This is a great topic for discussion given the current market. As a seller in today’s market… you have more leverage than you’ve had in years. But…how much leverage do you really have?

The first thing you have to realize is that rumors are just rumors…if you heard through the grapevine your neighbor down the street had 24 offers… it doesn’t actually mean this is true. Secondly, not all subdivisions or properties are created equal. The demand can vary greatly. So with that in mind…you have to be realistic with how much leverage you really have in your specific situation. If you’re asking…”Andrew”, why the buzz kill? The Answer – I want our sellers to understand when they have the substantial upper hand and when they do not.

Two examples – Seller “Don” lives in the community of Summerlin with a SFR 4/2.5 bath home. The home is priced competitively at $399k and is well taken care of. Seller “Andy” resides in the same city of Las Vegas but lives in the the far NW corner of the city. (past Ann/95) Andy is priced near the top of the market in order to try and break even after purchasing the property at the peak of the market.

In these examples – Don can expect to receive multiple offers. Possibly 10 plus offers over the first weekend. Don has leverage. Don has the ability to ask for highest and best, send multiple counter offers, ask for appraisal contingencies to be waived, etc… Seller Andy will benefit from the current market in that he will most likely be able to get out of his bad investment w/out a substantial loss, however, he may only see 1 offer over the course of the first month. In this example, Andy should be aggressive in his negotiating, however, it may not be in Andy’s best interest to be overly aggressive and potentially run off his 1 offer.

So why this blog entry?  We want our sellers to be informed and making the best choices for themselves. If you have a question about your subdivision and what is really happening out there…give us a call. We can pull your subdivision and give you the average DOM and LP/SP ratio for your area. Don’t rely upon hearsay. Call us and ask for the facts.

Multiple offers – It’s becoming a common comment/question from our clients.  How do I acquire multiple offers? Why am I not receiving multiple offers? What do I do when I receive multiple offers???

How do I acquire multiple offers – First and foremost, price the property accordingly and offer a co broke that is competitive with competing listings. Secondly, give yourself at least one entire weekend to receive multiple bids. Thirdly, make the property easy to show. Use a lockbox – Do not rely upon making appointments yourself if you are expecting 25 plus showings over a given weekend. Lastly, the market will do the rest. If the property is in demand and you have the previous steps complete…multiple offers will follow.

Why am I not receiving multiple offers – : 1)Market condition in your immediate area. 2) Price 3) Commission being offered 4)No lockbox

What do I do when I receive multiple offers – There are many different techniques when receiving/reviewing multiple offers. The key thing to remember is that not every buyer wants to compete with multiple offers. As a seller, you want each and every buyer to feel comfortable and confident in submitting their bid. If this is your first time to handle multiple offers, consider our full service option. We have extensive experience with multiple offers/multiple counters/asking for highest and best/etc…

When you click on our list now icon, the website will take you to a page to pick your MLS area. This drop down menu does NOT list every city we cover. Instead, we list the areas by major city. So what does this really mean? It means that we cover MANY cities that are not listed. Some choices are obvious…for example…Boerne, TX. While Boerne is not listed under the drop menu, it is fairly obvious that you should select San Antonio if you are a Boerne property owner. Let’s say the choice isn’t so obvious….Let’s say you are in Sherman, TX…nearly an hour outside of DFW…do you select DFW Forms? The answer is this case is yes…but never hesitate to call us. Just give us your city name and we can direct you to the forms for your local MLS.

If you want to sell your home….and I mean if you REALLY want to sell your home…1 piece of advice… make your home easy to show. The absolute worst mistake you can make is making your home difficult to show for other Realtors(R). Seems obvious right? Here is the catch… the idea of “easy to show” is in the eye of the beholder. I’ll give you an example… I just got off the phone with a gentleman who is frustrated about his showing activity. He assured me his home is easy to show, etc… Thus, I pulled up his listing to check things over. This particular seller has a 3  call system in place to show his home. The showing instructions give the Realtors(R) instructions to call either him or his wife. Then, the seller has to call the tenant to confirm the appt. Lastly, the seller has to call back the agent to confirm the showing. Once the showing is confirmed, the Realtor(R) has to hope the tenant is actually at the home to let them in…b/c the seller does not have a lockbox on the property…. In the eyes of the seller, this is easy to show. In the eye of every Realtor(R), this is miserable.

Certain circumstances can prevent a seller from simply putting a lockbox on the property and allowing Realtors(R) to come and  go as they please. That is understandable. Not every situation is going to be ideal, however, you must put yourself in the shoes of the Realtor(R). Look at it from his/her perspective. In my example above, how could we make things easier for the Realtor(R) and increase showings? 1) Put an E box on the property. To do this, you simply need permission from the tenant. 2) Only list 1 phone # for the owner in the MLS. 3) Get permission to list the tenant phone # in the listing. Thus, you will have showing instructions like this: Call owner at XYZ phone to confirm appt and then use lockbox. If owner is unavailable, call tenant at ABC phone # and then use lockbox.

Simple and Easy.

EA listings are the absolute kiss of death for any seller. Under no circumstance do you want your listing to show EA status in the MLS. It is imperative that your listing be an ER listing in order for other brokers to feel comfortable showing and selling your listing.

