seller tips « Gina Branch

It’s Still A Beauty Contest

By Tom Branch, on September 10th, 2012

Last year I was telling sellers in the north Dallas suburbs that selling their home was both a “price war” and a “beauty contest.” Their homes had to be in tip-top condition, properly prepared, and ready to show. Additionally, they had to compete with all the other homes in a “price war” in order to sell.

This year, the local market has rebounded nicely with the buyer’s markets of previous years yielding to a seller’s market in 2012. Properly prepared, staged and show-ready homes are flying off the market in days.

I was out showing homes today and I’m amazed to see how many homes have not been properly prepared and show very poorly. Many of these homes have been on the market for more than 100 days and have still not sold.

If you’re serious about selling your home in the shortest amount of time and at the highest possible price, you simply have to get the home prepared to show.

Take care of any deferred maintenance issues. I’m not talking about remodeling the kitchen, but touch-up painting, caulking, and a good deep-cleaning will go a long ways.

If you’re not comfortable with how to stage your home, hire a stager! While we provide 2 hours of staging consultation for our listing clients, not all agents do. A good stager in our area costs less than $300 for two hours of consultation. This is money well-spent and will be far less than your first price reduction.

Make the most of every showing with a show-ready home. Most sellers know in advance that their home will be showing. When you get that call, it’s almost show time! Have a plan of action to get your home in show-ready shape. Turn on all the lights, open the blinds, and get some soft music playing!

Regardless of the market, It’s still a beauty contest!

Photo Licensed from iStockPhoto

Please Rearrange Your Schedule!

By Tom Branch, on March 4th, 2012

I’m often amazed at the things sellers unknowingly do to make selling their homes more difficult.

I was scheduling showings for a buyer today. We have 9 properties to view and we are starting at noon. The order was set and showings were scheduled through our showing service.

About 2 hours after I set them all up, I get a call from the showing service. The last home of the day wants us to move our showing. The want us to show it before 12:30 or after 3:30 as their baby naps every day between these hours. Sadly I was not able to accommodate their request and simply did not show the property. I was not willing to rearrange an entire showing schedule and change 8 other showings to accommodate one seller.

If you are a seller, please let your agent know about these types of scheduling issues. The agent can add remarks to the MLS so agents working with buyers are aware of these issues prior to scheduling an entire day. You cannot expect agents to rearrange their schedules around a single showing. It takes time to lay out routes and schedule showings.

Buyers are moving quickly on homes lately so make it easy to show your home. If you have a unique situation, ask your agent adds it to the MLS.