How do you sell a house?

This seems to be the hot question among  Ozark's homeowners lately.  Do you try it on your own? What is the right marketing plan?  Is any agent better than no agent?

    In order to compete in a buyers market you must be able to offer a competitive and realistic asking price for your home.  If all of the other homes in your market area have sold between $200k and $215k, setting a market price of $230 is not going to sell your home.  The market value has been set lower.  Ammenities such as a larger garage, inground pool, and covered deck are all incentives for purchasers to buy your home over others, but, as is proven repeatedly, value in use is not paid dollar for dollar.  You may have purchased the home new and then spent $20,000 in the finishing of the lower level, but rarely does a family recoup all of the costs incurred landscaping, upgrading and fencing etc. 

    Once you have set a price, determined and finished any improvements/staging that needs to be completed your potential buyers need to be aware of it.  Multiple website listings, virtual tours, specific descriptions detailing the fabulous features of your home and what sets it apart need to be easily accessible.  24 hours a day.  In our area we have many buyers working ‘off’ hours and statistics are now showing 80 to 90% of buyers are starting to look for homes on the net.  Not in print ads.  NAR (National Association of Realtors) is stating that only 3% of buyers found their home in a traditional print ad.  The main reason for this was the lack of organization of the print resource – they cannot search specific areas, price ranges or the homes amenities.  Interestingly enough, making the information they were looking for easily accesible increased the listings views by 86%, and homes that were not advertised on multiple websites took 63% (NAR stats) longer to sell.  At the time of this publication, Video tours were not being watched as much as photo tours – the next generation of homebuyers wants the information to be fast and accurate – the next home is only a click away.

    Offering the right price and accurate information is a start, but we also need to offer mutually beneficial terms (possession date, home inspections, financing options etc.) in order to get them out from in front of their computers and into their cars.  Excellent photos and a flexible position on showings is one of the best ways.  A Realtor and Brokerage the public views as trustworthy is crucial in this step.  If they perceive the homeowners or their representative as trying to take advantage of them or not acting fairly to all parties there is no deal.  Ethical dealings and a true ‘everybody wins’ philosophy will ensure we move to the next, and almost final, step.

  You know how much money you would like for your house.  The buyer knows what he or she can pay for a home.  In a perfect world, you accept more money than you expected and the buyer pays less than they thought they would.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.  Negotiating is the key to a successful transaction.  Knowing when to push and when to be more conciliatory is crucial to ensuring all parties are satisfied and willing to go forward.  The absolute last thing you want to do is become overly emotional or act in haste.  The buyers actually asked you to leave your brand new front load washing machine and are not willing to pay anything for it?  (You can insert bedroom furniture, an area carpet, all appliances, childrens playsets etc.)   We are negotiating now.  This is what we want.  When they walk through and do not inquire about anything that is when we are not negotiating.  And that means ‘no deal’.  As long as your representative remains impartial and both sides understand everyone is going to walk away satisfied, we can work through it.  We are working professionally and strategically towards mutually beneficial terms for both the seller and the buyer.

      Ensuring the buyers obtain competitive financing, a competent lawyer, a home inspector that does not scare them and the buyer either sells their existing home or has adequate housing until yours is available can all affect the deal.  Now is when you have to ask yourself – ‘If I am waiting for them to sell their home, do I trust the buyers to do it on their own, or would I feel more secure knowing they had a Realtor that was trained and had a proven track record of success?’ Your Realtor ensures the details are taken care of on your end and the buyers purchase.  If there is not a Realtor to help with the above steps for the buyer of your home and the sale and new buyer of their home how secure are you this deal will ever really happen?  Having, and making use of, excellent collegues and resources for the closing of your deal is the crucial and final step in the sale of your home.  Knowing how to ask personal financial questions of buyers makes a difference between a guarded attitude and a team attitude.  In the end, when all parties are moving and all of the details are taken care of, everybody wins!

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.  Please feel free to call me for an up-to-date value assessment for your home and a comprehensive marketing plan to sell your home.  If you are currently trying to sell on your own, I offer a no obligation strategy session to evaluate your situation too.

Contact: Steve Mattison,
Carol Jones, Realtors
Branson West, MO
Phone - 417-338-2022
My Cell # 417-350-9743

~Networked to advertise on hundreds of websites

~Consistently Referred by past clients

~ Glad to help any way possible, just ask!

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