THE HOME SELLING PROCESS

Welcome!

Are you considering selling your home or curious about the value of your home? This guide is intended to help you get ready and understand the selling process so you can make the best choices for you and your family.

Many home owners think all REALTORS® do the same thing. If you have talked to more than one REALTOR® then you may have a similar perception.  All too many people have real estate licenses and practice real estate part-time. It has baffled me since I first started my real estate career in 1979 that people trusted the sale or purchase of the largest single transaction we ever make to someone who does it on the side. Would you go to a part-time doctor, a part-time attorney or a part- time stock broker? Why then do so many trust a part-time agent real estate agent. Please make sure the agent you choose to represent your interests is a full-time experienced professional.

It’s not about just what needs to be done differently…it’s also how well it is done. We use innovative strategies that are proven to sell your home sell faster and for more money.

Over the next several pages we will outline several specific skills, strategies, and actions that enable us to achieve these results. Read on, or for a personal conversation about your specific situation, give me a call.

Jamie Levy
Associate Broker | REALTOR®
West USA Realty Jamie@JamieLevy.com
623-332-7755

Preparation:
Is Key to Sell Your Home

Just as first impressions are important for people, they can be make or break for a home. When potential buyers walk into your house, they will start to evaluate everything they see. Their impression will ultimately determine how much they’re willing to offer on the property… or even if they will be interested in buying it at all.

Therefore, in order to get you the most money possible for your home, we at put a ton of care into its preparation before we put it on the market. Quality preparation that will leave buyers with the best impression of your house involves three elements:

3 Elements Of Home Sale Preparation

1.  Repairs

There are several reasons to complete repairs on your home before you put it on the market. Ultimately, buyers will pay more for a home to avoid the work of fixing it, and they will buy more quickly. 

Moreover, any money you invest into repairs before you list — when you have time to price-shop and to use a little bit of elbow grease — will be far less than the quote from the home inspector or the concessions for which buyers will ask. It may not make sense, but if a buyer sees a number of small repairs they start wondering what else has been neglected in terms of maintenance and start deducting hundreds; sometimes thousands of dollars from their offer.

The good news is that most repairs are merely cosmetic and fairly inexpensive. Think of the things on your to-do list: that leaky faucet and the cracked bathroom tile were bothering you when you lived in the house, and they’re going to bother the new owners too.

2.  Cleanliness

You wouldn’t want your mother to come over when your house was dirty, would you? And you’re not even trying to get her to shell out thousands of dollars for the place!

Buyers are easily distracted, and they will tend to focus on the negatives instead of the positives of each home they tour. Each dish left in the sink or dust bunny in the corner is going to detract from the perceived value of your home, which means a lower offer amount and more time on the market for you.

3. Staging

According to a recent study by the National Association of REALTORSⒸ, 96% of buyer agents reported that staging had some effect on their clients’ view of homes. They said that staging made it easier for their clients to visualize the properties as a future home and that they were more likely to overlook property faults.

And these effects turned into cash for sellers just like you. The survey revealed that 52% of buyer clients were willing to offer more on a staged home than a similar home that was not staged.

But a picture is worth a thousand statistics. Take a look at the images below. Which home gives you a better first impression?

Trick question! This is the same home! The picture on the left was taken from the MLS listing of a property that expired on the market. On the next go-around, the listing was staged and new, photography was taken with better lighting… and the home sold.

Keep in mind staging can be anything done to improve the showing condition and appearance of the house. Even simple changes such as removing clutter, turning on the lights before a showings, beds made and dishes out of the sink are all staging.

Staging can be done by the seller or professional firms. It is the buyer’s first impression and is extremely important. If you have ever walked into a builder’s model or gone looking for a home think of what your first impressions were. What was done to make the home more or less appealing?

When looking at your own home try to look at it the way a stranger would with new eyes.  What do you see? Or if you were entertaining would you feel comfortable having guest over?  When you have your home up for sale you may have guests at anytime.  So you need to be ready.

Pricing Your Home

To Sell It Fast & For More Money

You may have heard that there’s not much housing inventory in the greater Phoenix Metro Market right now, which means that prices for homes have gone up across the board. This is great news for you as a home seller! The timing is perfect for you to get the most return on your investment into your home.

