A
Sure-fire Way To Get FSBOs To List
Number
One Selling Tip - The Multiple Listing
Service . .
Finding Buyers
Listing
Presentations
Sell Your Home
Selling
Your Own Home
Sold!
There's
More to Selling Your Home than a "For
Sale" Sign In Your Front Yard: Beware
8
reasons 'For Sale By Owners' need a
Realtor
HUD
- 1 Settlement Statement Cost
Indoor
Air Hazards Every Homeowner Should Know
About
A
brief guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your
Home
Your
Settlement Cost
Life
Advice - Selling a Home
Drinking
Water From Household Wells
A Sure-fire Way To Get FSBOs
To List
by Blanche Evans
Broker John Veneziano
emphasizes something when interviewing FSBOs
that most brokers shy away from - that homeowners'
personal safety is more important than what
they can save on commissions. And he wonders
why more Realtors don't tell prospects that.
With characteristic New
England style (confrontation softened by a caring
undertone, as defined by this Texan) he'll say
to a FSBO seller, "Are you crazy?"
"What is your family
worth?" Veneziano will say, "Do you realize
that you are going to let strangers into your
house? Would you let a gas guy in without an
appointment? Would you let a cable guy in? What
about the 20 people who are going to ask you
to let them in to see your home?"
"You put your home in
the paper and you get a call - 'I'd like to
see your house tomorrow at 2:00.' 'No, can't
do it then,' you say, 'my wife and I will be
at work.' 'Fine, then how about 6:00? 'That
will work,' you say,'" baits Veneziano, "then
at 2:00 the next day, your house gets broken
into."
Or how about this one?
'I live in a bad neighborhood, that's why we
want to move. Is your neighborhood safe?' asks
the buyer. You say, 'oh, of course it's safe.
It's so safe nobody around here even has an
alarm system.' And then the nut shows up and
puts you and your whole family in the closet
while he steals everything in your house."
"Or a nice-looking stranger
wants to see your house. You let him in. Now
nobody buys on the first showing so when the
stranger asks 'May I take some pictures?" you
think he's interested in the house. Instead
he is photographing your motion detector and
security pad."
"These are just the tricks
of the ones who want to rob you, and I won't
even go into the ones who want to hurt your
wife or children or you. When I don't come home
from a showing, my wife knows to call the police.
Who knows that you've been showing your house
to strangers? Who will call the police for you?"
"I didn't think of that,"
says the stunned FSBO seller.
"Your home is your last
refuge," hammers Veneziano, "When you work with
a Realtor, they bring you real buyers, buyers
who have been qualified and are ready to buy.
It takes me 60 days to sell a house and that
is with the help of 300 other Realtors and their
1500 buyers. I have more access to buyers than
you do."
Softening, he says, "I
know you want to save money on commissions,
but I can get you more money for your home than
you can, because I'm not emotionally attached
to the house and my marketing time is still
60 days. We'll qualify the buyers for you, and
even then seventy percent can't buy your house
unless they sell something first. Did you know
that? Then another 11 percent can't afford it,
and 15 percent decide to keep renting, and that
leaves you with four percent that are ready
willing and able to buy your house. So if I
can do all that and get you your highest price,
why would you do it yourself?"
"What if I just try it,"
hedges the FSBO. "I'll put an ad in the paper,
and then if nothing happens, I'll call you."
"Sure it looks easy to
put an ad in the paper," allows Veneziano, "but
if you look at the advertising, there are 100
ads for this area, and 97 percent are with brokers,
three percent are with FSBOs. Which would you
shop first if you were a serious buyer? The
buyers who call you are only shopping FSBOs
to save commissions. They think they are getting
the fee - the same fee you think you're saving.
So they will beat you up on the price. And you
may not be able to save much on commissions
anyway, because we (Realtors) bring the buyers.
So you might as well let us get you what you
want for the house and be safe while you are
getting it, and you don't have to worry about
strangers coming into your house with your wife
and kids."
According to Veneziano,
safety as a concern works with FSBO sellers
because it never occurs to them that anyone
would want to do them harm.
Safety isn't just a scare
tactic to get listings, he says. Veneziano is
on a mission. Over the years, he has lost three
colleagues who were brutalized or murdered by
"buyers." One was raped and strangled, her nude
body found off a roadway. Another was shot in
the back of the head so that the "buyer" could
steal his car. A third left the industry after
surviving rape and having her throat cut while
showing a vacant home.
"We train our Realtors
to be safe, and even they get hurt or killed
sometimes by strangers," says Veneziano. "The
only security you have left is your house. That's
why it is easy for me to tell anyone, 'Don't
let people you don't know come in your house.'"
After a
month of trying to sell your home "By Owner"
you have listed it with a Realtor. You begin
to notice that your Realtor doesn't seem to
be marketing your home the same way you did.
You ran classified ads every weekend, but your
agent has only advertised twice all month. At
the same time, you notice there is a lot more
activity than you were able to generate on your
own.
