When thinking of selling or your home you have some choices as to how you go about it. Being a Realtor, I understand the perspective from the real estate professional. Real estate agents are in the business of brokering sales of real property—that’s how they earn their living. Competition is fierce, there are over 4,600 licensed agents in the Charleston real estate market and this number is growing as part-time agents continue to jump in trying to take advantage of a “hot” market. All agents are in the game of convincing the public that they are the better choice when it comes to selling real estate properties.
However, truth in fact, the Realtor’s job is actually between CONTRACT and CLOSING…this is when the proverbial rubber meets the road, so to speak. The act of bringing the Buyer to the table is actually dependent on the property itself (not necessarily the listing agent), AND, the three important factors regarding that property –they are:
1) Price
2) Condition
3) Exposure
These and these alone are the 3 Things that SELL a home. NOT the Real Estate Agent, contrary to popular belief!
Before we expand on our discussion here, let’s first break down those three factors since they are key in your understanding of selling your home:
1) PRICE – You get only one chance to price a property correctly – at the very beginning of when you offer it for sale. Property priced too high won’t get the attention it needs to move it swiftly.
As time passes, the listing becomes “stale” and buyers will be able to take advantage of the situation by under bidding and ultimately, getting the property for perhaps less than a good starting price might have yielded. This is a common issue that arises with sellers on almost every home I list for sale. Sellers in most cases feel their property is worth more—because to them it is—but not necessarily to a prospective buyer. A home priced correctly doesn’t mean under market—it simply means at fair market value to a potential buyer—it’s a delicate balance and the help of a seasoned real estate professional is certainly warranted at this juncture.
(2) CONDITION – The term condition covers not only the exterior and interior condition of the property itself but, also the condition of the surrounding area or, in other words, the “location”. As we say in real estate, “Location, Location, Location”!
For example, is the home in a nice, well-kept residential neighborhood that is highly sought after due to the school district, proximity to conveniences, etc.? Or, is it in a rural area or an industrial area? All of these fall under what buyers view as the “condition” of the home.
When selling your home, it must be in its best possible condition. Not only will this greatly affect the price—it also plays into the amount of time your home will remain on the market. Again, it goes back to only getting one chance to make that first impression, be it with price and condition. My advice to Sellers is ALWAYS to get the home in tip-top shape PRIOR to listing! Too many times I see Sellers making the mistake of listing their home for sale while work is in progress to get it in condition to show to prospective buyers. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in selling your home—right up there with pricing it incorrectly.
The bottom line is—spend some time making your home show-ready. I suggest you review my SELLER’S TIPS for making your property ready to go to market. Contact me for a free copy of my SELLER’S TIPS!
(3) EXPOSURE – The third factor in selling your home is probably the most important of the three. You might have priced the property correctly and its condition is superb but, unless you have the optimum exposure for your property, how will prospective buyers even know it’s for sale?
This is one of the areas that real estate agents, in their quest to rise to the top of the pack, tend to fool the public into thinking that THEY are what’s needed to sell the property. In truth, ANY real estate professional can assist with the exposure of your property. Exposure is simplistic really – in today’s internet age, besides of course the signage at the property, the best place to advertise your property for sale is on the World Wide Web! Simple as it sounds—the latest statistics from NAR (National Association of Realtors) published in January 2009 show that 92% of all buyers begin their search ON-LINE. That’s a staggering number and probably even higher today as more and more people across all age brackets are computer savvy!
Therefore, getting your property out there in the eyes of 92% of the buying population at any given time is all you need in the way of exposure for your property. Don’t Be Fooled here by real estate agents who are trying to dazzle their way to earning your business.
Be leery of the real estate agents who try to impress you by showing statistics of the number of properties they’ve sold over the last number of months, how their marketing is superior to that of their competition’s, how they will work harder to drive buyers to your property, how they sell homes faster, for more money, etc., etc., etc…..we’ve seen many of the slick ads and read the letters they send to expired listings and for sale by owners. It’s all a bunch of hype, really.
Real estate agents don’t want you to know that you don’t need them to bring a buyer for your real estate property.
What you DO need them for is everything that occurs from the point of the potential buyer showing an interest in your property to closing. This goes back to “Contract to Closing”, mentioned earlier in this blog.
Seasoned Real estate agents have experience in negotiating the contract to best protect you, the Seller. And a GOOD real estate professional will stay on top of every detail (and there are a lot of details to be sure) that needs to occur to make the deal go to closing.
For a behind the scenes detailed look at the details handled by the real estate that can potentially occur as well as those that must occur in every real estate transaction, contact me for a copy of my report entitled “Contract to Closing”.
One of the biggest misconceptions that the public has about real estate agents is that they believe that the agent who has the sign in the yard of the home is the one responsible for the sale of that home. That may be true on a house or two in any given neighborhood but, more often than not, it’s a Buyer’s Agent who is actually responsible for selling that home.
So, if you see a lot of “FOR SALE” and “SOLD” signs in an area with the same real estate agent’s name on them, keep in mind that doesn’t mean that the agent whose name is on the sign is the “best” there is for selling homes in that area. It simply shows that he or she is good at getting sellers to LIST their properties with him/her. Big difference!
In summation, when looking for a real estate professional to sell your home, look for someone you feel will be a good fit for you and you can communicate with easily to meet your goals! Look for info in an upcoming blog on how to best choose a real estate professional for either selling OR buying your next home!
Cheers!
Melanie DeHaven, REALTOR and Certified Negotiation Expert with Carolina Elite Real Estate in Charleston, SC 843-343-7640
P.S.
I don’t profess to have all the answers and know all there is to know about every single nuance of a real estate transaction but, in my 13+ years of practicing real estate, I do know one thing….whether you’re on the Selling Side or the Buying Side of the transaction, if you treat the other side as you yourself would like to be treated (you know, the “Golden Rule’), we’d have much smoother transactions and everyone’s stress level would be drastically reduced!
