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Just Say No! 10 Things You Can't Do If You Want to SELL Your Michigan Home

mioaklandcounty.com

10. Try to sell "By Owner." Sorry, I am not just saying this because my livelihood is in selling homes. If you want to sell your home, you need to be where the buyers are. Since about 90% of sales in Metro Detroit involve real estate agents, that is clearly where the buyers are. Additionally, many of the small 10% of non-Realtor transactions are between family members and known parties, making the odds for selling on your own even lower. Transferees coming in to this market always work with a Realtor.

9. Defer maintenence items. If something is broken, FIX IT. Period. Buyers today have lots to chose from and they don't want your problems.

8. Leave "updates" like removing gold flocked wallpaper to the buyer so that they can "put in what they want." In many price ranges, older homes are competing against nearby new construction that shows very well. Your gold flocked wallpaper will be laughed at during the showing and the "pottery barn perfect" home down the street will get the offer

7. Listen to your neighbors when they tell you to price your home a little higher. Clearly they want to protect their investment and you don't want to "sell cheap" but if property values are falling then that is the market.

6. Hire your mom's best friend Sally to represent you. If Sally tells you she does not know anything about the local market because she lives and works in Monroe, trust her judgment and hire someone who knows what they are doing.

5. Leave your Star Trek action figure collection set up in the den. Highly personal items are a distraction for home buyers. As much as you may love that collection, you'll love it even more in your new home. You want them to remember your house, not Dr. Spock.

4. Ask your real estate agent to cut his commission. Sorry, I know that sounds self serving too, but think about it. Right now there is a surplus of homes for sale. Most listing agents have the highest level of inventory they have ever had. Many agents are turning away sellers. A Realtor's costs for selling a home right now have increased as we have to advertise more (longer) and work harder on each transaction. If your agent agrees to a reduction in his or her commission, how hard do you think he is going to work at selling your home. And if he cannot justify his own commission do you think he will be the best negotiator when an offer comes in?

3. Make showings inconvenient for the buyer. Sorry, but every showing right now is more valuable than your family dinner. Pack up the kids and head over to Salvatore Scallopini's or something. Don't refuse a showing because, in all likelihood, that buyer will never come back and you have just missed your one opportunity to have him see your home. Selling a home is inconvenient.

2. Hire an agent without a strong marketing plan. Buyers are looking on the web. Can you find your agent on the web? If not, do you think buyers can find your home? Read our "Dear Mr. & Mrs. Seller" series for many other thoughts on marketing a home successfully.

And finally, the most important of all:

1. "Test the market" "Tell them to bring offers" Pricing is critical in this market. You will miss showings if you are not in the right price range. Buyers won't write offers if they are not seeing your home because it is priced above the range they are looking. We've been successful getting quick offers on homes that were priced just slightly below the competition. Our sellers netted more than their neighbors who still have for sale signs in their yards months later because their home was priced a bit too high. This is not a market for testing. What you 'want' or 'need' out of a house, unfortunately, is irrelevant to a buyer.

Sounds like tough love, but there are lots of things the right agent can do to help you position your home successfully against the competition. In many market segments we have more than 2 years inventory that you will be competing against. The details matter. Good advice and implementation of a good marketing strategy will help get your home sold. Be informed and prepared and you will be a Seller not a homeowner with a "for sale" sign in the yard. The difference is huge.

For more information about selling a home in Michigan, read miOaklandCounty.com or call Maureen Francis directly at 248.961.0801

Posted by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit on 03/30/2007 04:08 AM

Comments (42)

featured post, michigan real estate, seller, birmingham mi real estate

Originally posted at: Dmitry & Maureen: Moving Metro Detroit: Just Say No! 10 Things You Can't Do If You Want to SELL Your Michigan Home

This post has been included in Michigan Information Oakland County, MI Information

42 Comments on Just Say No! 10 Things You Can't Do If You Want to SELL Your Michigan Home

MAR

2007

Great advice, Maureen, presented in a readable, succint, and engaging fashion. Lots of folks need to read this and follow it.

Jeff

Thank you, Jeff. It can apply to many markets, but ours is a bit challenging right now, so these things are all the more important.

Ines, I would be honored if you would print it out and use it.

All of this is so true. It's true in Metro Detroit, suburban Chicago and I'm sure everwhere! Sellers need to do everything possible right now to bring in and keep buyers. Sherry

Great Post, and oh so true...... SW Florida Too....Do you mind if I grab a copy for use?

This is awesome! My listing partner and I were just saying, it's a buyer's market but sellers seem to think they can control the market. I'm going to link you to my outside blog, this is terrific.

MAR

2007

MF,

Great localism blog :)

keep blogging :)

Excellent Advice, well put, to the point and right on the money.

MF: Well-written, concise, and applies in every area (I'd have to find a warehouse for my Star Trek action figure collection).

