What Santa Monica, CA Sellers Actually Have Control Over

The volume of options in Manhattan apartments tends to result in a pretty efficient marketplace where attractive opportunities result in action.

What Do Manhattan Sellers Actually Have Control Over?

Location? No

Room Count? No

Square Footage? No

Floor? No

View? No

Building Amenities? No

Lets looks at some of the key drivers that sellers actually have control over

• Price: Nothing matters more than the initial list price. Buyers and buyers’ brokers are very tuned into to marketplace valuation and the power dynamic shifts to the sellers when an attractive pricing means an apartment is seen as something to be pursued actively. If your goal as a seller is to get the most amount of net proceeds at closing in the shortest most efficient way, an attractive price is the only way to achieve that. Even in very soft markets, a well priced opportunity will attract a great deal of interest and offers and an overpriced one will not.

• Sales Site Preparation: The way a home looks, feels, smells and presents is very important. Buyers make very fast decision when they walk into a home or first see the pictures online. I’ve watched the evolution occur where more and more buyers have spent a great deal of time scrutinizing pictures and then arrive to either have their impressions confirmed or disappointed. Sellers need to invest in creating an appealing home that buyers want to live in.

A few obvious but worth repeating suggestions

• Clean like crazy! The home should be glowing and sparkling clean, not just for the first Open House but for every single showing. No dust. No clutter not a single thing that may evoke a “yuck” reaction. Sellers do well to remove into storage as much as possible.

• Depersonalize. Buyers want to imagine living in their home not yours. I advise sellers to remove all photographs, kids drawings or overly personal items.

• Paint. A fresh coat of paint can be one of the best investments you can make to increase the value of your apartment. Keep colors neutral and light.
  

• Stage. This means hiring a professional to come to your home and rearrange, bring in new furniture and generally make the home as appealing as possible. Simply swapping in new towels, sheets  etc can have a huge impact. 

• Marketing. The Price you get is a function of the Marketing you choose.
  

• Negotiating Attitude: This is a key component of a successful deal and one that is hard to convey. Years of negotiating deals has given me a sense of the tone, attitude and timeline expectation. A good broker will walk the line between keeping the pressure on to get clients to act but not scaring them away with overly aggressive tactics

More tips on increasing your home's value through home sales preparation in Manhattan Home Enhancement Guide.

As always I’m very happy to talk to people at any stage of the Real Estate process and can discuss the opportunities in each neighborhood, price point and room count.

courtesy of:

Mitchell Hall, Associate Broker, The Corcoran Group

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Mitchell Hall, Associate Broker P (212) 877-6268 | M (917) 312-0924 MHALL@Corcoran.com