"Honey The Lights Are Up"

Sometimes we would prefer to not have to do the work.

If you are thinking about listing your house in the spring, now is the time to start the work. No matter how you plan to market your home, through an agent or privately, you have the same work to do. Let's work our way through a list of things that you need to start considering now.

• Product - Do you know what staging is? There is more to presentation then just a quick tidy up and vacuum. An outsider, or 3rd party can come in and look at your home with a keen eye. Sometimes it's as simple as moving some furniture and changing a room colour.
• Curb Appeal - This is an off-shoot of product. The warmth of the sun may not be gracing your gardens in the coming months but that does not mean you can't start planning what needs to be done with the exterior of your home. Make some plans, visit some landscaping websites, or talk to a contractor.
• Renovations - Another off-shoot. Are you in need of a new kitchen? Did you ever get the deck put on? Think about ROI (return on investment) if you are considering any major investments.
• Maintenance Items - How old is your furnace filter? Do your windows need caulking? If you have a maintenance schedule for your home keep it handy. A prospective buyer will be impressed with your diligence.
• Pricing - You need to start watching the market now. What are houses on your street selling for? Are they sitting for a long time? Do you see "New Price" stickers in the neighbourhood? Watch the market and keep in tune. If you are really uncomfortable with this area talk with an appraiser.
• Exposure - This is the last part of the Home Selling Trifecta. Although you may not be ready to put your house on the market it does not mean you shouldn't neglect this now. If you are considering and agent first consider the cost associated. If you are OK with the big spend then interview. Don't take someone's word for it. Find out what your money is going towards, where are they spending their time? If you are thinking of selling privately make sure you look at a company to help you with both the marketing and the process. Look for a local Private Sale Professional that can assist you through the entire process.

Now that you have your work cut out for you I am going to show how your hard work can turn out, thanks to Clark Griswold.

Happy Holidays and watch out for cousin Eddy!

M

She Loves Her Job

As a Private Sale Consultant there is no better feeling than getting that call. It often goes like this:

Ring Ring Ring

"Good Evening PropertyGuys.com. This is Chelsey, how can I help you?"

"Chelsey it's Leanne on Activa."

"Hey Leanne. I was just thinking about you. How are things with that offer?"

"We SOLD! I can't believe it!"

"That's awesome, congratulations! We'll make sure to get the SOLD sign up first thing tomorrow. I am so excited for you!" "Do you want to mark it SOLD on the website yourself or do you want me to take care of that for you?"

"Can we? That would be great. We'll do that tonight." "Chelsey I just want to say thanks. You helped us out so much. When we were doubting things you gave us the confidence we needed. Because of you, we just saved like $14,000"

"Even better Leanne, you paid yourself for the work you put into it."

As a private seller you can find yourself in an area you are not confident in. There maybe terms you are unsure of or situations your not sure know how to handle. It sure is nice to have someone there that you can count on. Someone that has the knowledge you need. Someone that is as excited as you are when you sell your house. Not because they are getting paid for it, but because they were with you every step of the way. Someone that you leaned on when the times were tough, like the time you did that open house. The weather was so bad only your noisy neighbour came over.

A resource like this is key. Not just to a home seller but also to a company like PropertyGuys.com.

Want to see just how passionate a Private Sale Consultant is?




Are you stuck under those fluorescent lights? Are you looking for some freedom?

Get feisty, drop us a line.

M

Pricing. Don't Screw It Up!

I think everyone I know has gone to that school.

Human nature is to screw up and learn. Those that don't will fall pray to making repeated mistakes and die in the jaws of Darwinism.

Keith Church, Broker of Record for the local Prudential brokerage in Cambridge, sheds some light on a situation that we see all to often.

People that over price their homes will usually blame their selling mode ie:specific agent or marketing company. The one area that agents really have an advantage over a private sale marketing company like PropertyGuys.com is that they will push to lower the price of your home with such passion, such fury. They will even use old fashioned guilt so that you feel obligated to lower your price. Sure it depends a lot on your circumstances, but we all have a budget to work within. The agents, they just want to get paid.

As Keith points out, if this person had priced their home properly they more than likely would have sold. Being $285,000 over priced is not going to get you what you want, trust me on that.

Sure you can find an agent to take your listing at a ridiculously high price. Sure you could list it with a company like PropertyGuys.com. Sure you could throw that hardware store sign on the lawn and wait for someone to drive by. Until you have it priced right you are waisting your time (and everyone else's for that matter).

Get an appraisal done, have multiple agents come through to give an opinion on value, do your own serious investigation. What ever you do don't just throw darts. Do some digging. Price is not everything, you have to pay attention to the Home Selling Trifecta for sure, but PRICE IS KEY.

Even the "stupidity" of $399,000 vs $400,000 is something to think about. Here an agent "dumbs it down" for all of us.



M