3 Tips For A Quick Sale With Less Disruption To Your Family

The longer your home is on the market for sale, the greater the invasion in your life.

Here are three simple, but disarmingly powerful, marketing strategies that could have a profound impact on reducing the stress of selling your home.  Using these techniques will increase the effectiveness of marketing your home and decrease the time to find a buyer.  In many cases, you may actually increase your sales price while decreasing the time selling your home.

1: Dress Your House for Success

Watch our “Dress Your House For Success” video so that your family can see the benefits together, of following the rules for getting the best price for your home.  The benefit of seeing a professional video give tips on how to make a home look better gets parents and children “on the same page” and eliminates arguments.

2: Price Your Home Realistically

Buyers feel that if a house has been on the market for awhile, that something is wrong, or the    house would be sold.  Our video “Price Your House For Success” explains how the location and features of a home are not the only things that affect the sales price, and how The Longer Your Home Is On The Market The Lower Your Sales Price will be.

 

3: Get Your Home Inspected BEFORE You Offer It For Sale

Many sellers say “I just don’t want to pay for any inspections. Let the buyer get their own inspections after they have made us an offer we will accept.”   What that seller doesn’t understand is that it isn’t the cost of the inspections that are usually the biggest problem for sellers.  When the buyer orders the inspections after the offer is accepted, it can be weeks before the inspectors are able to visit the property, and even longer for them to write up the report. When the reports are available to the buyer before they make you an offer, both you and the buyer will know up front what to negotiate. What that means to you is that because the inspections are complete, the buyer will probably request a shorter due diligence period. And because of this, you will probably have a shorter and less stressful escrow.

 

4: 74% Of All Home Buyers Use The Internet

But in addition to this, your home will also be showcased on the internet on several real estate sites, REALTOR.com, GreatHomes.org, HomeSeekers.com, PressDemocrat.com, MarinIJ.com, all at no additional cost to you. The MLS automatically adds your home to these web sites. The National Association of Realtors statistics show that 74% of potential buyers are using the internet to help search for a home. And the North Bay Association Of Realtors Multiple Listing Service is the most comprehensive listing of homes for sale in the North Bay Area. In March 2003 alone, more than 12 million internet surfers accessed real estate and rental sites. Of those, 4.6 million visited REALTOR.com, proving again that an individual or company web site cannot compete with the total group site. More homes are sold through this system than any other way.

 

5: The Size Of A Real Estate Company Has No Effect On How Fast Your Home Sells!

The Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, is the one place that all members of the real estate association, display the homes they have listed.  Whether a home is listed by a brand new agent or a 20 year veteran, or by a small office or a large office, all the photos and information about a property are available for all other agents in the association.    What that means is that no matter who lists your house, all agents will have the same information and the same opportunity to sell any of the homes shown there.  In addition to the information about the property, there is an offer by the listing agent to give a percentage of the commission to the agent that brings an accepted offer.  Said another way, the seller pays both agents!  So the multiple listing system is not only a way to get information on properties to all agents equally… it is also a commitment to pay commission.  So BOTH the agent that represents the buyer, AND the agent that represents the seller, get paid by the seller.  Again, it doesn’t matter how experienced the agent is, or how large the company is…2 agents get paid for cooperating in the multiple listing system.   74% of all buyers spend 1½ hours looking at homes on the internet BEFORE they contact an agent.  And when a property is in the MLS, it is also showcased on the internet on several real estate sites…Realtor.com, GreatHomes.org, ListingLink.com.  Not only is the Multiple Listing Service is the most  comprehensive listing of homes for sale, it is the number one source of all sales.  In March 2003 alone, more than 12 million potential buyers accessed real estate sites. Of those, 4.6 million visited Realtor.com, proving again that an individual or company web site cannot compete with the total group site.    Summary Of What MLS Does All properties are displayed equally, regardless of price. All agent members of the association have access to all listings. Information on properties is available 24 hours a day. All agent members have the same opportunity to be paid a commission. All properties are all displayed on the 2 most frequently visited real estate websites. More homes are sold through this system than any other way.

It’s very simple:

advertising for sale = showing your home = disruption

Because marketing is the way people find your home,
you must use marketing to find your buyer quickly.

The good news is that marketing can be quick, effective, and offer a tremendous competitive advantage when executed properly.  All it takes is an open mind and a willingness to add new twists to familiar techniques.  Many homes are marketed by doing the right kinds of things, but just aren’t doing the right things the best way.