EA  - Exclusive Agency

ER – Exclusive Right

If you were to list your property with any local full service brokerage, the listing would always appear as an ER listing. A full service brokerage would almost never list any property under EA status. Most MLS’s set the default search to exclude EA listings. This means that a broker has to go into the search module and physically add EA listings to their search in order to see EA listings. Lastly, Realtors(R) are creatures of habit. They don’t like change. Realtors(R) are used to seeing the ER status and understanding what it means. They feel comfortable with the status b/c they have shown and sold ER listings before.

No, they aren’t. To take this a step further, escrow officers are not all the same either. One of the advantages we have is that we have dealt with every major title/escrow company at one time or another. (in markets we service.) In addition to this, we have worked with countless escrow officers along the way. So what’s the difference?

As you probably already know, the fees vary only slightly. The only exception ($) to this involves binder policies, investor rates for repeat clients, etc… but for your average seller, the difference is service and convenience. Good rules of thumb to follow:

1) Pick a company that is reputable and has multiple offices across your state

2) Pick a company with an office close to your location

3) Pick an escrow officer for whom you have a personal referral from a friend, colleague, or someone you trust.

At the end of the day, you will be dealing with the escrow officer yourself. Your level of satisfaction will be determined by this person. So why do I care as a seller? The escrow officer has the ability to make the transaction become a complete nightmare for you. You want to work with someone that will make the process easier, not more difficult. Choose wisely.

We are available to provide recommendations and referrals upon request. We do not receive any perks/kickbacks/etc… from any title/escrow company or officer. We provider our recommendations solely on the idea that we want your closing experience to be simple and hassle free.

The easiest and best way to return your MLS paperwork is via email to info@congressrealty.com. You can email your documents and photos all at the same time.

What format is preferred?

Typically, any format will work, however, PDF for the listing documents and jpegs for the photos is preferred.

Do you have file size restrictions?

We do not.

How will you know my paperwork is for my account?

Everything we need to create your account is included within your listing agreement.

Is there anything else I should know?

If you choose to fax the documents, no problem. It is not a bad idea to give us a call to ensure we have them after you send the fax. This is especially true if you are faxing the documents from a public location. (such as a Kinkos)

I don’t want to include my payment info when I email the documents.

No problem. Email the docs with a note that you will call us with the payment info at a later time.

While national websites like Trulia and Realtor.com have a lot of traffic, don’t forget about the exposure your listing will receive on local IDX-enabled websites.  A Realtor’s own website specializing in Paradise Valley, Arizona, will have a small fraction of the national traffic of the national websites, but his traffic will be highly-targeted to the area and price range that he is actively working.  Someone might initially browse listings on a national website, then move onto a site that is area-specific.  They might want specific information about neighborhoods, property values, trends, etc. that is not necessarily reflected in national data or generic search queries.  Using the Paradise Valley website as an example, an online homebuyer can click on a search for the Montelucia Residences, and not only see all the active listings but get a brief write-up about the number of homes, the fact that they are adjacent to a luxury hotel, and the grocery store that residents would most likely shop at.

Every late November and throughout the month of December, we talk to sellers who plan on listing a property in early January. Our List Now requests during the month of December always rise b/c of this. So why not wait until after Jan 1? It’s completely up to you and what works best for you, however, you must keep in mind that if you wait until after Jan 1, you will be competing against increased inventory. It never fails, every year b/w Jan 2nd and Jan 15th, inventory numbers rise in almost every major market across the country. This is magnified in warmer climate communities for obvious reasons. The advantage to listing in Dec is that you have less competition and you are trying to capture corporate relocations before the start of the year.

Does this actually work ?

A few years ago I owned a property in Idaho that I tried to list in June. At the time, 24 homes were on the market in that specific subdivision. (Kuna, Idaho) The competition was simply too much and I withdrew the property from the market in Sept. Later that year in December, I noticed that only 3 properties were active within the subdivision. None of these 3 listings matched my floorplan or featured a 3 car garage. I listed the home for the exact same price I did in June. The home sold in 3 days and closed in late Dec. (the buyer had to close on something prior to Jan 1 for tax reasons) I learned an important lesson that December. Focus more on price and competition and less on when the media reports the best time to sell might be.

The first misconception surrounding staging is the cost associated with staging. Quality staging with quality furniture and art is expensive. High end staging for a 2500 sq ft home can easily run $3,000 to $5,000. Bottom line – Staging can get expensive.

Is it really worth while? There really isn’t a magic answer to this question. I have worked with sellers that swear by staging and I have worked with sellers that find it to be a complete waste of money. First and foremost, I would only professionally stage a vacant home. Secondly, if I was going to stage a home, I would only do so with a respected high end staging company. This is one area of Real Estate that I would not shop solely based upon price. Cheap furniture and shoddy art work is not what you want in this scenario. If you are going to do it…spend the money to do it right. Thirdly, understand the product you are selling. A highly desirable remodeled home with high end finishes may benefit from professional staging. On the other hand, do not stage your fixer upper/rental property. Think of staging as a luxury service that should help magnify and highlight the upgrades you have made to your home. Quality staging should bring out the best of your home and should be used by homeowners  who are trying to obtain top dollar for a quality product.