Getting More Money for the Sale of a House.

Our last three posts have been the foundation for this one. First we discussed statistics in general, and then we took at look at statistics from The National Association of REALTORS about how much more on average a REALTOR® gets than an owner when selling a house. After that, we then poked fun at an absurd article suggesting that all Sellers should try to sell their home themselves. [They are the 3 immediate posts below this one... here, here (with a great comment trail at the bottom of it) and here.]

With that as groundwork, lets focus on the one thing that is foremost to every home Seller, how much they are going to get for the sale of their house.

It makes perfectly good sense, isn’t “more” what we all think about first? If we were selling our house today, that would be the first priority for our family, and I’m confident that is so for yours too.

Because it is impossible to separate one from the other, this discussion also includes the value we bring when representing a Seller too. Concurrently with the effort, our value blends into the pursuit of top market value; they work together hand-in-hand.

A Seller’s two greatest fears are traditionally “did I sell for too little?” and “will my house sell in my time frame?” Recently, and it’s characteristic of a Buyers market, there is a third fear “will my house sell at all?”

So lets cut to the chase. Making the most money possible on the sale of your house is completely dependent on market knowledge. It is paramount; information is king.

Two Examples :
Lets do some examples first, then finish with a a few brief points about Information, Price and Marketing thereafter.

The Seller for the house at right thought it might be listed at about $550,000. The market was still moving up at the time, and we thought it should be listed $100,000 higher.

The Seller was not fully aware of how far the market had moved upward, and after some discussion on the information we provided him, he instructed us to list it at our recommended price of $649,000. After being on the market for about a month, it sold for $640,000. Together, because price is always the Seller’s instruction, WE made about $90,000 more than what the Seller initially thought he would.

The Seller for the home at left wanted $650,000 for his house. His wife thought his senses had long left him as she was sure it was worth no more than $600,000, likely less. We were confident the house would sell at or near the $650,000 figure, but the Seller wanted a recent comparable sale to justify putting the house on the market.

But there were no relevant sales on our multiple listing service (MLS) that substantiated the value the Seller wanted . Unknown and unavailable to the public, and to most agents, however, was a recent sale that was not on the MLS that justified our confidence with the Sellers position. In addition to that, we also knew from another agent of a buyer from Europe who was in town looking at homes at that moment that this house would suit perfectly.

We presented the comparable sale that justified the value the seller wanted, and Sold his house for $679,000 an hour later to the buyers from Europe. This is as good an example that we have of market knowledge, both public and private coming together to sell a house for more.

About Our Market Information :
Market knowledge is the heart and soul of our professional practice. We are known for it. It is the first thing that we offer of real value, and any other real estate agent should offer, to address a Seller’s first concern.

Both this blog and our public real estate seminars are testaments to the importance we place on providing market knowledge for you. The left sidebar of this blog is complete with all relevant market performance information, from general real estate trends to those of each neighborhood in particular... on both sides of the state line.

Our real estate seminars are public discussions on current market trends and conditions. Designed to provide as much detail as possible in a fun, easy to understand format, they often become the basis for the information we provide to Sellers to best help them best sell their house. Here a Seller can learn how to sell for the most, or the quickest, or hopefully find a successful, comfortable place in between.

Who Uses Our Information :
Perhaps the greatest compliment to the value of the real estate information we provide for you in the left sidebar of this blog is many of our competing real estate agents also use it, and even better than that, some appraisers do too. Updated consistently, the information is just that good.

The Source of the Information :
The information necessary to help a Seller get the most money possible for the sale of their house comes from three principal sources.

The first is our MLS. All of the data used for the information and statistics in our left sidebar comes from here. The MLS provides all but SOLD information to various online resources, it is considered public information. (What makes us distinct is we do provide SOLD information for you in our left sidebar 24/7.)

The other public source of real estate information are the county recorder offices across the country.

Real estate information also comes from what we know because we practice real estate full time... all of the time. This is the “insider information” kind, what a good agent on top of their game knows. (Like the information we had to see the home above for $679,000.)

Not necessarily known, or made available to the public, and not on the MLS, information of this sort almost always has value, and it usually comes from relationships a top tier agent has... with other agents, and with buyers and sellers in particular, and possibly local contractors, developers and city planners, for example.

What we call inside information can also be information about home sales that are not on the MLS, there are always a few of those. There is also tremendous value to be had when an agent has an inside track on future development projects or companies moving in, or out of an area. An example of this is when Vail Ski Corporation purchased Heavenly Mountain a few years ago. It immediately increased property values, and the proposed developments around our new convention center are significantly increasing property value in that area as well.

What “The Most Money” means, and How it Works :
No real estate professional can get more for a property than the market will allow. “Top Dollar” does not mean a Seller can get $600,000 for a $400,000 house. What getting the most means is “the most that the market will bear.” That very much has to do with proper pricing and exposure. In a Sellers market, right pricing is higher, naturally, than it is in a Buyers market. (Overpricing in a Buyers market, and especially one in decline will COST money, not make more, virtually every time, with the possible exception of that which is in a future development zone, of course.)

The truth is, getting the most amount of money possible for the sale of a house comes from effective teamwork between the Seller and the Agent, not from the agent acting, or making decisions solo.

Price is set by the Seller. It is the Seller’s decision, not that of the real estate agent. The agent’s job is to provide all of the information, both that which is public and anything known which is not.

Based on the information provided , the agent will present a Seller with a reasonable price range for their property. A good agent will also propose some marketing strategy options for the Seller to consider, each of which are based on the price range (not OVER the reasonable range). (see a sample of our home evaluation  here)

A good agent should also discuss the upside and downside of each option. Ultimately the Seller’s decision about price, marketing strategy, and their instructions to the agent will determine if the agent has a chance to get top market dollar for their house, or not.

A Seller should also be aware that “price” is always the most important component part of marketing anything. The success or failure of any marketing campaign starts, or stops with price. “Advertising” is also a part of marketing too, only of less importance. (The example we use to describe this is we can not sell Crest for $35 a tube, no matter how much Procter and Gamble gives us to advertise it. See a discussion between us and about 135 agents across the country about that  here.)

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