there is a high pitched beeping and you know the seconds are ticking by before the alarm sounds.

2. Does the code have a special number you add at the end - such as 1 to turn the alarm off and 2 to restart the alarm just as you leave? Did the booking office let you know? Sometimes they forget that one little and VERY important number.

3. Oh yes, let us not forget that the door has to be closed while you are still in the house before you can set the alarm. With only seconds to spare, you forgot your purse in the back room, are looking for your Buyers who you thought were outside and cannot find the key to lock the door once you are outside. Sigh. Double sigh.

4. How about the case where the booking office forgot to tell you there is an alarm and it is on. Now this may seem funny but I have stood outside a home with the exterior alarm screeching at high volume. I got on the phone and called the listing agent's office and the agent to let them know that I was not a thief and for them to let the alarm company know it was me. Then I stood outside with my business card, name badge and real estate license in hand for the expected arrival of the police. Whew. My calls to the agent resulted in no police but that was just luck. Can you guess why I hate alarm systems?

Finally, my selling clients have insisted that their system be turned on while they are away on vacation. I received a call from a Buyer Agent who was going to show the house. She was nervous about the system so I talked her through the process including the location of the alarm system, the codes to go in and to go out and the approximate time she would have to disable the alarm. Well, you guessed it. In her anxiety, she set the alarm and I received a call from her while the thing was blasting away. I talked her through the process again and finally things went silent. The good point was that she arrived before her clients so they did not have to wait. While this was happening, my client, away on vacation, received a long distance call from the alarm company saying that someone had tripped the alarm. Thank goodness she said it was an agent and not to send someone to the house. Lesson learned. I should have gone to the house to let her in. I will know better next time.

If you are selling your home, turn off the system before showings. It some cities, the police charge a very hefty fee for arriving at a false alarm. After a couple of trips, they will no longer come to the house. In many cities, the police no longer respond to house alarms. Still, for the sake of your neighbours and an alarm that may go for hours,

Please disable the system before a showing.

Photo credit: 285/365 - December 29, 2008