Jack Eckhardt, Broker
 ePRO, ABR, CPV, CDPE, SFR
    Keller Williams Realty
 
    541-840-5335
 
jack@MedfordRE.info
 www.MedfordRealEstate.Net
                                                                                        

CHOOSING YOUR REALTOR 

It´s Hard to Beat Experience!

The real estate market has changed dramatically in the last few years.  When choosing a Realtor, it is important to find out what his/her experience is.

 

 

A Good Marketing Plan Sells your Home!

 

Your Realtor should present you with a comprehensive Marketing Plan and discuss with you the details of different marketing methods.

 

 

It´s All About Exposure!

 

v     81% of today´s buyers now use the Internet to search for homes.

 

v     All Realtors have a website.  The most important thing is where their site places on a Google search. 
Check out the Realtor´s website to see where his/her placement is on the web page. 
(For instance, my website is on the first page of Google when doing a search for Medford, OR Real Estate).

 

v     An agent who "efficiently" uses the Internet exposes your property to a multitude of buyers looking for homes. 
Substantial time, effort and money is spent achieving a high placement on the major websites. 
Without this work, your home´s listing "gets lost in space".


AND PRICE! 

v Avoid Realtors who "buy" your listing by quoting a "high price" that cannot be justified by recent sale prices of similar homes. 
Agents who "collect" a lot of listings (at high prices) may look successful, but how long do you want to be on the market?

 

Your home is usually the biggest investment you have made. 
Choose your Realtor carefully, someone who keeps your needs and concerns as a priority. 


          GETTING YOUR HOUSE READY TO SELL


DE-PERSONALIZE YOUR HOUSE

The reason you want to "de-personalize" your home is because you want buyers to view it as their potential home. 
You want your buyer to visualize their own possessions and not be distracted by your family's personal interests. 
Put away family photos, sports trophies, collections, knick-knacks. 
Put them in boxes.  Since you will be moving soon, this is a good time to start packing.


DE-CLUTTER YOUR HOUSE

Take a step back and pretend you are a buyer.  Less is more, like in a model home.  Let a friend help point out areas of clutter, as long as you can accept their views without getting offended.  Let your agent help you, too.

      WANT TO START OFF WITH A HIGH SALES PRICE??     BEWARE!
  
It´s All About Pricing                                    

If the Price is Right:

You will have agents showing your home and you will have good results within weeks.

         If the Price is Wrong:

If you and your agent have overpriced your home, fewer agents will preview it. 
After all, they are Real Estate Professionals,
and it is their job to know local market conditions and home values.
If your house is dramatically above market, why waste time?
Their time is better spent previewing homes that are priced realistically.


DROPPING YOUR PRICE.....TOO LATE


 When you drop your price later, your house is "old news." You will never be able to recapture that flurry of initial activity you would have had with a realistic price. Your house could take much longer to sell.

Even if you do successfully sell at an above market price, your buyer will need a mortgage. The mortgage lender requires an appraisal. If comparable sales for the last six months and current market conditions do not support your sales price, the house won´t appraise. Your deal falls apart, unless you lower your price to the appraisal and the buyer agrees.  Your house could go "back on the market."

Once your home has fallen out of escrow or sits on the market awhile, it is harder to get a good offer. Potential buyers will think you might be getting desperate, so they will make lower offers. By overpricing your home in the beginning, you could actually end up settling for a lower price than you would have normally received

DETAILS OF A LISTING CONTRACT 

 Price and Terms of Sale

When setting the terms of sale, the main thing you are concerned with is the price. You should have a basic idea of what your home is worth by keeping track of other sales in the neighborhood. Realtors are normally the source for this information, however the county tax rolls are on line so neighborhood values can be verified.  Exercise great care in determining your asking price, making sure not to set it too high or too low.

In addition to the price, you will disclose what personal property, if any, goes with the house when you sell it. Personal property is anything that is not attached or fixed to the home, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, and so on.

There may be some item that is considered "real property" that you do not intend to include in the sale. Real property is anything that is attached to the home. For example, you may have a chandelier that has been in your family for generations and you take it from home to home when you move.Since the chandelier is attached to the house, it is considered "real property" and a reasonable buyer would normally expect it to go with the house. Your Realtor can suggest how to handle this.

 THE  "FOR SALE"  SIGN

It seems fairly obvious that when you put your house up for sale that your agent will put a "for sale" sign in the front yard. The sign will identify the agent´s company, the agent, and have a phone number so prospective buyers can call and get information.

Signs are great at generating phone calls, even if very few actually purchase the home they call about. However, you might be one of the lucky ones. For that reason, you should determine what happens when someone calls the number on the sign. Does a live person answer the phone or does the call go to a voicemail or recorder?

You want someone to answer the phone while the caller is "hot." When buyers call the number on the sign, the call should go to a live person who can answer questions immediately. A potential buyer may be on the street outside your home, placing the call using a cell phone.

LOCK-BOX:    YES OR NO?

A lockbox is basically a padlock with a cavity inside where a key to your home can be placed. Only someone with an electronic key can get into the lockbox and access the key. Having a lockbox available at your house makes it easy for other agents to get access to your house for the convenience of their clients.