But even in today’s market, there are still homes that sit, waiting for an offer, for months and months. This time spent on MLS means that you’re still making your mortgage payments and you’re still not getting equity out from your home.

Perhaps even worse is what buyers and buyer agents think about homes that have been on the market too long. Remember how important first impressions are? The first impression a buyer gets about a home that has been listed for a long time in this hot market is this:

“Something must be wrong with that home.”

That thought will scare away many buyers, and it will prompt the ones who remain interested to try to lowball you.

But why are those homes still on the market in the first place? It’s because they are often priced “out of the market.” Take a look at the graph to see what I mean.

The intersection of the two axes — price and preparation — represents homes “in the market.” These are properties that are priced competitively and prepared nicely, and these are the homes that will net the most money for their sellers.

As you move farther away from the intersection, the homes become too pricey and in too much disrepair. These homes show poorly and are basically guaranteed not to sell.

The curve in the middle of this graph contains homes in what we at call “Limbo Land.” Homes in Limbo Land are priced just over their market worth, or they are not adequately prepared to show. These properties are the ones that will stay on the market for months and ultimately sell for way under asking price.

Sound complicated? The good news is that we at have a specific strategy to avoid the dreaded Limbo Land and keep your home in the market.

Promotion

Marketing Your Home to Sell

In the “old days,” real estate agents marketing their sellers’ properties would simply put a sign in the yard, put a listing in the MLS, and pray that it sold. Even today, there are a lot of real estate professionals who think syndicating listings to portals is a job well done.

And that might actually be enough to sell your home in today’s market. But if that’s all an agent does to market your home to potential buyers, then they’re not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility to you: to get you the most money possible for your home.

You see, you have a distinct advantage in wanting to sell your home right now: inventory is below normal levels, but there are a number of buyers. A smart agent will use this classic example of supply and demand to create interest and demand for your home.

The first 2-4 weeks your house is on the market are crucial. This is you big first impression to the buying public. If this time is misused by overpricing the home and not having the house in the best showing condition your market time can increase and your sales price decreases – Not a good combination.

If all the preparation and pricing have been done effectively you may see an offer quickly. Some sellers think because they obtained an offer quickly if they are heavy handed with the offer and lose the buyer they will get another offer just as quickly. Unfortunately, the first buyer may have been your best buyer and you may not see another offer for quite some time.  As they say, timing is everything.

You may get multiple offers on your home which will allow you to choose the best one for you, the one that has the right price, the right timeline, and the right conditions. The key to creating interest is promotion. We have to get your home in front of the people most likely to purchase it.

Marketing activities use the latest technologies and our marketing know-how to seed the marketplace, optimize for SEO (search engine optimization), and position your home for the best possible impression right out of the gate. For example, your house is placed on Facebook, our company website

WestUSA.com and my websites: JamieLevy.com, JamieTLevy.com, JamieLevyWestUSA.com.

Your house is indeed syndicated from the Multiple Listing Service – MLS to thousands of websites including the large consumer sites like:Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia. The goal is to showcase your house, not only to consumers, but also real estate agents who may have a qualified buyer.

Our listing activities are designed to keep your home top of mind with potential buyers. We use our network of buyers and agents to promote your home to people wanting to move to the area, and we pen compelling marketing narratives to help buyers envision living in your home. We continue to use Facebook and use other social media to get your home in front of the people who want to buy it.

More than half of all home buyers found the home they ended up purchasing on the internet, and that percentage is only going to grow. If you’d like more details on how we use marketing to sell your home for as much money as possible, then please give me a contact me for a Free Consultation to discuss your individual situation.

So, What Next?

What to Do Now to Sell Your Home

If you are considering selling your home in today’s market, I invite you to give me a call or email me.

I would love the opportunity to learn more about your specific situation and explain to you in more detail what we do differently to sell homes faster and for more money.

So call or email for more information about our system and how it can help you sell your home for more money in less time.

FREE Comparative Market Analysis to know the value of your house!

FREE Consultations to help you understand how to prepare your house to maximize your selling price and minimize your selling time! Contact me today!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this information. If you have any questions or if I can be of service in any way please email me at or give me a call.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,

Jamie

Jamie Levy
Associate Broker, REALTOR®
West USA Realty
623-332-7755
Jamie@JamieLevy.com