If you are a Realtor in town, you very well know that there is a relatively "untapped" market that really never gets penetrated that much. I mean, sure, Realtors come up with all different kinds of marketing ploys to 'lure' the unsuspecting For Sale By Owner into their trap. By in large though, this market is a tough nut to crack.
If you are a For Sale By Owner in Cedar Rapids, you are no doubt besieged by phone calls, pop-bys, emails, snail mails, etc. All of these are in an attempt to convince you that a Realtor can and will sell your home faster and for more of the asking price. In fact, statistics help me out here. In Cedar Rapids, a For Sale By Owner sells his/her home for approximately 94% of the original asking price and/or current buyer's value in today's market place. A Realtor can sell your home for between 97.5 -98.5% of the original asking price and/or current buyer's value. Let's break down the numbers.
On a $100,000 home, that's a difference/ savings of between $3500-$4500 in your pocket at closing. It's true! In all areas of Cedar Rapids, including Marion, homes sold by Realtors are being sold anywhere between 97-100% of the asking price. Also, the "average" Realtor will sell your home in about three months versus six months for the "average" For Sale By Owner. Why? One simple word that speaks volumes! Exposure!
A Realtor can expose your house to the 800+ Realtors in town. That's just what an average Realtor does and that comprises about 90% of all Realtors in Cedar Rapids. An above average Realtor (5% of the Realtor population) will take pictures of your property with a sub-standard digital camera in low light and place them on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). The house will be priced right for today's competitive buyer's market, but it will take a bit longer to sell because of poor marketing.
A top of the line Realtor will do the following to market and sell your house!
- Take 36 high resolution, wide angle lens photographs of the inside and outside of your house.
- Provide a virtual tour that "stitches" all these photographs together and accompanies it to music.
- Take videos of inside and outside of your house, and also the surrounding community and post it everywhere.
- Post your listing to the top 100 Realtors in towns website, 30 local, regional, and national real estate websites for maximum exposure.
- Blog about your property on two of the most read real estate blogs in Cedar Rapids, and in the state of Iowa. Hundreds of people read this blog each week. What are the chances that a potential buyer is amongst them.
- Post videos of your property on websites, video blogs, social media like Facebook, etc. Thousands of people view these blogs each and every week. What are the chances that a potential buyer is amongst them.
- Offer his company as a full service brokerage offering flexible commission plans starting at 5% to save you literally thousands of dollars at closing.
- Price your home using our "highest priced analysis" and sell your home quicker and for more of the asking price.
- Communicate with you daily or often enough to know that we are working our you know what off to bring your house in front of more buyers than any other Realtor/Brokerage in town, period!
- Be honest with you about the price of your home, about what needs to be done inside and outside to sell your home, and to always represent your best interests.
We as Realtors in Cedar Rapids are extremely valuable when it comes to working with For Sale By Owner clients. We understand your wanting to save money in a very important transaction. As long as Realtors are perceived by the general public as having value, we will always be around.
Also, as long as For Sale By Owners eventually use Realtors to sell their homes (87% of them do in Cedar Rapids), we will still be held in the highest regards, as we do what we do best; market your house to sell! Best of luck this spring and please call if we can be of any assistance at all!
Christopher Smith
Traditions Real Estate
www.christophersmithrealtor.com
christopher.smith.realtor@gmail.com
319-329-5988
Licensed Realtor in the state of IOWA
"Success in real estate at the SERVICE of others"
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