BEST Home Selling Strategies

 
Get the BEST price for your home!
Don’t settle for thousands less for your home because you hired the wrong agent.  An amateur, new or part-time agent just dabbling in the business can cost you big bucks.  In today’s complicated real estate market, you need an experienced professional.  A full-time professional with a powerful print and online marketing strategy designed to get your home noticed by all the right buyers.  

This page shows you the proven strategies to help your home to stand out from the crowd and get you top-dollar.


1. Prepare the Home to Sell

OCCUPIED HOMES
Staging your home involves creating an environment that house hunters can envision themselves living in and can help to generate a quicker sale and a better price. Quite simply, if potential buyers don’t feel an emotional connection with your home, they won’t feel like they belong there and they’ll be inclined to look elsewhere. Why make the selling process more difficult by choosing NOT to properly stage your property?

The home is “staged” to be viewed from a buyer’s perspective, eliminating clutter, personal effects and allowing the buyer to truly visualize themselves living in their new home! Have questions? Ward can provide professional advice and tips on how to properly stage your home to get the best price possible.



These rooms should be your top priority...


VACANT HOMES
If your home is vacant, Ward will hire a professional graphic artist to Virtually Stage a few of the key rooms in the home. (See the image below.) This helps showcase the home in both our print and online marketing.


 
Does staging really matter? 
You bet it does! Consider this...
• A recent study looked at 63 unstaged homes that spent an average of 143 days on the market with no offers.  After staging, those same homes were re-listed and generated first offers in an average of 40 days. 
• In a separate study, 481 homes were staged before hitting the market.  They garnered an offer in an average of 23 days.
• 49% of Buyers’ agents cited that home staging had an effect on most Buyer’s view of the home.
• 77% of Buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a Buyer to visualize the property as a future home.

“Proper staging speeds up sales and can bump up prices 2% to 3%.” 
- Wall Street Journal

The Bottom Line... MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET!!!


2. Strategically Pricing the Home

A professional real estate agent will always do thorough research and prepare a detailed Market Analysis report on the home for you. This report will show you ...
- The state of the local real estate market. (Supply / Demand, etc.)
- Details and prices on similar homes that have SOLD recently (comps).
- Pricing strategies and advice. (What to do, and not do when pricing the home.)

Having accurate, recent data can help strategically price the home for your maximum net return. This is no time to select an inexperienced or part-time agent. An experienced, full-time real estate professional can provide invaluable advice and expertise.

Ward is committed to the professional Code of Ethics Standard of Practice 1-3...


3. Professional Home Photography

Professional Photos
A picture is worth a thousand words.  Good pictures are a crucial marketing tool for a home sale.  According to research from the National Association of Realtors, 98% of home buyers who searched for a home online said photos were among the most important features of real estate listings.  Listings of homes with photos taken by professional photographers have about 61% more views than listings without—and that’s across all price tiers.  Photos are the first impression, and can generate interest and excitement, which leads to good offers.



Professional Video Walkthrough
Did you know... homes with a professional video walkthrough get 68% MORE views online than homes without a professional video. 



Remember, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”. Professional photography is an absolute MUST. 



4. Floor Plans

Floor Plans are a very Effective Marketing Tool.

In addition to the professional house photos, a floor plan is a great tool to help buyers remember your property. It reminds them of the layout and helps them visualize how their furniture will fit into a space.



Using a floor plan in both our print and online home marketing is a highly effective tool to help your house stand out from the competition.  That’s because less than 10% of real estate agents bother to obtain a floor plan and use it in their marketing.


5. Promote Neighborhood / AZ Lifestyle

In addition to promoting the home, it is very important to also promote the neighborhood and lifestyle. About 20 percent of the photos used online and in brochures should be devoted to showing off the neighborhood features and amenities. For example - if 40 photos are used in online listings, then about 6 to 10 of those photos should be used to promote the neighborhood. Unfortunately, less than half of seller's agents understand and do this. Make sure you select an agent who will.





6. Custom Property Website Address

Don’t Let Your Home Get Lost in The Clutter. When buyers look at your house on websites like Zillow.com or Realtor.com they will be looking at your house alongside dozens of other similar homes. It’s very easy to get lost in all that clutter.



To get the best price for your home, our goal is to make it STAND OUT from the crowd. Ward will purchase a custom web address just for your house using your property address.  Example: www.2626Gillcrest.com

We then use all our other print and online marketing to direct potential buyers to your custom property website. Once there, we have a captive audience looking at YOUR house. That’s how professional marketing gives your house an edge over the competition.


7. Newsfeed Marketing

Most Home Buyers Now Get Their News Online vs Newspaper. 



IT’S HIGHLY EFFECTIVE:  These digital newsfeed ad campaigns generate thousands of impressions to targeted potential home buyers.
Check out these actual results from only a few weeks of news-feed advertising...



Click here to view a brief video explaining how Newsfeed Marketing works.

 

8. Facebook Marketing

Ward will run Paid ads so YOUR home will be featured to thousands of targeted Facebook users.



It’s just one more way Ward exposes your property to more targeted potential home buyers.

