Most people have seen signs on someone's lawn where a homeowner is selling their own home. This is perfectly legal and can be done by any property owner. The goal of this is to save the owner money, which is completely understandable. There are several reasons why I would advise against this, but I'll save those for another post.
Listing a home yourself does not save you money, it actually leaves money on the table. First and foremost, unless you hire a licensed Realtor or appraiser to do an analysis on the property, you will not be able to get an accurate price on your home. The estimates on websites are far from accurate. You may see houses listed in your neighborhood, but you do not know how they compare to your home, and they are listing prices, not sale prices. Utah is a non-disclosure state, which means the general public cannot access the sale price for properties, only a Realtor can see the actual sale price. This makes the websites inaccurate, and also going off of listings or word of mouth. People are not always honest about how much they actually sold their home for. There's a good chance you will either over-value or under-value your home, both will cause you to lose money.
Next is the marketing component. The vast majority of homes for sale can be found on the MLS or Multiple Listing Service, utahrealestate.com. This is a one stop shop for real estate sales. Everyone uses it to find homes for sale. Agents use it to find homes for their buyers. Only Realtors can list homes on this site. Not being able to use this service will severely cripple your ability to market the home. This will most likely leave your home on the market for quite a while. You'll be excited to get any offer that comes in, if that offer is low, there's a chance you will take it anyway because you haven't had offers, and you don't know if you'll receive another anytime soon.
What about the discount brokerages you see advertisements for all over the place? They advertise a flat rate commission, or set your own rate commission. These services do have licensed Realtors who work for them, but why are they willing to take so much less on commission? One thing you get when using one of these firms are either brand new agents who don't have much experience, or agents who cannot make it on their own. It's very much a call center type of environment where they receive an inquiry and they send out a list of everything that they need from you, it is very transactional. They do not get to know their client and the true needs of that client. They do not come take a look at your property. They make the client do all of the work. There are often mistakes made in the contracts that could be very costly for the client, and even make a deal fall through. They do list the home on the MLS for you, but they still do not market the home. One of the biggest areas where you will leave money on the table with using a discount brokerage (and selling on your own), is contract negotiation. You want an experienced negotiator on your side. Whether they are an experienced negotiator in real estate or a former trade, you want experience. Do you think someone who has never met you, doesn't know you on a personal level, and has never seen your home is going to be able to have your best interests in mind and negotiate the best deal for you?
I'm sure there are a lot of homes that have sold in your neighborhood lately. I can guarantee that they have not all sold at the same price, even though they may be similar. Why is that? The simple answer is marketing. Some of the homes were listed, some were MARKETED. When done right, an effective marketing campaign will help bring top dollar for your home. You can hire a number of agents out there, the market is flooded with Realtors, we all have to go through the same state mandated courses and licensing exams, but that does not mean we are all equal. Most Realtors do not understand marketing, a good amount do not pick up books and learn from other successful people. I have two degrees in business, and I do quite a bit of research because life and business are both processes where you are constantly learning.
When someone decided to start the process of shopping for a home, of course one of the big concerns is the business aspect, and how they are going to afford it. However, once they start actually looking at homes, the biggest influence is emotion. They become emotionally involved in their purchase. They see their future, their family, and all of the memories that will be made there. Therefore, the key to bringing in top dollar on your home is touching people's emotions. You need them to make that connection, then you will have the offers that you are desiring.
How do you inspire this connection? Do you do this by putting some nice photos on the MLS? No, but that's a start to draw them into viewing your property. You do this through mindful engagement. Once the home is clean and clear of any possible clutter, I will make a professional video to market your home. This is not a slideshow of pictures from your home. This is an actual video, with powerful, and thought-provoking words that will go straight to the viewers subconscious. This video will be used in social media marketing on my business pages, and I will also have you share it on yours as well. If just a couple of your friends then share that video, the reach becomes very wide. There's a high probability that someone who is thinking about buying a home will see that video. I will create a QR code that will link to this video. This QR code will be displayed on the for- sale sign in front of your property. Anyone passing through the neighborhood who is shopping for homes can scan the QR code and see the inside of your property whether someone is home to show it to them or not. They will be given my contact information, and I will schedule a showing for them. In addition to this, I will mail out postcards to nearby homes with this QR code on them. On the postcard I will ask the question "Do you have any friends or family who would love to live in your neighborhood?". Then I will direct them to scan the QR code to check out a nearby home for sale.
The second component of this marketing campaign of making an emotional connection is holding an open house. Open houses are great for getting traffic through your property. People do not need to schedule a showing, they can show up at their leisure, and check out the property. When done correctly, an open house will also help people make the emotional connection. What's one thing that inspires memories of home for most people? The smell of cooking and/or baking. Baking fresh cookies throughout the open house for your guests to enjoy, will will help their brains make them feel like they are at home. It smells wonderful, and who doesn't enjoy a free cookie or two? The other component of this open house, that will make people feel good about their choice, is seeing how many other people are there, and interested in the home. If other people are interested in it, well maybe they should be too. You are probably like me in the fact that when you see something that is in high demand, you want to buy it before it's gone. This will inspire people who love the property to put in their best offer quickly, because they do not want to lose out to one of those other people who loved the home too. I will also market the open house through a postcard, as well as social media, signs, and the MLS.
As you can see, garnering top dollar for your home is not about posting some pretty pictures online, and telling people about the technical aspects of the home, it's about making an emotional connection with many people. Which should in turn bring multiple qualified offers for you to choose from. You could even then ask people to turn in their highest and best bid to get the most out of your home.
If you are anything like me, I know what you are probably thinking right now. This sounds expensive, how much is it going to cost me? What if I told you it's not going to cost you anything? It will in fact make you money. These marketing services are all included in my commission, which is paid through the sale of the home. If for some reason your home doesn't sell, or you decide selling isn't right for you right now, that's ok, you still do not owe me anything.
The last thing you want to do when selling your home, and collecting that hard earned equity is to leave money on the table. Contact me, and I will make sure youre home is marketed effectively, and you get every dollar your deserve. Plus, I will give you the same excellent service when we shop for your new home. The other guys, they aren't your friends, I'm your only true Homey in the Real Estate business. Call me now to set up a consultation. 801-608-2678
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