Selling a home can be a very stressful endeavor. I laugh at those that feel Realtor’s just put a sign in the yard and wait for a buyer. In my many years of Real Estate, I can’t recall a time that this happened. Even the times we have gotten an offer in almost record time, the various aspects of negotiations and closings challenges make a Realtor’s job one of wearing many different hats.
We live in a world where everyone wants to win(more on that later) and we are driven by visual stimulation. Successful listings of homes stand out online and are the one’s which have professional photos and Virtual Tours. This is why, we hire Tourfactory.com for all our listings. You will notice from the front page of featured listings, the photos and tours are awesome.
There are other aspects of selling your home that we also try to emphasize.
The front of the home needs to be stellar. It is the first thing potential buyers see and can be a showing killer if the first thing they see is run down porches, hedges/buses, yard, shutters,siding (where applicable), and gutters.
The home should be free of clutter and things the may distract potential buyers from seeing what you really have to offer. Obviously, if you reside in the home, you have to be able to live a normal life. You may even want to consult with someone that can help with home staging especially if you are not having any luck and the home is vacant.
All of these things are important but the most important is Pricing. Let me be blunt and say two things that are very important:
1. It does not matter what Zillow says. Zillow does not enter your home and has no idea what our MLS says with regard to closing prices, upgrades in the home, seller concessions, neighborhood amenities etc.
2, It does not matter what the Tax value is. Tax value has a sole purpose of creating a way for the city and county to generate revenue. It has nothing to do with recent sales.
Let us as Realtor’s show you reports of recent sales. This is what Realtor’s look at when they represent buyers and advise them on what is priced competitively. If you are too high, Realtor’s will tell their clients that you are not realistic and advise them to skip your home.
Ever heard a friend or colleague say he/she bought something and said “I got a great deal”, “I got it for exactly what I wanted to pay” or something of that nature. This is all about the feeling of winning the deal. Both buyers and seller’s want to feel they got the best deal possible. I have pondered this situation numerous times and have, at times, been able to help my clients get that satisfaction of “I got a great deal”
So, what can we do to make both sides win. Kind of seems impossible. However, in cases where a buyers and sellers are close but just can’t get past that financial hurdle with regard to price or repairs, this is where I step in and help with the negotiations. You see if I offer .5 percent of my commissions to my seller or in some cases up to 1%, we can ‘behind the scenes’ make the buyer feel like he/she has ‘WON’ by making a concession but also have the seller ‘WIN’ by allowing them to get the price they are holding out for. PRESTO!, we have 2 winners. You see the buyer does not need to know. The compensation on the closing statement just states totals! There is no record of what it was and is now.
A broker according to WiKipedia: A broker’ prime responsibility is to bring sellers and buyers together and thus a broker is the third-person facilitator between a buyer and a seller. In my opinion it our responsibility to ‘Broker the Deal’.
Lastly, There are some things that eliminate this technique from consideration. If we are being asked to cut our compensation so the seller can make a much larger profit, we feel this is a bit unfair since we have mouths to feed as well. Also, if we have already been asked to reduce our commissions and have agreed, it is not really fair to reduce them any more. All of these things we discuss in our listing meeting. It is important to remember, we are a team!
If this sounds like a win/win for you, Contact us!