Check out:   www.facebook.com/WardStoneRealEstate


9. Direct Mail

Specifically Targeted Direct Mail to Promote YOUR Property



Insights on Real Estate - is a monthly direct mail newsletter.  This 4-page mailer promotes Ward’s featured homers plus engaging content that they’ll hang on to. The full color booklet is printed on premium card-stock paper. It is direct mailed to hundreds of potential real estate prospects (potential buyers for your home). 


Just Listed Postcards - Custom designed, jumbo size postcards printed on heavy card stock with a high gloss finish. They are direct mailed to surrounding homes. Current homeowners in the neighborhood can be a very valuable source of Buyers referring their friends & family to their neighborhood.



10. Brochure Box Flyers

Let’s have YOUR house stand out and make a great first impression!  Ward will custom design a full-color flyer to put in the brochure box on the For Sale sign in your front yard.  These beautiful flyers are custom designed and printed on heavy card stock with a high gloss finish. That makes these flyers MUCH more likely to be retained by potential buyers.

   

Did you know... 16% of home buyers found the house they purchased from the For Sale sign in the yard.

* Not applicable on properties without a yard sign and brochure box.



11. In-Home Custom Brochures

Remember when you were out house hunting?  It’s not unusual for home buyers (especially ones from out of town) to look at 5, 10 or even 15 homes in a day.  If you have ever done that, you know it can be overwhelming.  Trying to remember details about one home when you have seen 10 or 15 can be very difficult. 

That’s why having a beautiful brochure for buyers to pick up and take with, is an extremely valuable marketing tool.  It helps those buyers remember your home in the best possible way.

Here’s a sample of the 4-page in-home brochure Ward custom designs for his listed homes;

These custom designed 4-page in-home brochures are printed on heavy card stock with a gorgeous high gloss finish.

TIP - It's very important to also promote the neighborhood and lifestyle along with the home. For most property listings, about 20 percent of the photos used online and print brochures should be promoting the neighborhood amenities (parks, walking paths, pools, etc). Agents who neglect this simply don't understand effective home marketing.

* Not applicable on properties occupied by tenants. (Tenants don't care and just stick them in a drawer never to be seen.)



12. Communication - Stay In The Loop

An experienced, full-time professional agent will keep you informed throughout the process of selling your home.
- Showing Feedback from Buyer's Agents.
- Reports from the Multiple Listing Service showing MLS activity and competition.
- Reports showing views on Newsfeeds. (see number 6 above)
- Reports showing views on Facebook. (see number 7 above)
- If you live out-of-state, Ward will mail you copies of all the print marketing. (see numbers 8, 9 & 10 above)

 
13. Successfully Negotiating the Deal

I know, negotiating looks simple. You've negotiated cars and lots of things, right? With rare exception, negotiating each of the different steps in a real estate transaction is the most complex part of selling a home. That's because a real estate negotiation is completely different from any other negotiating you might have done. There are many reasons, including that a real estate sale or purchase can be a very emotional experience for people. Plus the fact that a real estate Purchase Contract is lengthy and complex.

That’s why it’s important to have an experienced and savvy real estate professional who has successfully worked through many different transaction scenarios. This is no time for an inexperienced or part-time agent. Ward has helped his clients through this successfully thousands of times. 


14. Select a Professional Agent

A professional agent is worth every penny.
A bad agent is overpriced if they are free.

The two MOST important parts of selling your property are selecting the right agent and setting an accurate listing price.  Never underestimate the value of selecting the right professional to guide you through the process.

3 MUSTS HAVES
Here are the things to always require when selecting an Agent;
1. Full-Time.  The real estate business has gotten far too complicated to select a part-time agent who is just dabbling in the business.
2. Experience.  A minimum of 15 years full-time experience is strongly recommended.  You want a real estate professional who has been through both the up and down cycles of real estate. That level of experience can guide you on the best course of action every step of the way.
3. Marketing.  Look closely at both the print and online marketing the agent will do for YOUR home. (Not just advertising for their company.)

3 MISTAKES TO AVOID
1. Selecting the highest suggested list price. Some home sellers interview several agents then select the agent who recommends to highest list price. That’s the oldest agent trick in the book. Some agents will purposely recommend an inflated list price just to get the listing, then when the home predictably doesn’t sell, the agent starts hammering the seller to reduce the price. Don’t fall for it.
2. Ridiculous promises. “Sell your home in 72-hours”. “Stay 6 months in your home free”. “Sell your home without showings”.  Don’t fall for the ridiculous promises and gimmicks being made by these newer real estate companies.
3. Discount commissions.  A discount agent might save you .5 to 1% in commission, but a quality, full-time professional agent can get you 2 or 3% more for the house. Don’t give up thousands trying to save hundreds.


Click here to see how RE/MAX professional agents compare to others in the industry.

Experience and marketing matters! Contact Ward for a professional Market Analysis on your home.








Presented by
Ward Stone PLLC
CNC, e-PRO, RSPS, SRES
Real Estate Professional since 1984
Member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame
Over 1,000 homes sold



Your full-time neighborhood real estate professional.
Ward's Experience and Knowledge could help you avoid some costly mistakes.

Click here to read my REVIEWS.

Click here to contact Ward today.

RE/MAX Foothills



   

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