When your
home is being marketed professionally, your
Realtor has many powerful selling tools that
make it worth hiring someone who is experienced
and competent. Some advantages to hiring a Realtor
are the national and worldwide referral networks,
the Multiple Listing Service, and the Internet.
We advertise extensively in almost every media
available, which may bring in a call from the
people who will buy your home. We work cooperatively
with other brokers and share information about
listings. Communication is the key to our success.
We use all of these tools to market our listings
aggressively to get sales action!
Number
One Selling Tip - The Multiple Listing Service
. .
You are not hiring a Realtor to put a sign
on the lawn, an ad in the paper, and hold an
open house. You can do this yourself. You are
hiring a Realtor to provide you with maximum
exposure to the greatest number of qualified
buyers for your home.
Supply and Demand
You've heard of supply and demand? The more
potential buyers at your supply, the higher
a price you can demand.
The absolute number
one tip I can give you to help you get the most
money possible for your home is this: make sure
you get full Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
coverage.
Don't look at any offers
until you are sure your home is on the MLS computer.
I will say this again...
Don't look at any offers
until you are sure your home is on the MLS computer.
An army of Realtors at your disposal can't be
beat. Think about any Realtor that tries to
tell you to put your house on exclusive (only
his/her company) or wants you to negotiate offers
before it gets on MLS. Think about any Realtor
that wants to list your house on a Friday and
have a public open house the following Sunday.
That might not be enough time to get your home
on the system.
I do not care how good
a Realtors marketing plan is, it is worthless
compared to the value of having your home on
the MLS system. Think of it this way. Realtor
= home on MLS = most Realtors = most buyers
= most money.
Is the first offer the
best offer?
There is a saying in
real estate. The first offer is usually the
best one. This is only true, if everyone knows
it's for sale. Real estate surveys in my area
showed the owner lost an average of $2000. when
their house was sold by the same office or Realtor
that listed their home. The reason...the offer
was written before any one else knew it was
for sale.
MLS Comes First
Ask any realtor you are
contemplating dealing with, what the order of
their marketing plan is. If submitting to the
Multiple Listing Service is not the first thing
they are going to do, look for another realtor.
If you took away every
selling tool I had, and said I could only have
one of them back, I would choose the MLS service.
This is not a commercial for MLS. It is just
the best weapon Realtors and the public have
for getting maximum exposure on property..
MLS is a strong selling
tool,...use it... It will make a difference
on your bottom line.
Finding
Buyers
When a home owner tries to sell "By Owner",
they basically use two techniques to get the
word out--a plastic sign from the local hardware
store and classified ads in the local newspaper.
When a seller lists their home with the professional
Realtor, however, a very sophisticated process
begins in order to make sales happen.
Realtors have a backlog of prospective buyers
for the homes in their market. Through the Multiple
Listing Service, the Realtors cooperates with
other brokers in the area who will show your
home to their prospective buyers. Professional
Realtors also combine direct mail, telephone
calls, and specialized advertising techniques
and media, such as the Internet, to reach the
sales market. In this way we create activity
on our listings that help them to sell quickly--and
for top dollar.
Listing
Presentations
The listing presentation is the first step most
sellers take when they are looking for a real
estate professional to market their home. They
communicate what they expect from the Realtor
who will list their home, and the Realtor explains
their marketing strategy, including home value
reports, advertising, and any special programs
they or their companies offer.
A good listing presentation takes careful planning.
A written market report will help you get a
clear idea of local market conditions. Many
Realtors will include a marketing plan, as well
as suggestions on how to make sure that your
home shows well and is accessible to Realtors.
If you are talking to several companies, resist
the temptation to go with the person who quotes
you the highest price for your house. Look for
a Realtor who is well prepared, professional,
and has the best ideas. The most successful
transactions involve careful collaboration between
the sellers and the Realtor.
Sell
Your Home
It is not unusual for homeowners to yield to
the temptation to try to sell their own home.
It seems easy enough--just place an ad in the
weekend paper and wait for buyers to show up.
Although it may seem easy, real estate sales
are extremely complicated transactions. The
first pitfall can come with pricing your property
realistically. Homeowners often price their
property too high initially, then, in a panic,
drastically slash the price. Even if a buyer
agrees to the initial asking price, there could
be trouble if the buyers begin to feel that
they have agreed to pay too much or if the lender's
appraisal values the property at far less than
the agreed-upon price. Some of our clients hired
us to market their home professionally after
weeks or months of trying to sell their home,
or after their transaction fell through. Feel
free to call Trustworthy Realty anytime if you
have any questions about selling your home!
Selling
Your Own Home
The concept of "do-it-yourself" is "as American
as apple pie". While this approach can pay dividends
in many endeavors, it can cost you unnecessary
time and money when you are trying to sell your
home. The overwhelming majority of homes that
sell are listed with a real estate sales professional.
In most markets, over 90% of the homes sold
are listed with a Realtor.
