I met with my new sellers on Friday and told them I would fine-tune my analysis (once I had seen the house and assessed their needs ... sell fast? Sell for the most $$? Etc) and would get back to them by Monday. I am posting this on ActiveRain in the spirit of helping newer agents ramp up the learning curve of bringing solid value and analysis to their clients. Here is the email I sent out Sunday afternoon (I removed a little confidential info):
I really enjoyed meeting with you Friday afternoon and look forward to working with you. I love your home and have already told a couple friends about it ... one friend actually thought for a minute that perhaps she should buy it ... but that passed and we'll move on to other possibilities.
I have reviewed the market this afternoon and have some recommendations. The links below will show you the fine-tuned comps (vs. the larger list we discussed Friday). This is a list of 4 homes currently for sale and 4 homes sold in the last 6 months that are newer construction in the area in the $500k - $700k range with similar sqft. I looked north of 25th and south of 55th and from about Exposition over to Duval ... roughly. Going back 6 months is a little far (but 90 days gave us 2 solds and 6 months gave us 4) ... October and November solds are ok as the market had shifted by then.
The good news is I think we are on target for $/sqft. The bad news is a few were on the market for some time ... but a few were on less than 30 days. We hope to be in the 2-digit category.
So $/sqft for the active range from $220 - $279 with a $259 average. The solds $227 - $268 with a $254 average.
Link 1 [purposefully removed]
Link 2 [purposefully removed]
My price recommendations: I think the $270-275 / sqft is a good starting point which puts us in the $670k - $685k range. Any higher than that and we will be the highest $/sqft on the market and we do not want to be there. If you look at the solds, that would suggest we should be more in the $650k - $670k range based on $/sqft. So it depends on your comfort zone which tact to take. The general consensus in the market right now is to take the low or moderate road for, I think, obvious reasons. Your thoughts?
A few details on our marketing plan. I plan to personally call or email Realtors I know who are active in central Austin with higher-end clients. I already have one high-end Realtor friend that I want to give a sneak peak opportunity to and may have a few others (Realtors love to get a look before it goes on the market). Additionally, I am going to personally reach out to everyone I know who lives near by and everyone I have access to who is or know docs in central Austin. Open houses will depend on your comfort zone ... it will bring in the neighborhood so that may not be high on your list ... we are flexible.
A note on sign vs. no sign and your desire to keep things quiet ... I believe your neighbors (probably all of them) are going to find out pretty quick that the house is on the market. I have no problem not doing a sign but I just want you to recognize that word spreads fast. An important part of my outreach will be to talk with my friends in the neighborhood ... they have kids, they walk their dogs ... word spreads quickly especially with the kid and dog-walk network and these folks know folks who would like to live in the neighborhood.
I would like to order the virtual tour shoot asap and that requires that I have the listing documents signed. I can order the photo shoot Monday and could probably shoot within 2-3 days and could possibly be on the market by the weekend. Or if we need to slow down a bit, we can certainly do that.
I look forward to your response.
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