For Sellers

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Selling our home takes more than sticking a FOR SALE sign in your yard. That may have worked 20 years ago…NOT TODAY.

You need a Realtor® to help you prepare your home for sale, market your home to the media, and guide you through the process of accepting the right offer and providing the proper disclosures, to assisting you through the escrow period.

If you are thinking of selling your home you will want to find an Area Specialist. That’s someone who has experience selling homes in your area.

As your Realtor®, I will determine the correct price range for your home, identify what things you should do to make your home more appealing to buyers, and develop the most effective plan of action. Here are some of the steps we will take to sell your home:

Review the selling process and what you should expect
Perform a market analysis of comparable homes in your neighborhood
Determine the optimal list price
Market your property using all the tools at our disposal
Provide ongoing updates and progress reports
Present the offer and assist you in negotiations

Factors That Affect Your Home’s Sale

There are four main factors that determine how marketable your home is—price, presentation, financing, and time.

Price –Price will have the biggest impact on the sale of your home. Your objective should be to make your property stand out as the best value of all the homes in its competitive set. This will guarantee you more activity in the critical first few weeks of a listing.
Presentation- Once you have determined the right listing price, you want to present your property in its best light so that it appeals to the broadest pool of buyers possible. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a great first impression, so make sure you have cleaned, de-cluttered and updated your house BEFORE you list it. I work with a professional home stager who can help you give your home that “wow factor” that will have buyers saying, “This is it! This is the one.”
Financing - You may not realize it, but the financing of your buyer can have a tremendous impact on the success of selling your home. Try to offer very attractive financing options. Consider carrying the financing yourself at a below-market interest rate or preparing your home for government financing. This could open the door for many buyers that otherwise wouldn’t even consider your home.
Time - If your time frame is important, then you should be willing to lower the price to get your house sold quickly.

How Much Should I Ask for My Home?

Of course you want to get the full market value for your home. The first step to getting the best price is to determine your home’s value. Your Realtor® can help you set the right asking price by taking the following factors into consideration:

Your home’s value will depend on recent selling prices of comparable homes in your area. After reviewing the selling prices for these homes and current market trends, we arrive at a target listing price.
Buyers most likely look in the price range determined by their monthly payment ability and down payment. Buyers are often very knowledgeable about homes in their price range and purchase by comparison. Unreasonable asking prices are an immediate turn-off.
Inviting a potential buyer to make an offer shows that you are willing to bargain. However, if your asking price is outrageous, the buyer’s offer will most likely also be unreasonable.
It’s necessary to offer pricing, terms and conditions that are competitive in your market. This will help you sell faster and get the full market value.

Don’t make the mistake of hiring a Realtor who 1) gives you the highest list price., 2) buckles under pressure to take a low commission. MISTAKE.

A good Realtor will stand up to the pressure and knows their value. In an interview, if a Realtor doesn’t hold tight on her commission, think what she might do when negotiating on your behalf.

A good Realtor will advise you on price, based on what she knows in the market place, and the data she has gathered. Listing your home 2% over the highest home sold in the area could cost you lost market time, lost buyers, and eventually lost dollars.

Here is a punch list of considerations when interviewing a Realtor to represent your home.

1) How do they present themselves?

2) Do they want you to show them through the house?

3) Are they taking notes?

4) Are they asking questions?

5) Do they have a marketing plan?

6) Do they have website, email, cell phone?

7) Do they answer their own phone? Or do they have assistants?

8) Do they have a professional photographer? Do they take the photos themselves?

9) Do they have references?

10) How many listings are they currently trying to sell?

11) How old are their listings?

12) When did their last listing sell?

13) Do they work with buyers?

14) What is their policy if they found a buyer for your listing?

If you need further assistance, please call me or email me…I answer all my calls.

The Real Estate Cat by Jeannie Thompson

The real estate cat is San Diego's coolest cat for real estate and community information for San Diego, La Jolla and surrounding areas.

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