Win Fantabulous Prizes

All you have to do is know the right answer.

When selling your home you need to ask "What is the right question?"

The answer: Knowing the value of your home. Without this info you are guessing and one of 3 things will happen.

1.Price it too low and leave money on the table
2.Price it too high and sit on the market forever
3.Get lucky and price it right and sell your home

The likelihood of #3 goes up dramatically as you start to gather knowledge. First step in the knowledge quest happens by watching the local market and see what other people are listing for. How long are they sitting on the market? How does their home compare to yours? This step should be done 2-3 months before you put your house up ideally. Second step is to see what houses are selling for. This can be done easily enough through the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation website. The third step, and the most crucial, get yourself an appraisal by a licensed appraiser. Not a "CMA" from an agent, the motivation of their pricing can not always be considered in your best interest.
I am including this slide show and want you to look specifically at slide #8

CMA Steps

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Why is it a Keller Williams agent does not want you to not listen to another agent? Are they not all trained the same? Do they not all look at the same data to come up with your price? Why would there be a difference between agents?

This is why an independent appraisal is so important versus a real estate agent offered CMA.

Hey don't get me wrong, you could always get lucky...


M

Keep Your Eye On Your Money

What is your cost to get your house noticed, per eyeball?

The interent has changed the way people buy and sell homes. Gone are the days of flipping through the big green MLS book at your local real estate office. Gone are the long Saturday drives in the back seat of your realtor's lincoln looking at 30 houses to see what you like within your price range. Gone is the lack of information for the consumer.

People are searching for homes while in their underwear. Come on you've done it. Just as your getting ready for bed your partner calls you "Honey come and see this one!" You rush over to the computer with your best pair of Calvin Kliens on. You catch a glimpse in the mirror and think "this is not the way my parents hunted for their first home".

The internet is a great tool allowing people to make a short list based upon what they see in the listings posted to their favorite sites. But as a home seller how do you choose where to list your home? Is there a way to measure the value of those eyeballs looking at each and every site? Let's boil it down with simple math. Depending on who you talk to Private Sale is garnering somewhere between 10 and 25% of the market. So as a conservative figure I am going to work with 15% for the purposes of this calculation. We are going to forget that people are looking at multiple websites and assume that 15% is decidedly Private Sale and the remainder are only looking on the MLS.

The cost of an average detached home in KW is just over $300,000. Based upon the industry average of 5% it would cost you $15,750 incl. GST to sell or $185.29 per set of eyeballs out of 100 home buyers. Looking at the same home being sold with PropertyGuys.com shows us a much better scenario. To ensure you are getting all the same coverage including paper advertising, virtual tours, and even an appraisal done by a 3rd party licensed appraiser lets look at the $1,500 package. With tax you would pay $1,575 or $105.00 per set of eyeballs a savings of nearly 44% per set of eyeballs. Remember that is the most expensive package. If you went with the $350 package it would cost you $23.33 or about 1-8th of the cost of the realtor.

I know what you are thinking. They get more eyeballs and that means more chance of selling, right? Wrong! The stats from November 2008 to October 2009 show that for every 100 listings that were listed by an agent in the Waterloo Wellington area 58 of them sold. Same time frame, same area for PropertyGuys.com and the numbers show 60 out of 100. The list to sell ratio (how many homes were listed vs sold in a given time period) for PropertyGuys.com in October was 81.67%, MLS was only 68.08%. I guess taking the commission off the table and making your pricing more attractive is what buyers are looking for.

Give your buyers a reason to have their eyes pop out when they see your home...


M

Honesty Works

Ever been sold something that didn't live up to the claims?

Real Estate is the same way. You have to be honest about what you have. You cannot lie in your advertising.

If you own a two bedroom, story and a half, century home with stone foundation and a dirt floor in the basement, say that.

Imagine you saw what you thought was a great home online. Took the time to make sure the neighbourhood was what you needed (schools, shopping and amenities), booked an appointment even though your spouse thought it was too good to be true, packed up the family to drive over (maybe 15 min maybe 2 hours) only to find the truth was stretched online.

Your home is what it is, nothing more, nothing less. Price it accordingly and be truthful. Like the way this guy advertises his mobile homes...


It worked for me.

M