The internet has made it very easy to view homes from your own home. The emergence of Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com have given buyers access to a lot of pictures and information regarding a home for sale. While those sites don't always tend to be accurate, they can still give buyers a snapshot into their potential new home. Since the around 95% of buyers use the internet to look for homes, it is very important that you make your listing stand out.
One of the most important things that gets a home sold fast is pricing. A home that is not priced properly will sit on the market for a long time. You will end up getting less money for your home, than you would have if you priced it properly. Some misconception about pricing your home are basing it on what you paid for the home, adding the cost of upgrades to the price, taking advice from friends or family that are not professional realtors, comparing apples to oranges, and thinking your home is worth more because of the sentimental value it has to you. You want to base your list price on what homes have sold for in your area that are similar in style, size, bedrooms, bathrooms, upgrades, proximity, and age. This is not always possible depending on the area, but you want to look at homes as close to the property as possible, that have as many similarities as other homes you are comparing. If you overprice your home the chances of it selling go down significantly, and the likelihood of it sitting on the market go up significantly. If you don't have any showings in the first week, you could have a pricing issue. Your realtor should be able to tell you how long it took the comparable homes to sell. Homes that are at a higher price point, are in rough condition, non desirable location, or in a distressed area could take longer to sell.
As a realtor part of our responsibility as a listing agent is to do a walkthrough during our listing presentation. During this walkthrough we look for anything that needs to be decluttered, cleaned, repaired, replaced, painted, and also possibly staging. I personally offer my clients a complimentary staging consultation. The stager does their own walkthrough and gives the seller their feedback, and suggestions of how to stage their home for a quick sale. In my experience, the sellers who take the advice, sell their homes in a few days. Staging is a major part of selling a home. First impressions are important. I think we all have seen some pictures of homes with magnets all over the fridge, unmade beds, clutter everywhere, people in the picture, TV's on, pets in the picture, ,toilet seat up, and the list could go on and on. When 95% of buyers use the internet to search for their home, why would you not set your client up for success?
Professional pictures are another thing that your realtor should be doing for your listing. Complimentary professional pictures, and video tours, are something we include with our listings no matter the list price, with the exception of investment properties. The price for pictures and video can range anywhere from $100-$400, and we do not pass the cost on to our clients. An agent who invests their own money into their listings, is going to be more motivated to get your home sold. It also shows that they are a professional, and they are serious about marketing your home. When you are interviewing agents for a listing, you need to ask about their marketing plan. They should have staging, professional pictures, open houses, and marketing programs.
Marketing your listing is another important part of selling a home quickly at market value. When a home is listed in the MLS it is automatically listed into Realtor.com because they have a direct feed to the MLS. Most of the time, listings will automatically update to Zillow and Trulia within 24-48 hours. Like I said, "most of the time". Zillow and Trulia.com do not always pull the information from the MLS. Sometimes you have to double check, and have it manually entered. I have a buyer that has a home under contract that was not listed on Zillow. It is in a hot neighborhood where there are a lot of flips happening, and it wasn't listed on Zillow. It sat on the market, and I was able to negotiate a great deal for my buyer. If your home is listed for sale, make sure you see it on all of the major real estate websites. If it's not, you need to tell your realtor to get it updated. The longer a home stays on the market, the less money you will receive for it.
Your realtor should have a marketing plan. Their plan should include social media. If it includes a newspaper listing, they are wasting their marketing dollars. Your realtor should have a Facebook business page, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Business accounts can do paid marketing ads for homes that are "just listed", "reduced price", "open house", and "coming soon" if allowed in your MLS area. (My MLS does not let us premarket coming soon properties) Part of their marketing plan should be open houses. Some people will say that homes don't get sold at open houses. That is absolutely not true. I have a home under contract right now that was under negotiations within an hour of the open house ended. We hold open houses for the first four weeks, if needed, and once a month afterwards. We door knock the neighborhood a day or two before the open house. We let the neighbors know we are having the open house and we would love for them to take a look. Some agents don't like "Looky Lou's". However, they will make the open house look busier, and they will give you honest feedback.
Buying and selling a home are the largest purchase and sale most of us will have in our lifetime. You want to work with a realtor you feel you can trust, and has your best interests at heart. Make sure you do your due diligence. Ask question. That's what we are here for.
Francisco Peot
Richmond, VA Realtor
http://richmondhomesales.com/p/12058/how-to-sell-my-home-fast
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