Category: Information For Sellers

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Many people don’t realize that selling a home is a complicated, time-consuming process. With numerous factors to consider such as open houses, advertising, pricing, negotiating and handling the numerous kinds of inquiries, it can be very exhausting and even worse – unfruitful. Many homeowners report the familiar grief after an open house: “I got lots of people, but most were just looking.” “They wanted it for next to nothing.”

You may be thinking, “Why would I need a Realtor to sell my home?” Let me give you just a few of the key reasons why a For Sale By Owners need Help in today’s difficult market:

1. Without working day in and day out in the real estate market it is quite unlikely that a FSBO will have complete understanding about pricing. Often a seller is forced to reduce the price and may have to accept less money for the home than the seller would have received had he or she started at the right price. When a Realtor goes to work with you, they ensure you will receive the most current market stats along with a thorough market analysis report to place your home  in a solid market position.

2. A property depreciates the longer it is on the market. Many owners fail to take advantage of this excitement by limiting the market to their immediate contacts and advertising.  Ensure your home is advertised 24 hours a day until it is sold. Realtors use a home selling system that is constantly being tested and improved to ensure your home is exposed to the largest pool of QUALIFIED buyers.

3. The two most common people who prey on FSBO’s are:

– #1. Investors / Bargain Hunters: these are people who are looking to capitalize on a FSBO’S lack of negotiating experience and market knowledge to score their next deal. Any time a buyer doesn’t buy from a store or through a sales person they expect to pay substantially less. In a sense they would expect to save the sales commissions or profits that would normally go to a sales person or store owner. Why should someone do all the work a salesperson would do and still pay the same price? For example if the seller is trying to save six percent and the buyer is trying to save six percent, now they are 12 percent apart!

– #2. People who can’t qualify to buy your home: These people will often approach FSBO’s because they have had previous financial difficulties and would want the owner to finance them. While for the right person, this could be a profitable investment, most sellers need to pull as much equity out of the property as possible to be able to move on with their next home.

4. It is important to ensure that only prospects who can qualify are introduced to your home. This eliminates the hassle of “lookers” and non-serious buyers and reduces the chance of strangers who may have activities in mind other than buying a house will come. Realtors often also have some of the best mortgage brokers in the industry working with their team who can pull the necessary strings to help finance a purchase.

5. Did you realize that any time a private seller is away from home, the home is off of the Market? It is important that someone will always be available to handle and follow up with inquiries during both peak hours and off-peak hours.

6. A seller selling privately can expect to put a minimum of 80 hours “work” into the project, without a guaranteed result. This does not account for out-of –pocket expenditures such as advertising, lawn signs, etc. Selling a home can be extremely stressful! Often FSBO’s don’t have the time available to take care of the details, from the first step of marketing to the final sale, because you have a life outside of the sale of your home.

In past markets it was very easy for a For Sale By Owner to sell their home. By all means, if you can do it on your own, go for it! Don’t wait around for a prolonged period of time and hope for that qualified buyer to walk in your door. I have found in the past few months many FSBO’s have had a lot of inquiries about Rent to own options. This sometimes is possible and works for the seller, but not often.

For Sale By OwnerThere are a lot of sellers trying to sell their homes today, that have the advertising power and exposure behind them because they are listed on the MLS with a Realtor. The majority of buyers begin their search on the internet, including FSBO sites, unfortunately the bulk of the current listings exist on the MLS. Once buyers begin their search they often pick a Realtor to help them, they do this because Realtors are free for buyers. Buyers do not have to pay a fee to work with a Realtor and often Realtors have the most qualified buyers.

Selling your home For Sale By Owner is difficult, but can be done. Give it a try and if you get frustrated interview Realtors and find the right one for you.

What is your home worth? Click here for a free online home evaluation.

If you’re trying to sell your Kamloops home, and your listing expired in the past few months, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, more MLS listings in the Kamloops area expired since September than the number of homes sold! In other words, you had a much better chance of an expired listing than you did selling your home. If you’re among the home owners that are faced with the dilemma of re-listing your home, there are ways to improve your odds of selling. Before you re-list, consider all your options and ask yourself these questions:

1. Marketing – How was your home marketed on and off of the MLS? Was there other marketing techniques used to promote your home to the public besides Realtor.ca (MLS.ca)? Or was there only a link to your agent’s home page, advertising other listings? Was your home advertised on other web sites? If you don’t think good online marketing matters, you should know that buyers today are turning to the web to start their search. If your property does not have a web presence you are at a disadvantage to those who do.
2. Presentation – Did your Realtor help you stage your home or give you tips about what you should do to improve you home’s appeal for showings? Did you take an objective look at your home, and fix the things that might not be appealing to buyers? Did your Realtor ensure the pictures taken of your home were high quality, clear and enhanced the look of your home? How about custom print ads? What were the highlight sheets at your home like? Dull photocopies or professionally produced custom colour sheets?
3. Communication – Did your Realtor communicate with you numerous times each month, sharing current market conditions and factors affecting the sale of your home? Did your Realtor keep you informed of sales in your neighbourhood? Did you receive feedback from every showing and open house held at your property?
4. Negotiations – Did your Realtor coach you on how to deal with offers and what to expect? Did they explain all your options? What about dealing with lowball offers (which we have been seeing a lot in the Kamloops area recently)? Did you feel you were prepared and in control of the offer process (if you even got any offers!)?
5. Price – How did your asking price compare to the sale price of similar homes that sold while you were listed? Did they help you determine a reasonable price for your home or just tell you what you wanted to hear?

If you want to sell now, should you try the same strategy that has already failed you, or a new strategy? Should you try selling your home with better marketing and presentation, a more experienced negotiator and a more realistic price?

The Kamloops real estate market is getting increasingly more competitive for sellers. With the number of listings increasing and the number of sales decreasing you need to be ahead of the curve. Buyers have numerous homes to chose from. If your home doesn’t get the exposure and marketing, doesn’t present well and isn’t priced competitively it will be overlooked. Be realistic, take an objective look at your home and price right from the beginning.