Listing agents dance on a fine line when working with Home Sellers to prepare their house for the market . . . and then coordinating a marketing strategy that builds Buyer Excitement and anticipation.

We all know that there is such a thing as not enough preparation. If the staging, condition, smell, and pricing aren’t in the top tier of the market, the Buyers speak loud and clear . . . they may show up and look and offers fail to appear.

Is there such a thing as too much preparation?

Our “Perfect Sellers” clean and declutter it, paint the colors out, lose the wall paper, stage the furniture and decor, switch out “dated” fixtures, polish or refinish the hardwoods, manicure and freshly mulch the lawn, replace the rusty mailbox, ban all pets from the house, threaten (or bribe) the children to pick up after themselves and stop drawing on the walls . . . and ask the next door neighbors to live a little cleaner than usual (and no fist-fights in the front lawn during showings) . . . do we also ask the Sellers to do things like replacing old kitchen appliances and countertops?

Where’s that line?

and how about your pre-marketing?

Do you market the house as “Coming soon” and leak the word to your REALTOR colleagues that the house is coming on the market?

Heck! The neighbors already know the Seller is about to put the house on the market because of the buzz of contractors and landscapers . . . Why not let others in on the game?

Do you list the house in the MLS on Tuesday with “No showings until the Open House on Sunday?” If so, what do you do when REALTORS start calling and begging you to let them in early “because my client is in from out of town for ONLY 3 hours TODAY, and they are going to BUY NOW!”

If all of the above works . . . and multiple offers materialize . . . how do you manage that flow? When there are multiple offers, we all know that there’s really only going to be one happy Buyer . . . and the rest will grumble and moan how unfairly you handled it.

Clearly, the job of the REALTOR is advise and counsel the Seller and manage the process (Marketing and proper document handling) . . .

Don’t EVER forget that it is the SELLER who makes the decisions . . . and there’s NO RULE that says the Seller’s decision has to make good, logical sense because the Seller may have emotional attachment to the house . . . Might accept a lower offer because they “feel good” about that Buyer.

Hey! we can only do what we can do given the boundaries defined by the Seller’s decisions . . . and our own strategic finesse.

How does this play out in YOUR listing practice?

We are offering a very special Lunch and Learn Wednesday 7/25 @ 10 AM during which we will “unpack” much of the above and noodle some strategies and tips.

Without question, every participant will come away from this session with some great new ideas to help SELL MORE LISTINGS.

Oh! . . . and the lunch part?

WOW!

SO Exciting!

A1 Appliance’s Tom Burns is hosting this session in their showroom. When we finish our session, we’re in for a real culinary treat.

They will be cooking in the Jennair kitchen, using the speed oven; showcasing the culinary center on the double oven; and showing the amazing chrome-infused griddle on the pro range.

We will also be demonstrating the awesome speed of the magnetic induction cooktop.  It should be a fun lunch break!

The result of all of those demonstrations will be delectable FOOD!

Check out their website and watch the short video here: http://a1appliance.com/cms.php?id=11205

Please RSVP is you intend to join us

Best,

b