cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Home Seller Tip: Focus on the Core - Demand, Price, Condition and Marketing - 05/29/10 11:26 PM
When a REALTOR meets with a seller to discuss the sale of their home, Cleveland home sellers would be wise to focus on four key concepts of (in order of importance):
Demand Price Condition Marketing You should visualize these four concepts as building blocks that sit on top of each other, with the foundation of all being demand, then price, then condition, then lastly, marketing. While this is a simplification, it helps one to contextualize the information given. An example of why this is a simplification is the "seller's motivation" will influence price and condition.
Notice that: … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Home Buyer and Seller Tip: Pay Attention to the Seller's Residential Property Disclosure Form - 05/29/10 08:38 PM
Here is a tip that can help Cleveland Ohio home buyers and sellers: Pay attention to the seller's residential property disclosure form. This form is required for sellers of residential properties with 1-4 dwelling units that is by sale, land installment contract, exchange, lease with option to purchase, 99-year lease with renewable forever as described in ORC 5302.30.
Here are some common problems I see on a routine basis (not to be taken as an exclusive list):
Question(s) not answered Seller forgot to initial/date the bottom of pages 1-3 and/or sign/date page 4 Question answered yes, but no explanation … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Home Selling Tip - Condition Matters - 05/23/10 09:27 PM
I have been showing a TON of homes these past few months and one thing rings true over and over and over again here in Greater Cleveland and here is a home selling tip: Condition Matters.
You may think your shag carpeting from the 70s is still fine -- it's not.
You may think your avocado colored appliances from the 1960s-70s are still fine -- they are not, especially when a buyer opens the oven door and it looks like a science experiment on the inside.
You may think your golden harvest and badly worn and scratched formica countertops are still … (5 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: All real estate is hyper-local and it only takes one buyer - 05/16/10 09:49 PM
Every savvy real estate agent knows that all real estate is hyper-local and it only takes ONE BUYER in order for a home to sell.
A listing agent must thoughtfully research and evaluate:
Price Demand Location Condition
As the main tenants for a potential home seller. To get any of the above four items wrong will be a complete waste of time for everyone involved as most likely, a sale will not occur.
A listing agent should be able to "connect the dots" in non-geek speak that is easy to understand.
The real questions are:
How do you … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: News Flash -- Real Estate Brokerages Do NOT Sell Homes - 09/27/09 07:34 PM
Question: Who do you think actually sells a home?
Possible Answers:
The listing agent or The listing real estate brokerage? I am purposely ignoring the seller, buyer broker, buyer agent and the buyer in this home, as that is a topic for another post. These entities/folks are quite relevant, but it's not the question under consideration. So lets just focus on the listing side for the purpose of this post.
Let's take a look at the main reasons a home sells or doesn't sell:
1. Demand. If demand exists, great. If demand isn't there, there isn't much one can do. If most … (6 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy -- A Listing Agent with NO voice mail message - 09/20/09 02:44 PM
A listing agent with a robotic phone # voice mail message.
I called a listing agent the other day to setup an appointment to show her listing. The response I got on her cell phone was the automated robot message: The # you are trying to reach 123-456-7890 is unavailable...
So...I am left to ponder:
Is this the agent's actual cell phone #? Perhaps I mis-dialed so I checked the # I dialed and compared it against the MLS showing instructions. If I leave a voice message on this #, who will pick it up as I have no certainty … (4 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Home Selling Tip - Duplicate Approval of Showing Request - 08/09/09 08:37 PM
Here is a Cleveland Home Selling Tip - Duplicate Approval of Showing Request can easily be avoided by common sense.
I recently setup an appointment to show a home to a buyer. The showing instructions for this particular listing was to call a 3rd-party showing service who handles setting up the appointments on behalf of the listing broker and listing agent.
So far...so good. The appointment as successfully setup on a timely basis.
Then...several hours after the appointment is confirmed, the listing agent calls me on my cell and instantly starts communicating the showing instructions to me.
It's too bad there aren't … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Home Selling Tip - Make it EASY to show - 08/09/09 04:23 PM
Cleveland Home Selling Tip - Make your greater Cleveland Ohio Home EASY to show!
I was setting up a tour for a buyer to look at about 10 homes this past week in the Greater Cleveland Ohio real estate marketplace. When I called to schedule one of the homes, I was told that I would need to stop by the real estate office during business hours and pickup the key, sign for the key upon checkout and to also return the key up upon completion of the showing.
I truly wonder why sellers and listing agents (in no particular order here) make … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy -- A Listing Agent that Does NOT do E-mail - 08/08/09 11:59 PM
Say What? A real estate agent without an e-mail address? Say what? Say it ain't so Joe!
Yup, you've got it. You betcha! Right here in the greater confines of the Cleveland Real Estate market, I ran across a bona fide real estate agent that DOES NOT HAVE E-MAIL. No e-mail address at all. Not even an underused one, not even a dinosaur AOL one, not even a COMPUSERVE one, notta.
Here's how this went down...
I setup an appointment to show a home to a current buyer. I called the listing agent to schedule the showing.
The listing agent said: … (2 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy - Reasonable and Motivated Sellers - 08/08/09 11:30 PM
You've just gotta love real estate...:-)
While every industry has it's share of inept and blundering marketing and advertising campaigns, real estate is just filled to the brim with them. Why one might ask? Let's think about this for a minute. Real estate licensees in the State of Ohio have to take 120 hours of classes, take a simple test that is easier than my daughter's middle school Algebra test, and wala, one is now licensed to sell any property in this fine State of Ohio.
