Your REALTOR®’s marketing efforts and
considerations will include advertising,
showing the property, how long the house has
been on the market and whether you're buying
another home. Your home should be listed,
whenever possible, through a Multiple
Listing Service (MLS).
Advertising and Promotion
Properties are commonly advertised through
real estate agent Web sites, Internet home
search/listing services, classified
advertising and real estate guides.
Promotion efforts through office and MLS
tours are a good way of getting other buyer
agents to view your home and to promote it
to the buyers they are working with.
Even with all these advertising avenues, "
For Sale" signs on front lawns are still
remarkably effective. Many REALTORS® promote
their Web sites on the sign and use brochure
boxes with the signs to market the property.
When appropriate, and with your permission,
your REALTOR® may send a mailing about your
property to neighbors. Sometimes one of them
has a friend or relative who always wanted
to live near them. You never know how far
reaching the benefits of word-of-mouth
advertising by friends, relatives and
neighbors can be.
Showings and Open Houses
To prepare your home for viewing, make it as
bright, clean, cheerful and serene as
possible. Always look at your home from the
buyer's point of view. Your REALTOR® will
probably find a tactful way to suggest that
you be absent while the house is being shown
to prospective buyers, because your presence
will inhibit their actions and
conversations. They won’t feel free to open
closets and cabinets, test out the plumbing
and discuss their observations objectively
as they walk through the house. It goes
without saying that your children and pets
should not be on the premises either.
If your REALTOR® has scheduled an open
house, you may want to notify the neighbors,
and assure them that they'll be welcome.
They'll jump at the chance to poke around in
your house, and sometimes they can turn up a
buyer among their friends.
Quick tips for showings and open houses:
Clean or replace dirty or worn carpets.
Open all curtains and blinds.
Replace any burned out light bulbs and
turn on all lights.
Clear all clutter.
Clear all countertops.
Wash and put away any dirty dishes.
Set the dining room or kitchen table if
you have particularly nice linen or
china.
Simmer a few drops of vanilla on the
stove.
Put on soft music.
Burn wood in the fireplace on cold days,
otherwise, clean the fireplace.
Put fresh towels in the bathroom.
Take any laundry out of the washer and
dryer.
Leave the house so your REALTOR® is free
to deal with prospective buyers in a
professional manner.
Put pets in cages or take them to a
neighbor.
How Long Has Your House Been on the Market?
Professional appraisers sum up their entire
body of knowledge in three words: " Buyers
make value." Your home is worth as much as a
buyer will pay for it.
If your home has been on the market for
months, it’s a clear message that the
property may not be worth what you're asking
for it. This is particularly true if there
haven't been many prospects coming to see
it. What you do at that point depends on
whether you really need to sell, and whether
you're working with a time limit.
If you're not really motivated to move soon,
you can always wait - years if necessary -
and hope inflation will catch up with the
price you want. The problem is that in that
time, your home begins to feel shopworn.
Buyers become suspicious of a house that's
been for sale for a long time.
If you really do need to sell, with your
REALTOR® discuss a schedule for gradually
dropping your price until you find a level
that attracts buyers. There's no point in
saying, " We simply can't sell our house."
Anything will sell if the price is right.
If You’re Buying Another Home
You may wonder what will happen when you're
selling one home and buying another – how
will all the details work out? This is a
common situation and REALTORS®, lawyers, and
title and escrow companies have plenty of
experience in arranging contracts and loans
so that the two transactions dovetail
smoothly.
And should you sell your home first then buy
or buy first then sell? Ideally, it’s best
to find a home you like and make an offer
subject to selling your current home. This
generally works in a normal market. However,
in a “hot” market most sellers will not
accept a “subject to sale” offer. In this
case you need to sell your home first and
then buy a new home in the interim period
between selling and vacating your house.
If you find that you need to buy the next
house before you've received the proceeds
from the present one, lending institutions
can sometimes make you a short-term "
bridge" loan to tide you over between the
two transactions. Make sure you fully
understand the exposure and emotional
investment before proceeding with this type
of loan.
