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Every Seller Needs To Know, What Sells a house?

Cara has pointed out what every seller needs to consider, especially if they're interviewing multiple agents and are tempted to choose the one that promises the highest price.

But... as a copywriter and thus a believer in marketing, I do believe that along with price, terms, condition, and location, good marketing is a must.

An agent who will "list it and forget it" is not as likely to sell the house quickly as one who makes the effort to create an eye-catching presentation on the Internet and then take additional steps to make sure the greatest number of buyers are made aware of the home's availability.

In addition, agents who have marketed themselves well will often have a database of buyers who are waiting for the perfect home - and will contact that list immediately.

In addition, the difference between agents becomes crystal clear when problems come up between agreement and closing. A top agent jumps in to get the problems solved while a poor agent cries because the sale isn't going to close.

So, I think #5 on this list should be "The right agent."

Informing sellers about their part in presentation and gaining their cooperation is vital to the process. That's why my FSBO and Expired Listing prospecting letter sets include a seller checklist.

When people live in a house they often don't even "see" the little details that can alter a buyer's perception of the house.

When I was still an agent one of my least-favorite chores was pointing out those details, so I loved having a list to go over with sellers. It made it feel a little less like it was just me, picking on them.

Thanks, Cara, for a list that agents can use to show sellers the truth about pricing.

Via Carra Riley CRB, CRS, GRI (Carra Riley Inc.- Real Estate Consultant, Author, Speaker ):

Every Seller Needs To Know, What Sells a house?

There are four varibles that sell a house.

1. Price

2. Terms

3. Condition

4. Location

All four of the variables go together to create the "perfect sale." Each aspect must be taken into consideration if you want a property to sell.

1. Price fixes everything! Don't let anyone tell you different. When the buyer perceives there is a value because of the price, they will buy the home.

The other three varibles always can effect the price.

There are circumstances where a buyer has lost the ability to qualify for a traditional loan because of a foreclosure or bankruptcy and the buyer needs owner financing. With Owner carry Terms that particular buyer may be willing to pay more because they have ownership with possibly a small down payment.

Conversely, if the Condition is bad the price will have to be reduced to reflect a value in the home where a buyer will have to come in and do repairs or cosmetic updates.

Location is the toughest variable in the sale to compensate for. Most people have heard about in Real Estate the terms Location, Location, Location. If the location is bad.. ONLY price will sell the property possibly combined with terms so exciting that a buyer will not be able to pass up the deal.

2. Terms. If the Terms are attractive, sometimes a seller can get more money for the home. For example: a home with a value of $325,000 listed with owner carry terms of $25,000 down and no bank qualifing might be able to sell at $350,000 because of the terms.

Under any owner carry situation, it is important the seller speak with their accountant and attorney before accepting any contract and agreement to finance. The seller should be completely aware of the liability and consequences in owner financing. This is just an example how price can increase with the right terms.

3. Condition is a key factor in selling a home. When the property is in top condition, looking like a show home the seller may get top market value for the property. In times where homes are selling at a slow pace, in order to procur a sale, the home should be the BEST property at the Lowest price to get to the closing table.

Taking a seller on a preview tour of the homes in the area similar to their property can save months of discouragement with a home not selling. When a seller can see the competition and accepts the fact their home needs to be the Best house at the lowest price to sell, the home will sell and the seller will see what they are up against in comparison.

Carpet or paint allowance does NOT work in selling a home. If the home needs carpet, put it in. If the home needs painting, get it painted. Many times this can cost a seller $5,000 to $8,000 to do those upgrades. Investing, yes, investing is the correct term, for getting the house sold. The money invested will come back in the form or a quick sale at full market value.

A picture is worth a thousand words so think about how the property looks and even take some pictures to see what a buyer is looking at. Sellers should look at the pictures like they were a buyer and ask, "would I buy this house in this condition for this price?" Are the kitchen counters cluttered? Are the closets a mess? What does the front door look like and the yard when people drive up to the house?

