Many home sellers these days are asking, "how can I possibly sell my house in this market?" The good news is, houses are selling but only the smart sellers are getting buyer's offers. What do the smart sellers know that the rest of the market does not? They know that these six "C" strategies will ensure home selling success:
1. COMMIT TO THE PROCESS - In this more competitive marketplace, there's no room for half-heartedness! You either commit to selling your home or hold it. I promise you that if you think you can toss your home on the market and cross your fingers, you're sadly mistaken! What does commitment look like? It's about Changing Your Mindset, Constructive Criticism, Considering Your Team, your Competitive Pricing Strategy and Consistency. Are you up to this commitment? It's not as hard as you think because there are experts who can guide you throughout the process, but make no mistake, not all experts are the same!
2. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET - You need to criticize your home and search online for your competition (other homes for sale in your area) like a buyer does. Your beloved home of X amount of years is no longer! Now your home is your most valuable commodity and you need to think like a marketer in order to sell it. Let's face it. It's almost impossible to be "objective" about a home we've been living in for years, so it's crucial to get expert help and at least try to "disassociate" from the home and put on "buyer's eyes". The cost of staging is much less than your first price reduction, so don't reduce...stage!
My first step in the staging process is to walk through your home as a home buyer would and discuss what it is buyers will be looking for. Remember, I'm an expert at marketing and merchandising a home product, so before you invest in any improvements give me a call to get the most bang for your buck!
In fact, in a yearly report profiling buyers and sellers put out by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sellers who sold a detached single-family home typically spent over $3,000 on home improvements prior to selling their home. You can choose whether to throw the dice OR spend that money wisely and get expert advice.
3. CONSTRUCTIVELY CRITICIZE - People DO NOT live in staged homes, so DON'T be afraid of the constructive criticism of a professional home stager! In fact, this is by far the biggest mistake home sellers make. They are afraid of constructive criticism, so they don't hire a stager. Another huge mistake is that they think they should be able to "stage" themselves, pick-up a "how to" book and believe they are capable of staging the home themselves. As I've stated above, this is nearly impossible because you can't be objective about it.
4. CONSIDER YOUR "TEAM" - That's right, don't expect to go it alone. I already mentioned the importance of hiring a professional home stager but what about choosing an agent? In the same NAR report above, 41% of sellers found their agent through a friend/neighbor/relative rather then critically assessing the online marketing presence of the agents and choosing the best one for the job. Not all agents are the same! Those agents who do not pay for "enhanced realtor.com listings" to market your home with multiple photos in a compelling way online, are not going to sell your home in this marketplace. Go to Realtor.com to search homes in your area to see what I mean. Again, 90% of buyers are online searching for your home, so make sure it's listed beautifully at Realtor.com and other popular search sites in order to get buyers to come to your home.
5. COMPETITIVE PRICING STRATEGY - You should now have a nicely staged home with an incredible online marketing presence because you chose an expert agent and stager to get you to this point. Guess what? You're not done yet. Remember when I said to "search online for your competition like a buyer does?" You may have first searched to make sure your home had a compelling marketing strategy (i.e. many gorgeous photos of your professionally staged rooms,) but now you must search to see if you're priced right. That's right, don't solely rely on your agent to do this research especially since prices are changing dramatically with each passing season. Search for similarly priced and sized homes in your area and see how your product is stacking up against the competition. If you were a buyer, would you go to your neighbor's house or yours based upon price and product? Don't shoot for a pie in the sky price and think you can lower it later because you lose "the buzz" of your new product launch by doing that. Think and search like a buyer and you'll find an appropriate pricing strategy you can use online.
Knowing that over 90% of buyers are searching online, did you know that if your house is priced at $420,000 buyers will not even see your home if they search for homes up to $400,000? Is a buyer inclined to pay an extra 5% ($20,000) for a well staged home? Absolutely, but they won't even get a chance to view your home if you don't change their search parameters. That's why so many homes have a "range" and dip a bit lower in order to show up in the most amount of online searches. This is just another strategy to talk to your agent about.
6. CONSISTENCY IN THE PROCESS - Make sure you continue the hard work you and I, as your professional stager, have completed by keeping your product in "show" readiness! Don't slack and think buyers can look beyond the dishes in the sink! Remember, this is your number one marketing commodity, so prepare, show and sell it for the most money possible in the least amount of time. The price you get today for your home will be more than the price you will receive after sitting on the market for six months!
When you search for homes online, you will see that most home sellers are NOT doing all of these six things and therefore, delaying the sale of their home!
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Rob & Jeannie Steward ~ Weichert, Realtors ~ 20400 Observation Dr, Ste 200 ~ Germantown, Maryland 20876 ~ Direct: (301) 213-7351 ~ Office: (301) 540-1330 x180 ~ Fax: (301) 601-0250 ~ E-Mail: Rob.Jeannie@gmail.com ~ www.HomesByRobandJeannie.com ~ We Work Twice As Hard For You!
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