The Basics of Listing a Home

Forget that all I do every day is eat, sleep, and breathe the Jacksonville real estate market, the biggest difference between you and me when it comes to selling your home is simple: MARKETING.

Marketing includes targeting buyers through advertising, whether it be making phone calls to target leads or placing advertisements in newspapers and everything in between. There is a lot of work to be done and it is a BIG job. Selling a home is not easy; that’s why real estate professionals like me exist. We’ve been around since the dawn of economics and there are 3 main reasons why:

1.    I can sell your home faster than you can

2.    I can sell your home for more money than you can

3.    I can sell your home with as little headache as possible

It’s quite simple: Through tried and true marketing methods, I significantly increase the pool of buyers for your home. The more buyers you have looking and bidding on your home, the higher the final price you’re going to get for your home in the least amount of time. And through my experience closing transactions, I’ve learned to avoid all the headaches that can accompany a complex sale.

My marketing efforts and considerations will include:

1.    Submitting your listing to the Capital Area Assosciation of Realtors Multiple Information System within twenty-four hours.

2.    Prepare Color Marketing Information Sheet on your property and distribute it to all Sales Counselors.

3.    Place your home on the World Wide Web at www.BubbaTrace.com and www.GrojeanAgency.com.

4.    Send personal notes to anyone we know who might know someone looking for a property like yours. Include a marketing information sheet.

5.    Walk through your property with you for suggestions to improve salability, and discuss showing your home to its best advantage.

6.    Take photos for use in “Homes” magazine, a free, widely distributed, and well known real estate periodical available throughout the city.

7.    Immediately submit to my advertising department all information necessary to initiate inclusion of your property in the Grojean advertising program.

8.    Have information on your property available through our staff seven days a week.

9.    Place my distinctive “For Sale” sign on your property.

10. Arrange for a special preview showing for all Grojean Associates.

11. Financially Pre-Qualify to the best of my professional ability all prospective buyers for your property to eliminate unnecessary traffic through your home.

12. Schedule periodic conferences with my sales manager about the status of your property and explore additional marketing actions as warranted.

13. Hold open houses on your property if you desire one.

14. If necessary, I will provide you with comparable sales every month to help keep your home competitively priced in our ever changing market.

Set the Listing Price

All owners want the best possible price and terms when selling their home. Several factors, including market conditions and interest rates, will determine how much you can get for your home. The idea is to get the maximum price and the best terms during the window of time when your home is on the market.

In other words, home selling is part science, part marketing, part negotiation and part art. Unlike math where 2 + 2 always equals 4, in real estate there is no certain conclusion. All transactions are different, and because of this, you should do as much as possible to prepare your home for sale.

What is Your Home Worth?

What homes are worth boils down to “what the market says it’s worth.” A home “value” also depends on who you ask: there's the price owners would like to get, the price buyers would like to offer and the point of agreement between buyer and seller that actually results in a sale.

In considering home values, several factors are important:

• The value of your home relates to local sale prices. The same home located elsewhere could have a different value.
• Sale prices are a product of supply and demand. If you live in a community with an expanding job base, a growing population and a limited housing supply, you have a seller’s market, and home prices will likely rise. Alternatively, if the local community is losing jobs and people are moving out, then you'll likely have a buyer's market.
• Listing prices should not be inflated. You should be strategic in setting your listing price and be sure not to overprice your home, because you may not be able to sell it. The longer a home is on the market, the more “stale” it gets, and the more likely that buyer agents will tend not to show it and that buyers will think there is something wrong with the home because it is not selling. If you overprice your home, you may eventually have to bring the price down to even less than what you could’ve got if it was priced properly in the first place. And you will have lost the initial flurry of interest that new listings generate.
• How quickly you need to sell can affect sale values. Owners who "must" sell quickly will have less leverage in the marketplace. Buyers may think that the owner is willing to trade a quick closing for a lower price - and they may be right. Conversely, owners who do not need to sell quickly may have more marketplace strength.
• Sale prices are not based on what owners "need." When an owner says, "I must sell for $300,000 because I need $100,000 in cash to buy my next home," buyers will quickly ask if $300,000 is a reasonable price for the property. If similar homes in the same community are selling for $250,000, the seller will not be able to sell for $300,000.
• Sale prices are NOT the whole deal; look also at terms and conditions. Which would you rather have: a sale price of $200,000, or a sale price of $205,000 but where you agree to make a " seller contribution" of $5,000 to offset the buyer's closing costs, pay a $2,000 allowance for roof repairs, fund two mortgage points, repaint the entire house and leave the washer and dryer?