A seller has 8 seconds for a buyer looking at a home to decide if they really like the house and if it will go on the A list. The buyer starts the decision making process when driving up to the home while looking at the surrounding properties and the entrance to the home.

There are many agents are trained in "staging" a home and there are "staging services" which help a seller to understand what needs to be done to create a "marketable product." Listen to these people if you want to get the house sold.

The seller needs to separate from the house and see it as an investment or product that needs to be sold. The seller needs to take all the emotions out of the happy memories in the home if they are serious about selling.

4. Location is the only variable which cannot be changed. A bad location, is a bad location so only price and terms are going to help this situation.

It does not matter that the same model home across the street sold for thousands more, because it was ACROSS THE STREET and did not back to the highway. A seller needs to get a reality check on location and think about when they purchased. If the seller got a good deal when they bought because it had a bad location then they have to give the new buyer the same good deal to sell.

Sellers should take all the emotion out of the business of selling a home and treat the transaction as an investment decision.

If the goal is to get the home sold then listen to the professionals and let them do their job.

As Donald Trump would say, "It's only business."

Cosmic Cow Pie

Carra Riley

Posted by Marte Cliff on 10/04/2009 03:40 PM

Comments (44)

44 Comments on Every Seller Needs To Know, What Sells a house?

OCT

I have to add one critical need, ACCESS. An agent can market their brains and pocketbook out without success if there is not easy access.

Marketing a home also depends on the level of service the owner/seller has agreed to in the listings contract.

This is information to which we are not privy when we see a home for sale that has MLS listing only. That agent may have accepted the listing with a low fee with the understanding that they will put out a sign, enter the house in the MLS, put on a keybox and rely on the MLS to market the house.

That is actually quite effective today with IDX and the many aggrigator feeds that benefit the seller without any additional effort on the part of the agent.

The MLS trumps all. If there is easy access.

I'm with Lenn on ACCESS.. I just removed one from the market after we had over 30 REFUSALS to show.

I did not realize that a re-blog can be featured. You have done a great job with the original post by adding quality content to the top of it. Your discussion of the right agent is right on.

Access is a good one!!! I just met with a seller this weekend because the key in the lockbox was sticking. She had no problem opening it with her key. The one in the lockbox was sticking. We switched them out. Problem solved. I put some graphite in the lock for good measure. If agents can't get in, we can't get an offer.

All good information and adivce for sellers in this post. Thanks for getting it out to us today.

Patricia

I agree! just answered a question on Trulia a few days ago about why a home wasn't selling. About 12 other agents had answered, all with the way THEY could sell the home, wanting the listing of course. I was the only one that said the location was going to determine the price. (it backed to a highway). No one else answered after I did !

Great blog!

To all who mentioned access... I agree - access is vital. If they can't see it, you can't sell it!

Do you have this trouble with owner occupied homes, or mostly with rentals? I recall one rental we had where the tenant required 24 hours notice. So I called her on Friday to ask for a showing on Monday or Tuesday. She said it wasn't convenient, and I reminded her that I was only required to give her 24 hours. She replied by telling me to come ahead - but she was leaving the dogs out, and they bite!

I have had a few sellers who were day sleepers - or who thought they HAD to be home - but not as many as difficult tenants.

Judi - I didn't know that either. Surely it is original that is featured, not the re-blog? I don't know - haven't been here long enough to really know how it all works.

Linda - That's funny!

Thanks all, for taking the time to comment!

Marte

Access is vital as pointed out by Carra. i am amazed at the number of times the key doesn't work well. I was showing houses a couple of days ago and the key got stuck in the deadbolt at one of the listings. Finally after several minutes of trying to get the key out, my buyer (a man) was able to get the key out. When i take a listing I always check the keys that I had made to make sure they work. I also get keys made at a hardware store rather than a grocery or discount store. Just a thought!

Great, great blog and add in Lenn with access - the total package...

