Clean and Decluttered - getting the best price

While you’ve heard the ancient Real Estate axiom Location, Location, Location, Realtors often fail to stress the role condition plays in the marketplace.

Since location never changes, Realtors can use comparative market data to value a particular area. However, once a buyer opens the door to a location, a home’s value often circles around its condition.

Sellers want to hit the market with a home in optimal condition! To accomplish this, they should remedy maintenance issues, like peeling paint or stained carpeting, and declutter rooms with too much furniture, extraneous boxes, or open hobby or work stations.  They should scour away pet and food odors, remove garbage, and keep the house as neat and clean as possible. A well decorated, decluttered, clean, neat, and odor-free home can raise a home’s value and produce a relatively quick sale.  

While some maintenance issues cost money to remedy (replacing carpet, for example), cleaning and decluttering are relatively cheap. However, as Realtors, we’ve seen the benefits, but more often the detriments, of a house not ready for prime time.

Have a look at the great before and after photos above. The stager removed the coffee table to showcase more floor space in the living area, but otherwise, she simply uncluttered the rooms of toys, the laundry basket, the computer, a breakfast tray, etc. You’ll notice that the angle of the uncluttered photo eliminates the bookcases altogether. Hopefully, the stager organized the shelves as well, but a picture without the bookcases will draw in more buyers with its minimalist lines and comfortable breathing space.

Sellers often complain about the difficulties of living in a museum, and it’s true, keeping a house ready for lookers can get old. However, if a seller lists her home with a dedicated Realtor at a competitive price, doing her part to maximize the home’s condition can really pay off!    

Think Outside the Billboard

You're choosing a Real Estate agent, and you see the signs - the same smiling face plastered on billboards, bus stops, maybe even a sporty Corolla. It’s tempting to board that same train with the usual crowd, but big names don’t always equal big service.

So what are some of the steps to finding the right Realtor for you?

Investigate the brokerage firm. Do they have a solid reputation for integrity and teamwork?

A great broker rallies his/her agents into more than independent contractors pushing up the sales ladder. For example, John Rea Realty hosts weekly meetings where agents discuss new listings, price reductions, contract and legal changes, loan news, new technology advancements, and community happenings - all with an eye towards better serving each agent’s individual clients. For example, recently an agent announced that she would enter a new listing in a quick selling neighborhood at a rock bottom price later that morning. 10 minutes after the meeting ended, four agents had set up appointments for their clients. In companies that don’t meet regularly, agents often miss hot properties that barely hit the MLS before receiving contracts, or agents have less knowledge of technology updates that make home purchasing quicker and easier.

Can the Realtor devote the time, attention, and technology to market your property?

The community once turned to one of two sources for all real estate information - the local newspaper or their Realtor. Now, Realtor.org reports the current marketing sources as:

• Internet: 44%
• Real estate agent: 33%
• Yard sign/open house sign: 9%
• Friend, relative or neighbor: 6%
• Home builder or their agent: 6%
• Directly from sellers/Knew the sellers: 2%
• Print newspaper advertisement: 1%

While Realtors still market homes directly to clients searching for the perfect fit, the Internet drives 44 percent of all sales. Those familiar with the big internet sites may think Realtor.com, Trulia or Zillow direct all of the home sale traffic, but with the rise of social media, Instagram and Facebook are breaking new ground with sponsored ads that appeal to people not actively in the market for a home but intrigued by photos and captions. Your Realtor should know the latest technological advancements and marketing niches such as Facebook and be using sponsored ads to boost your home’s online profile.

Direct mail has also gone high tech with internet sites able to send postcards to the perfect audience for your home with a touch of a button. Your Realtor should know how to access these resources and use audience targeted direct mail to market your home.  

Can you reach your Realtor quickly, day or night?

Communication propels Real Estate sales, and a missed call can mean a missed sale or a missed deadline. While agents working with other clients may need to return the occasional call, no client should wait more than 3 hours before their agent returns a phone call. In fact, with the rise of texting, most agents can at least shoot a text back to their client telling them they are currently showing homes or in a meeting and will return their call ASAP. And, it’s not just clients that need quick attention; lenders, attorneys, and cooperating agents should have swift access to an agent. Take note of your early communication with a potential Realtor and hold your Realtor to high communication standards at all times.

Will your Realtor go above and beyond?

Selling a house from afar? Have jobs with little-to-no flexibility? The right Realtor will help with showings whenever possible. They swing by to turn on the lights or disable the security alarm. While few (if any) Realtors double as housekeeping services, many will help sellers organize their homes for a pleasing aesthetic, and some will even semi- stage a home they are selling. Motivated Realtors will also host (and heavily advertise) open houses and add Realtor Open Houses to the mix.  At Realtor Open Houses, listing agents invite community Realtors (and their available clients) to a weekday walkthrough of the home. The agents often have comment cards available allowing other Realtors to anonymously offer critiques on the location, price, and condition of a home.  The listing agent and seller can discuss this feedback and determine new price points or condition updates.

When searching for the right Realtor, think outside the billboard and get the service you expect!