Without the lockbox, agents representing buyers would have to set appointments to meet you or your agent at the house so they could gain access and view the home. This would be inconvenient. Since almost every other house does have a lockbox available, if you do not allow one, most agents will simply not show your property. You will miss out on lots of potential buyers.

The listing contract specifies whether you allow a lockbox or not. It is locked into place, usually on the front door and cannot be removed. Only other agents can access the key that is located within the lockbox.


LISTING COMMISIONS AND RELATED ISSUES

Are Commissions Negotiable?

In most areas of the country, there is a certain percentage  that real estate agents expect to earn as a commission.This commission amount is a certain percentage of the sales price.  Or, some companies will charge a set fee for their services.  However, just like anything else in real estate, this amount is negotiable. 

It costs a lot of time and money for a Realtor to sell a house.  However, Realtor-listed houses get more exposure and sell  for more money. 

Commissions can vary from many thousands to just a few hundred dollars (service fee only).  The service fee approach is with no "representation" of the seller.  (Realtors tend to avoid showing houses with no representation on the Seller's side.  This is because they have to do the work of both sides and the liability risk is higher).


How and When the Commission is Earned

Your listing contract specifies a listing price. Your agent´s job is to bring a "ready, willing and able" buyer to present an offer. If you reach agreement with the buyer, then the agent has done his job and earned the commission. Once the sale has closed, the real estate broker gets paid from the proceeds of the sale.

If the buyer proves unable or unwilling to conclude the sale, the house is placed back on the market and the agent has to begin earning his or her commission all over again.

THE LISTING AGENT-- MARKETING YOUR HOME

The "Real" Role of a Listing Agent

When you bought your home, you probably used the services of a real estate agent. You found that agent through a referral from a friend or family member, or through some sort of advertising or marketing. The agent helped you in many ways and eventually you found the house of your dreams, made an offer, closed the deal, and moved in.


As a result, many homeowners expect their listing agent to do the same things their buyer´s agent did--find someone to buy their home. After all, they do the things you would expect if they were searching for buyers. A sign goes up in the front yard.  Ads are placed, etc. and your house is proudly displayed on the Internet.


But this is only "surface" marketing. More important activity occurs behind the scenes. After the "for sale" sign goes up and flyers are printed, your agent´s main job is to market your home to other agents, not to homebuyers.

Flyers

Your agent will undoubtedly prepare flyers about your property so that prospective homebuyers can take a flyer with them to remember the attractive features of your house. These flyers (or similar ones) should also be sent to all the local real estate offices.  The flyer should be done professionally and photocopy well. Ask your agent to show you copies of flyers they have done in the past.

THE LISTING AGENT - MARKETING YOUR HOME TO OTHER AGENTS

The Multiple Listing Service

Even before the sign is up and the brochures are ready, your agent should list your property with the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service). The MLS is a database of all the homes listed by local real estate agents who are members of the service, which is practically all of the local agents.

Important information about your property is listed here, from general data such as square footage, to such details as whether you have central air conditioning or hard wood flooring. There should also be photos, and a short  description of what makes your house "special."

Agents search the database for homes that fit the price range and needs of their clients. They pay special attention to homes that have been recently placed on the market, which is one reason you get a lot of attention when your house is first listed. Many agents will want to preview the home before they show it to their clients.

The main point about having your house listed in the MLS is that you expand your sales force by the number of local MLS members (800 in the Rogue Valley). Instead of having just one agent working for you, now you have hundreds. 

The listing agent´s main job to make sure that the other MLS members know about your house. This is accomplished through listing your house in the Multiple Listing Service, broker previews and advertising targeted toward other agents, not homebuyers.

The Listing Agent - Marketing Your Home to Homebuyers

The Purpose of Advertising in General

Every home seller likes to be assured that their listing agent or the real estate company will run ads featuring their home. Newspaper ads could be large display ads with lots of listings or small classified ads featuring just your property. Ads may also appear in local real estate magazines.  The primary advertising medium for Real Estate has become the Internet.

Of course the agents and companies will run ads featuring your house, but not for the reasons you expect.

You see, the main job of advertising is not to sell your house directly. Advertising creates phone calls and some of those callers become clients of the agents answering the calls. This builds up a pool of homebuyers looking for property in general, all represented by selling agents. Multiply this by all the agents and companies who also advertise homes, and there is a large pool of homebuyers in the market at any given time all of whom are represented by selling agents.

The agents representing those homebuyers know about your home because it is listed in the Multiple Listing Service, has been on office and broker preview, and because your agent may have also sent flyers to all the local real estate offices.

The agents match up their clients with available homes, one of which may be yours. Then they show the homes to their clients, who eventually make an offer on one.  That is how your house gets sold. Ads create a pool of clients, one of which buys your home. Ads do not usually sell your house directly. 

The Internet is the largest contributor to the pool of buyers. This medium does result in more direct sales of the house a buyer found on the Internet.  The buyers may ask their agent to show it to them.  The house found on the Internet may not be on the list of houses the agent has shown the buyers, because it may not meet the buyer's parameters.  However, people often buy above the price range they gave their agent.