Our local hardware store can't get it right either. I can't count how many times I've gone back and told them to try again. It always pays to check the key before you count on it to work!

Once I was showing an old church and could NOT gt the key to work. The buyer decided he wanted to try it... So he spit on it, and it worked!

great post! We see that in our market too! We are not testing our marketing, we already know it is selling homes. What we are testing is the price your home is listed at

Jason

Pawleys Island, SC

Thanks for a sharp reminder of the combination of things we must juggle - along with access - to get a house sold.

Michael

Access... Good Agent... Marketing... They all count. Of course, crap can be fixed with price, but it doesn't help the seller...

Marte - I love the post. To me, pricing (or more accurately positioning) is the most important factor. After that, it is marketing, keeping property in showing ready condition, and making it easy to show. It is definitely balancing act. However, if you miss the mark on pricing, it simply isn't going to generate traffic.

Great information thank you for sharing.

This is information we should all take to heart.

In the end it is PRICE, based on location and condition, that matters. If the price is too high, no matter how great or how horrible the home is, it will not sell. Of course, that is assuming, that, as you you point out, the agent has done effective marketing work. Instead of Location, location, location it should be Pricing, Pricing, Pricing. I have seen some great homes sit for years, even with great marketing. But if that marketing is publicizing the fact that the price is not in step with similar homes in the area, all the agent is doing is pointing out that fact to the public, and they will stay way in droves.

So if you price a home correctly based on its location and condition, and the sellers see that logic of using a correct price, the homes will sell. Sadly, as I pointed out in a recent post, some sellers will go with agents who promise unreasonably high prices (unethical) or the seller will choose agents with a lot of listings in their inventories. In their minds that marks success.

I never maintain a large inventory since I price the homes where they should be and will only work with smart owners who know what they have to do to sell their homes. I measure my success on how many homes I sell, not how many I have sitting in my inventory. This is even more crucial in today's market.

Great information, We would defiietely add Leen access - no access no offer!
Thank you for sharing.

Great info. I agree with many of the comments on the access part. Either you want to sell or you don't.

All the above being said and being quite valid - what happens when the sellers know all this but don't have the cash or equity to do what it takes to make their home market ready? Let another agent list it?

Marte, your post/introductin along with the re-blog are solid common sense when it comes to what it takes to sell a home in this market.

Hi Marte -- There isn't much I can add that hasn't already been said by the above commenters, so I'll just throw my hat in the ring and concur. Sometimes, there just isn't demand for an area, no matter what the price, if demand isn't there, it's not there. Sometimes, sellers can't lower it enough to keep it from being a distress sale if their condition doesn't meet expectations. There is no cookie cutter answer, but the combination of the above, esp. price, is very important.

This post once again reminds us about the important factors on selling a home.

Thanks all - Yes, it is a combination of all the parts that make things happen, and the anchor point is price.

They say that anything will sell at the right price, and I believe that. The trouble is, some sellers don't want to believe that their very special home won't bring top price.

To answer Kathryn - if the sellers don't have the money to install new carpets or repaint the entire house, or make other repairs, they can still present it as the best that it can be. Soap and elbow grease don't cost much in terms of money, nor does de-cluttering or using a rake and pulling weeds in the yard.

The problem comes when they won't do any of those things and still expect you to sell the house at top price.

I think this is where you have to use your intuition and judgment to decide if you'll try anyway, or let the listing go to someone else because it's going to be a waste of your time and money.

What does everyone else think? List it - or leave it?

OCT

Chris - You're right. Some towns that were once bustling can turn into "ghost towns," and there are simply no buyers. When some other factor influences a local economy - such as a major employer going out of business - it's pretty tough to sell a house at any price.

Something like that happened here several years ago in the Silver Valley. When the mines closed, the people left to find employment elsewhere. Luckily, a few determined individuals have worked to turn it into a tourist destination, so things are turning around, but for a while it was pretty bleak.

Tenant occupied home for sale???