Jay

I have seen sellers do more than one of these. They were surprised their home wasn't selling.

Perfect advice! You couldn't have worded it any better than that. Maybe Jay and I can share some warehouse space?

Maureen - VERY well-written advice for sellers, and it certainly applies here in NH & southern Maine as well. I would very much love to use this for my listing appointments, if I might.....terrific post!

Ann

So it's a little slow in the MO....Town eh!! Well, I think you hit the nail on the head with your article! I have a buddy that lives in Novi, who is prepping his home for sale and he is going to get this blog! I think he is moving on all the items that you've mentioned (because I have been telling him the same thing) but this will reinforce what I've said. I'd refer you to him but his ex (who also owns the home) is a realtor as well!! I will keep you in mind for future reference though.

Good Information!

Thanks &,

I like this but I could just keep adding. I think of the condo with the huge dog roaming freely, and the places with the over flowing litter boxes, and the homes with the unshoveled walks or in the summer the unmowed lawns and piles of newspapers in the front of the place. Vacant homes look so uninviting.

Excellent post. Are you going to incorporate it into your FSBO marketing?

I got a good laugh at some of the points because they're so true.

Rick, if your friend gets frustrated with his agent let me know. Woops, I think he already did get frustrated with his agent. And I was just joking, of course.

Teresa, the list is definitely not comprehensive. There are many more things that a seller can do to make their home salesproof.

Diane, we don't really do FSBO marketing, but I will incorporate it in our other marketing.

Maureen, this is excellent advice to the sellers. Very well-written. It fits in my Miami area as well. I may do the same as Carole and link to it too (once my blog is up ::smile::) Fabulous.

Maureen Francis, you couldn't have put it any clearer than that. It surprises me that so many sellers have not stayed tune to the housing market and when a REALTOR provides advice, they don't always listen.

Awesome advice, especially in this market. I wish all real estate agents would read this post too, not just the sellers.

Maureen - glad to see this got featured. It deserves it! I would love to link to it - is that OK?

Jeff

Great content and post. Its always put those "things" down in writing and put them in prospective for others. Thanks for sharing.

Love it, love it, love it. I'd like to reprint for my seller/buyer file (all credit to you as author). May I? Excellent advice and very palatable for those sellers that may be hard to say this to. Great post : )

Fantastic information for Sellers, Maureen. As a buyer agent specialist, I agree wholeheartedly with all of your advice. I think you should add a #11 though--"Don't fail to offer healthy commission splits to buyer agents". :-)

Everyone is welcome to link to this post, though my preference would be that you link to it on miOaklandCounty.com, not here.
Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Stefan, I am a huge supporter of healthy splits to the buyers agent. I always propose it as part of my marketing strategy.

RIGHT ON TARGET! ! !

And, everything we have all heard from just about everyone who didn't sell.

Thank you MF - much appreciated!

Great post - fun to read and of so true - in this competitive mark it's all the more important.

If everyone else is printing this out, then I am, too. Sometimes it softens the blow coming from an outside source. This is all so relevant for our side of the state, as well (West Michigan). Do you have as many vacancies over there?

Ed, do you mean vacant houses? Yes quite a few.

Great post. Very true. We should all copy it and give it to our sellers and potential sellers.

This is excellent advice to sellers. The key thing is that all sellers understand that this does relate to them and not to just the other guy.

Excellent list with Price deservedly at #1. We're always telling sellers 'the market doesn't care what you need to net'. We also stress that with so much inventory on the market and competition from builders, there's only a 2-3 week window before the home becomes old in the MLS, so competitive pricing is critical right from the beginning.

MAR

2007

Seems so simple just to say No MEANS No!!! Great Post! All sellers need to see this.

Hi Maureen, I'd logged out before I saw this post...but I just had to comment! This is SOooo on Target! It's sad that so many are compounding the problem when trying to sell homes by making not just one of these errors but several...often inspite of counsel from the listing agent they chose to represent them. There's a reason that we would do well to seek & follow the advise of a professional!

Maureen, as usual, this is great content. Don't you sometimes want to get on your knees and beg for your clients to slow down and listen to good solid advice? "Please, give me just a moment of your time so I can help you accomplish the goals you've asked me to help you reach" Great post!

APR

2007

Good Post. You should make a poster of it and hang it up in your office.

APR

2007

Great blog Maureen and Dmitry. Pricing a home correctly is key these days. It may not get you all the listings you want, but then a listing that is overpriced does not do any good for anybody. It will stay unsold for a long time.

APR

2007

Great Advice and not just for Michigan!

Thanks for the post,

OCT

2007

The 2007 NAR report indicates that the FSBO seller had a 7% chance of success selling to someone they did not know and that if they would have sold their home with a realtor they would have sold the home for 32% more. Yes, we earn our livings selling homes and we earn every penny.

Well written, excellent advice. Thanks.

These are 10 critical items in any market, but especially this one. Thanks for the good info

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