What is this particular agent's background in:
Advertising Marketing Communications Sales Contract Preparation Negotiations New … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy -- Seller Tells Buyer's Agent Full Price or Bust - 08/02/09 11:04 PM
Haven't heard of Cleveland Real Estate Comedy? Me either. I just coined it as an attention grabber as the old saying goes: Life is Stranger Than Fiction!
Just when I thought I have seen it all. Hey, wait a minute, I know better than that. One always knows that just when one has thought they have seen it all, something else trumps it and takes the cake.
I was setting up appointments for a buyer of mine this past week and ran across a limited service agreement I would surmise as the showing instructions say to call the seller for showings.
… (4 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy - Offers Being Accepted - 08/01/09 11:32 PM
Cleveland Real Estate Comedy is everywhere. I was reading the real estate section of The Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday newspaper last week looking at homes for sale. I ran across an advertisement by a real estate company that included the phrase: "Offers Being Accepted".Say what???Come on, as in: My home is listed in the MLS, fanned out to websites across the globe, buyer agents making appointments, buyers touring my home, and all the other work that goes into preparing a home for market and the agent has to write: Offers Being Accepted? As opposed to what? OFFERS NOT BEING ACCEPTED?.Seller Logic: … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy - Listing Agents with No Phone Numbers and Email Addresses in MLS - 08/01/09 11:01 PM
Haven't heard of Cleveland Real Estate Comedy? Me either. I just coined it as an attention grabber as the old saying goes: Life is Stranger Than Fiction!
Just when I thought I have seen it all. Hey, wait a minute, I know better than that. One always knows that just when one has thought they have seen it all, something else trumps it and takes the cake.This past week, a buyer client of mine decided during the evening hours that they wanted to see a home the next evening. Roughly about 24 hours notice, but I'm not being picky here. Since … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Real Estate Comedy - Serious Buyers Only - 08/01/09 10:40 PM
I was browsing homes for sale in our local Cleveland Ohio MLS for a buyer today and ran across a listing that said: Serious Buyers Only. As opposed to what? Unqualified, not pre-approved, waste-your-time, not serious tirekickers? Hey...wait a minute? Isn't that my job to weed out the non A-type buyers?So...if this isn't bad enough, guess what? This text was in the "general remarks" field, the one that gets fanned out for all the public to see.So...I am thinking, what in the world is this agent and seller thinking? Buyers are scarce enough these days, no? Buyers aren't knocking down doors … (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Cleveland Home Selling Tip - Do you actually think your house is worth that? - 07/26/09 07:25 PM
How many times have you met with a seller and, after previewing their home, reviewing the comps, and evaluating the home’s condition, held your tongue when they tell you how much they think their house is worth? I bet this has happened numerous times, especially in this market. The next question is how did you respond?Well, the response is key, it is the real deal, it is where real estate agents define themselves as professionals, it is the difference between “getting a listing” and “selling a house.” In our book, it is really where we pride ourselves on selling a house. … (3 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Vacant Homes -- A little extra care is needed - 07/12/09 11:48 PM
I have shown many vacant homes these past few weeks.
One just today has a HUGE wasp nest right by the front door. How do you think that would go over if the buyer(s) were to get stung?
Vacant homes can become stagnate, especially the basement, so someone representing the property owner if they are not local should stop by and take a whiff when descending the first two stairs to the basement and see what you smell? If it doesn't smell right, what do you think a buyer is going to think?
An ounce of prevention just may net you … (4 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Home Selling Tip: Remove Trip Hazards - 07/12/09 11:44 PM
I was out showing many homes this weekend and ran across two homes that had trip hazards. One had shoes all over the stair case. Another one, well...I won't list it here, but suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty.
Sellers: Please think like a buyer and remove those trip hazards.
… (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Seller Tip: Cobwebs - NOT - 07/12/09 11:41 PM
I was showing homes today, which I absolutely love to do. And for the umteenth time, in an unfinished area of the basement, I walked into a good-sized spider web. You know the kind, where you aren't sure if the Godzilla Spider is extracting your DNA, and while it's unnerving as you are trying to remove this sticky stuff from your head, it also distracts you from what you are trying to see in the first place.
Sellers: Vacuum these things up on a regular basis.
Thanks in advance -- your buyer's agents and buyers will appreciate it.
… (0 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Seller Tip: No Marketing Literature - Say What??? - 07/12/09 11:04 PM
I showed eight homes today, and six of the eight did NOT have any marketing literature in the home. Notta, zip, not even a cheesy MLS printout that exists on just about every website on the planet today.In a Web 2.0 world we live in today, information access is huge, and I am astonished that many listing agents can't take the time to properly market the property.Buyers routinely ask questions like:
What is there to do in the neighborhood? A pool? walking trails? any community amenities? How much are the utilities? How old is the roof? furnace? windows? AC? H20? What … (2 comments)
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cleveland home selling tips: Unmotivated Sellers - 06/28/09 09:47 PM
Unmotivated sellers. This sends dissapointment for everyone associated with them -- the sellers themselves, their listing agent and broker, the buyer's agent and their buyer. Why? Because it adds complexity to the local real estate market that doesn't need to be there.
Sellers can be unmotivated on many different levels:
Lack of Financial Flexibility. Some sellers cannot make their asking price reflect what the market will bear as they cannot write a check large enough at settlement to make a transaction happen. I genuinely feel sorry for sellers in this situation as it is a very hard position to be in. … (0 comments)
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