Most people try to sell
their own home in order to save the commission,
while those who tend to buy homes that are "for
Sale by Owner" homes also want to save! Rarely
does anyone actually save money by selling their
own home. By listing your home with a Realtor
you will save the cost of advertising your home,
the inconvenience of showing, and all the time
you might spend talking to people who couldn't
qualify to buy. Realtors can help you get top
dollar for your home and are experienced in
all of the complex legal details involved in
transferring title.
Sold!
Some things are hard to measure, and others
are easy. Success in a real estate sale is easy.
It occurs when the "SOLD" sign is in your front
yard. And having that occur as quickly as possible
is another goal.
You have undoubtedly
heard that old saying about the "hard way" and
the "easy way" to do something. The hard way
to get the "SOLD" sign up is to try and sell
it yourself. And the easy way is to use the
services of a sales professional, someone who
is not only trained to get it sold ASAP, but
to get as much for your home as the market will
bear.
Remember, the Realtor
doesn't get paid until your home is "SOLD".
And the amount they earn in commission is dependent
upon the amount of the sale. That's a lot of
genuine motivation to do the job right.
So save yourself headaches
and frustration when you are ready to sell--call
a professional Realtor!
There's
More to Selling Your Home than a "For Sale"
Sign In Your Front Yard: Beware.
Even if a simple sign
in your yard did produce a buyer knocking on
your door, how will you handle the following
questions:
"How does your home compare
to others like it in Oklahoma?"
"How did you determine
the fair market value of this property?"
"What about financing?
Can you help?"
"If I make an offer,
who will draw up the paperwork?"
"Why aren't you using
a Realtor? Is there something wrong with the
property?"
"Since you aren't using
a Realtor, we can take their fee right off the
top, right?"
Selling your home is
one of the most important financial transactions
you will make in your life. Don't take risks.
Selling your home is nothing like selling a
car. Every home is different, and every homebuyer
wants to offer you as little as possible. How
do your determine the real market value?
Almost all homes are
sold using a Realtor. As top real estate professionals,
it is our job to help you negotiate with all
those buyers who want something for nothing.
Not to mention preparing your home for sale,
marketing it locally in Oklahoma and even nationally,
and guiding you through the complex paperwork
and pitfalls of escrow and closing. Make sure
you are really ready to handle all of that before
pounding that sign into your front yard. Errors
can be extremely costly.
Remember: Buyers want
to offer you as close to nothing as possible!
While that "For Sale By Owner" sign might sound
like a good idea, it usually means a different
thing to buyers: "Try to steal this one."
If you must sell your
own home, at least let us give you a sense of
its true market value. Tell us a bit about your
home, and we'll do a quick Comparative Market
Analysis and let you know what we feel it is
worth. We'll also describe, as experienced,
top Oklahoma Realtors, how we would market your
property. This is free, with no strings attached.
Simply fill out the form and we will quickly
get back to you...
8
reasons 'For Sale By Owners' need a Realtor
1- Realtors sell 'For Sale By Owners' home for
more money! According to the 2000 National Association
of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers,
the typical 'For Sale By Owner' home sold for
$113,000, compared to $129,900 for a Realtor
assisted home! This means that even if a 'For
Sale By Owner' pays a 6% commission, they will
realize $122,100!
2-Realtors understand how to complete the many
contracts, forms & disclosure statements
required in a real estate transction. According
to the 2000 National Association of Realtors
Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, difficulty
with paperwork (lead based paint disclosure
statement, property condition disclosure / disclaimer
statement, purchase contract, legal description,
contingency clause addendum, )was the second
biggest problem 'For Sale By Owners' had in
selling their own homes.
3-Realtors usually do this ful time! Often 'For
Sale By Owners' don't recognize how many hours
a real estate salesperson spends on a real estate
transaction in Oklahoma!
4-According to the 2000 National Association
of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers,
setting the right price was the biggest problem
'For Sale By Owners' had in selling their home!
Realtors have the market knowledge to help you
price the home competitively. 'For Sale By Owners'
may know what one or two homes near them sold
for, but they don't have the access to the wide
number of comps a Realtor does or the market
knowledge to adjust pricing.
5- Realtors can be objective, handle criticism
of the house, and focus on how well the home
suits the buyer. All owners have emotional attachments
to their homes and will emphasize the features
they consider most desirable during a
showing.
6-Realtors cann assess buyers ability to afford
a property. Realtors are more experienced in
prequalifying buyers so they will not make an
offer on a home they can not afford.
7-Realtors know how to negotiate and overcome
objections. Balancing offers and counteroffers,
as well as handling many of the contingencies
that usually accompany real estate transctions,
can be frustrating and frightening for "For
Sale By Owners'.
8-Realtors work hard to get transactions closed!
Many 'For Sale By Owners' think that once the
purchase contract is signed, their work is over.
Realtors know better! There is a list of things
that must be completed before a closing - Home
Inspections, Termite Inspections, Title Insurance,
Building Permits for Improvements, Appraisals,
Loan Payoffs, Mortgage Instructions, Homeowners
Insurance, etc!!!