HA! Wait until the lease is over, the tenant has moved out, the home has been cleaned and then put the key box on.

Save all of us a lot of angst.

Price remains the number one reason on my book, A lot of sellers are still unrealistic about the price of their homes.

From what I have read...so many good points. My experience shows it is price first and always will be. Priced right will take care of almost everything else....Marketing is very important but show me a home that is priced to sell and it will sell without much effort.

Great post. As long as you get buyers looking then price will ultimately over come all objections. Yet some sellers are still not there and are easily sucked into the agent that tells them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. Very frustrating when you lose a listing to this type of agent, then a year later they come back and ask you to sell it! Happening to one of my agents right now. She lost the listing to an over pricing agent and is now trying to pick up the pieces.

It's a horrible feeling to be standing on the doorstep with buyers and not be able to get the house open. I agree with you, Marte...when you have a key made, go and CHECK to make sure it works. And when you pick up a key from another agency, make SURE that the receptionist gave you the RIGHT ONE! It is so true...you can't sell it if you can't show it!

I've been using the same locksmith for the 33 years I've been in the business - never have a problem Karen

Price fixes everything is so true. I know it; I've seen it; I've experienced it. I have been able to communicate it to my sellers, some sooner, some later. But, I would love to have a repeatable presentation that communicated it better. I want my sellers to make even more money and to realize the advice I give on price is given so that they will make the most money they can. Cathy Glass

I have always hated when someone posts a link to a blog post in the comments of my blog....but, I cant resist cause this is so fitting....Go read http://activerain.com/blogsview/1164264/the-sins-of-a-seller

I wont make it an active link...

And, Im very sorry!! :-) But, it is just too perfect of a fit for this post. :-)

Sorry!

I would add financing options under terms. Financing helps to sell homes and it needs to be included in the listing agents marketing.

I hope everyone is taking notes.

I'm taking notes as fast as I can. Newbie!

Clint - I read "Sins of a seller" too - and it's a good one! Don't apologize.

I agree with those who mentioned the right price getting the seller the most money - when they're badly overpriced they often end up on the market for far too long and ultimately selling for less than if they'd been priced right to begin with.

I remember one Fannie Mae house I had... $10,000 overpriced. Got an offer right away at the "right" price and that was rejected. Many, many months later it sold for $10,000 UNDER the "right" price.

Corinne - I hope your agent manages to get those sellers convinced of the right price this time around - it IS frustrating, and there will always be an agent who claims that he or she can get sellers a higher price than anyone else can. Unfortunately, there will always be sellers who fall for the lie.

Maybe before MLS and the Internet you could fool buyers, but not now!

Lenn - Tenant occupied homes are the worst, because they usually don't want them sold. But what do you do with houses that the owner needs to keep rented in order to keep making the payments?

Cathy, I've been thinking of creating a set of buyer and seller handouts to go with my prospecting letter sets - I'll add that idea to the list.

Thanks to everyone for taking time to comment and add your thoughts ...

Marte

I am bookmarking this post...great information

Thanks Christopher, but Carra deserves the credit for the original post...

Marte, you are right, the right agent makes the difference. However, I have created websites, beautiful eye catching marketing pieces, but without the price & condition being right, the house is never going to sell....

Nice addition to Carra's blog post. Thanks Marte. Without the right agent.... nothing!

I agree Marte - the right agent WILL roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to get the transaction securely to the closing table. If you don't have an agent willing to do that, then you really don't have the RIGHT ONE!!!

Lenn makes an important point....the harder a seller makes it for buyer agents to show a house the more difficult it will be to sell.

Wouldn't it be something if the average consumer had a clue about how much real work a good agent puts into all this?

And wouldn't it be nice if would-be agents who think they're getting into a "big-money / no-work" job knew it before they put down their dollars to attend real estate school? You'd have a lot fewer non-functioning agents to deal with and real estate would have the good reputation you'd all love to have.

It really is fun for me to come here and interact with the cream of real estate's crop.

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