 |
Ten
Simple Steps You Can Take To Ensure Your Home Sells At Top Dollar
- Emotional appeal. Make
sure your home looks, feels and smells its best. You're competing with
900 to 1,200 other homes for sale. Buyers buy on emotion… let your
home be the cleanest, freshest and cheeriest, and you'll have a much
faster sale… at a higher price.
- Read my "How To Show Your Home" flyer
very carefully. If your home is logically a good value, but a buyer doesn't feel
warm and emotionally attracted to the home, it will not sell. Buyers
buy on emotion, not logic. You'll want lots of people to say or think,
"Wow! This is nice! I would like to live here!"
- Lots of light. For
maximum effect, turn every light on, even on a sunny day. Open all
window shades. Clean your draperies and curtains. Make sure your
windows are spotlessly clean. Let the sun in and keep those lights on.
Leaving all your lights on for two hours costs only 23 cents, and
makes your home look larger and more spacious.
- Weekly open houses. You
can't expect to sell a house quickly at the top price unless you get
lots of buyers inside to see it. There are more than 1,000 homes
competing with yours for attention. Your home must be exposed to
buyers regularly and repeatedly to get a fast sale at the full price.
Weekly home showings are the key to the success of my Hotline Tour of
Homes, giving my clients fast, full-priced sales.
- Constant exposure. Your
home won't sell unless buyers know about it. To get top dollar, be
sure to have your home repeatedly exposed to qualified, ready-to-buy
buyers. Some brokers charge you a discount commission, then don't
advertise your home. This is a mistake. The $500 or $1,000 you save in
commission is more than offset by a sale price of $4,000 or $10,000
less than what you would have received if your home had been properly
marketed. Remember, buyers can't know about your home unless you or
your buyer has a marketing plan to ensure that your home is brought to
the attention of home buyers.
- Non-traditional advertising. 83%
of buyers looking for a home in the $*** to $*** price range are
first-time home buyers. Many first-time home buyers don't even know
they can afford a home. They don't know that owning a home costs less
than renting. They think that they need 20% for a down payment, plus
closing costs!
If your home is in the first-time homebuyer price range, a substantial
portion of your marketing dollars should be aimed directly at
first-time homebuyers. This means advertising and marketing in areas
other than the "Homes for Sale" classifieds or Sunday Open
Houses in the Grand Rapids Press.
- Education. First-time homebuyers are more likely to pay
top dollar for your home. If your home is in the first-time homebuyer
price range, make sure that your marketing program shows first-time
buyers the benefits of home ownership and how affordable your home is.
Design a marketing plan to get first-time home buyers to see the
inside of your home.
- Multiple signs. Many
home buyers don't even see traditional "for sale" signs,
because they aren't actively thinking of buying. They often don't
realize that they can afford a much nicer home. The strategy of an
additional sign in the yard shatters the "advertising protection
armor" that every consumer wears. Ten years of testing by U.S.
Home and Realty in Grand Rapids, Michigan has proven that a second
bright-yellow sign, hand-lettered, will result in more inquiries, more
showings, a quicker sale, and a 3% to 5% higher price for your home.
- Aggressive Target Marketing. Lots
of buyers will buy your home for less than it's worth. The secret in
getting top dollar is to find a buyer who is perfectly
"matched" to your home. Right now, there are at least ten
buyers who would love to own your home, can afford it, and would pay a
fair asking price… if only they knew about it! Some of these buyers
may not even be thinking of buying yet, but if they knew about your
home would love it! It takes a lot more than just a sign in the yard
and an ad in the paper to market a home effectively. Aggressive target
marketing will find those buyers!
- Create urgency.
The Rule of Full Price states that if a buyer feels the asking price
is fair, and has sufficient sense of urgency, he will pay the full
asking price. Example: My weekly showings of my listings to more than
one buyer at a time creates a feeling of urgency. Prospective buyers
feel an "auction effect" because of other buyers showing
interest in your home at the same time. I have found that the more
buyers I can show your home to at the very same time, the higher the
feeling of urgency. The auction effect causes people to become more
excited and enthused about your home, thereby creating a sense of
competition and urgency which results in full price sales for 96.5% of
my clients.
A note from Chris:
I am not a salesperson, I am a marketer of homes.
As a free service, I am happy to prepare a Marketing Plan
for your home. This Marketing Plan comes to you free of charge, and
without obligation. I'll show you the most cost-effective places to
advertise. I'll show you how to slash your ad costs, while at the same
time tripling your ad response. I'll actually prepare ads for you that
cost very little to run, and obtain results far out of proportion to
anything else you could try.
This Marketing Plan is yours to use even if you sell your home yourself or
list with another broker. It comes with "no strings attached"
and absolutely no selling.
Why do I do this? Because I've found that helping people like you market
their homes for no obligation brings me even more business. When I
help you, you will tell your friends and associates about me. That brings
more business to me than I could ever attain by "selling." It's
all part of my personal philosophy of helping, rather than selling. I
believe (and have experienced) that the more people I help, the more
business that comes my way.
So, please, feel free to call me without any commitment or obligation. You
can call me 24-hours a day at (425) 954-4020.
Copyright © 1998-2006 Chris Mattix All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without
express written permission is prohibited.
Chris Mattix
Windermere Real Estate/North, Inc.
4211 Alderwood Mall Blvd Ste 110
Lynnwood, WA 98036
Direct Line: 425-954-4020
Toll Free: 1-877-954-4020
Fax: 425-776-5680
E-mail: mattixc@windermere.com
Search Over 100,000 Homes Online At:
www.NwHomesOnline.com
Edmonds WA Real Estate |
|
|