Real Estate Office Advertising

As mentioned previously, advertising your home in newspapers and magazines rarely sells your home directly. More likely than not, the buyer who eventually purchases your home will have called on a totally different house. The same thing happens with buyers who call on your house. They will probably buy something else.

You should also realize that when a company advertises the homes they have for sale, there is more than one objective. Sure, the real estate office wants to generate phone calls and sell houses, but the advertising also shows home sellers they market properties. This impresses not only you, but others who may be thinking of selling their home.

The advertising brings in more listings, which generate more ad calls, which produces more buyers3;.and that is how real estate advertising really works.

Individual Agent Advertising

Individual agents may advertise your home for the same reasons as companies do. They usually advertise in classified ads or in specialty magazines featuring houses available for sale.

As in other types of advertising, these ads rarely sell your home. Once again, the main goals of advertising are to accumulate homebuyers as clients, and to impress you and future home sellers with how well they market their listings. Some agents actually do sell their own listings, but not that often.

It is much more productive and beneficial if your listing agent directs most of his or her marketing efforts toward other agents. Since this is "behind the scenes" marketing that you don´t actually see, it is often difficult for you to measure how hard the agent is working for you.

It is a mistake to measure your agent´s effectiveness solely by counting the number of newspaper and magazine ads featuring your property.

Neighborhood Announcements

When you first list your home many agents send "announcements" to all of the other houses in your neighborhood. This can be done in the form of postcards, a letter, or flyers left hanging on the front door. These are important because your neighbors might have friends who are looking to buy a house.

The announcements create "word of mouth" advertising, which is the best kind.


                                       Open Houses

An open house when your property is first placed on the market can be very important, but not for the reasons most homeowners think. Just like with advertising, most visitors to open houses rarely buy the house they come to look at. They may not even know the price of your home when they stop by to visit ? they probably just followed an "Open House" sign to your door.

An open house performs a similar function to the neighborhood announcements ? it lets all of your neighbors know that your house is for sale, and it practically invites them to come "take a look." Being generally nosy, a lot of your neighbors will take advantage of the invitation.

And they may tell their friends about your house, creating more "word of mouth" advertising.

Open houses held after your home has been on the market awhile do not usually serve a useful purpose in selling your home. Most of the neighbors already know your house is for sale and open house visitors rarely buy the homes they visit.

However, if you really want more open houses, your listing agent may allow other agents to hold it open. These agents will be looking to pick up new buyer clients from these lookers.

Showing the House to Potential Home Buyers
Convenience & Availability 

Your house should always be available for show, even though it may occasionally be inconvenient for you. Let your listing agent put a lock box in a convenient place, to make it easy for other agents to show your home to homebuyers. If you are not home, they will leave a message on your answering machine or voicemail, saying when they are coming.  Otherwise, agents will have to schedule appointments, which is an inconvenience. Most will just skip your home to show the house of someone else who is more cooperative.

Most agents will call and give you at least a couple of hours notice before showing your property. If you refuse to let them show it at that time, they will just skip your house. Even if they come back another time, it will probably be with different buyers and you may have just lost a chance to sell your home.

Why You Should Not Be Home

Homebuyers will feel like intruders if you are home when they visit, and they might not be as receptive toward viewing your home. Visit the local coffee house, yogurt shop, or take the kids to the local park. If you absolutely cannot leave, try to remain in an out of the way area of the house and do not move from room to room. Do not volunteer information, but answer any questions the agent may ask.

Lighting, Fragrances, Pet Control and More

Lighting

When you know someone is coming by to tour your home, it is wise to turn on all the indoor and outdoor lights ? even during the day. At night, a lit house gives a "homey" impression when viewed from the street. During the daytime, turning on the lights prevents harsh shadows from sunlight and it brightens up any dim areas. Your house looks more homey and cheerful with the lights on.

Fragrances

Do not use scented sprays to prepare for visitors. It is too obvious and many people find the smells of those sprays offensive, not to mention that some may be allergic. If you want to have a pleasant aroma in your house, have a potpourri pot or something natural. Or turn on a stove burner for a moment and put a drop of vanilla extract on it. It will smell like you have been cooking.

Pet Control

If you have pets, make sure your listing agent puts a notice with your listing in the multiple listing service. The last thing you want is to have your pet running out the front door and getting lost. If you know someone is coming, it would be best to try to take the pets with you while the homebuyers tour your home. If you cannot do that, It is best to keep dogs in a penned area in the back yard. Try to keep indoor cats in a specific room when you expect visitors, and put a sign on the door. Most of the time, an indoor cat will hide when buyers come to view your property, but they may panic and try to escape.

The Kitchen Trash

Especially if your kitchen trash can does not have a lid, make sure you empty it every time someone comes to look at your home ? even if your trash can is kept under the kitchen sink. Remember that you want to send a positive image about every aspect of your home. Kitchen trash does not send a positive message. You may go through more plastic bags than usual, but it will be worth it.