How Do You Set a Listing Price?

Because all transactions are unique there is price flexibility in the marketplace. The amount of flexibility depends on local conditions.

For example: you're selling a townhouse and there have been five recent sales of the same model townhouse and prices ranged from $200,000 to $210,000. You now have an idea of how your home might be priced. In a strong market perhaps you can ask for $210,000 or a little more. If the market has slowed, $210,000 may be a reasonable asking price, but perhaps more than you could get for a final sale price.

Here's another scenario: you live in a community of Victorian-style homes, most of which were built in the 1920s. All the homes are different in terms of size, condition, modernization, style and features. In such a neighborhood, an average sale price is just a statistic without much practical meaning. On a single block one home may sell for $400,000 while another is priced at more than $1 million. The average price may be outrageously high for one home and staggeringly low for another.

Knowing what listing price to set for your home can be difficult. You need to work with a professional. I have handled many transactions; I am familiar with the terms and conditions that went into individual sales, not just published sale prices that may not reflect various premiums, discounts, terms, conditions and adjustments. And, importantly, I know the latest sale prices among competing houses and can offer that information to you!

Click Here For A Free Home Valuation!

Showings and Open Houses

To prepare your home for viewing, make it as bright, clean, cheerful and serene as possible. Always look at your home from the buyer's point of view.

Quick tips for showings and open houses:

• Clean or replace dirty or worn carpets.
• Open all curtains and blinds.
• Replace any burned out light bulbs and turn on all lights.
• Clear all clutter.
• Clear all countertops.
• Wash and put away any dirty dishes.
• Set the dining room or kitchen table if you have particularly nice linen or china.
• Simmer a few drops of vanilla on the stove.
• Put on soft music.
• Burn wood in the fireplace on cold days, otherwise, clean the fireplace.
• Put fresh towels in the bathroom.
• Take any laundry out of the washer and dryer.
• Leave the house so your REALTOR^® is free to deal with prospective buyers in a professional manner.
• Put pets in cages or take them to a neighbor.

How Long Has Your House Been on the Market?

Professional appraisers sum up their entire body of knowledge in three words: " Buyers make value." Your home is worth as much as a buyer will pay for it.

If your home has been on the market for months, it’s a clear message that the property may not be worth what you're asking for it. This is particularly true if there haven't been many prospects coming to see it. What you do at that point depends on whether you really need to sell, and whether you're working with a time limit.

If you're not really motivated to move soon, you can always wait - years if necessary - and hope inflation will catch up with the price you want. The problem is that in that time, your home begins to feel shopworn. Buyers become suspicious of a house that's been for sale for a long time.

If you really do need to sell, I will discuss a schedule for gradually dropping your price until you find a level that attracts buyers. There's no point in saying, " We simply can't sell our house." Anything will sell if the price is right.

Why Use My Listing Service When Selling Your Home?

Real estate transactions are one of the biggest financial dealings of most people’s lifetime. Transactions today usually exceed $250,000. If you had a $250,000 income tax problem, would you attempt to deal with it without the help of a certified professional accountant? If you had a $250,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would be wise to work with a professional when you are selling a home.

If you're still not convinced of the value of using my high-quality listing service, here are more reasons to use one:

1. When selling your home, I give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace as well as the price, financing, terms and condition of competing properties. These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle.
2. I recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of your property.
3. I market your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets across the country, over half of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer.
   I act as the marketing coordinator, distributing information about your property to other real estate agents through a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc.
4. I will know when, where and how to advertise your property. There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. NAR studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts. When a property is marketed, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. I will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.
5. I will help you objectively evaluate every buyer's proposal without compromising your marketing position. This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing – and a lot of possible pitfalls. I will help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.
6. I will help close the sale of your home. Issues may arise between the initial sales agreement and closing (also called settlement or escrow), for example, unexpected repairs might be required to obtain financing or a title problem is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. I am the best person to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing.