Lately here in my area (South King County Wa.) inventory has been sitting longer. In the community of Verona alone average days on market is almost double what it was a year ago and competition is fierce. With all this going on I am still amazed at how little listing agents do to get their clients homes sold. It seems that most agents feel like talking their clients into a price drop is the only way to go. I admit price drops are great if you can get them, and they do work.............eventually. They are especially needed if the listing was overpriced in the first place. Of course I am talking about significant price drops. Minimal price drops just to get your listing to pop up on daily hotsheets are pointless.
Isn't our real goal however, to get the clients home sold for the highest price possible in the least amount of time?
Of course in my opinion offering buyers a 1 yr. home warranty is already a given on every listing. Not only does it give buyers a better peace of mind, but it also is sort of like an insurance policy for agents when systems break down after closing. This is well worth the minimal cost in my opinion, yet many agents do not offer this feature.
Okay so that being said this alone will not make your clients home stand out among the competition.
Staging especially nowadays is also something that I believe is well worth it and almost a given. If the home is still occupied getting rid of the clutter is a definite MUST.
I would also consider 3/1, 5/1, and permanent buy downs to help attract buyers with lower monthly payments to get into the home. Working with a great mortgage professional is definitely an asset in this area.
One last strategy that I have used in the past is instead of dropping the price say.....$10k why don't you offer the selling agent 4% commission instead? Why don't more agents go this route? On a $500k home it would only cost them and extra $5k. If they agree to a $10k drop why not drop the price $5k and offer a higher commission to the selling agent. All things being equal which home would you take your clients to?
What do you guys think? What other techniques are you fellow agents out there using that gets your listings sold? I would greatly appreciate any of your input or ideas. We could all use some help in this slower market.
Until next time.........
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