Agent Will

Yesterday I touched on the Seller Guarantee. Quite simply I stated that I believe that when you sign a listing contract you should have every right to get out of that contract if it is breached by the listing agent. I also stated that I would put in writing all the services I provide including the right to unconditional termination if I failed to deliver on those written promises.

What I didn’t go into depth on was what I do to get that home sold. Let me introduce you to the RAMP. That is an acronym that stands for the Real Action Marketing Plan. I hope you’ll see that’s a very fitting acronym. It is very much Real not just because it is real estate, but we will be visibly doing all we can to make that property shine. You will see Action. It is immediate as we go about transforming your property into the Buyer’s next property. It is Marketing not just listing. Too many agents just list homes and truly fail to market them. Finally it is a Plan. This is not some off-the-cuff, wishy-washy idea. It is proven and is organized. It is evolving (as it should be, for trends and effectiveness changes with the marketplace) and in its current form it is effective. It’s aim is to sell homes faster and for more money.

So what is it in more detail?

First, the basics:

Just Listed Flyers are sent to the surrounding neighbours. This is a tried and true method to create interest from those who are likely already familiar with your property. Your neighbours may be interested, themselves, or may know someone who is.

But that seems a bit passive. If we can we immediately visit each neighbour to introduce ourselves and announce that your home is for sale. We leave them some information and encourage them to spread the word (their’s nothing better than a friendly referral). And then we follow up with a phone call to each home in the neighbourhood. We invite them, personally, to the open house and encourage them to bring other interested guests. Thsi has been shown to more than triple the number of people viewing the home in the first week. And the more eyeballs/traffic through the home, the more likely the sale.

Newspaper Ads are employed. This is an old practice that is, frankly, losing its effectiveness. However, it does appear to work on those who are either not on the internet or are from outside the city. It is a segment of the marketplace that we simply should not ignore.

Google Adwords. Google has an enormous marketshare of the search engione market. It has been shown that a majority of people now start their home search online. Buyers are often returned search results linking to a realtor’s site. But that is not what they are looking for. They want properties to look at. This is where we can take advantage to ensure that highly targetted buyers are seeing your property on the front page of their serch results. Google is our friend.

My database is tapped. These are all the people met through open houses, clients, or life in general. They may not be searching but may know of someone who is.

The MLS is, naturally, used. This is our biggest and best tool. Imagine having over 8000 realtors and their buyers, and then all the other independent searchers on MLS.ca, potentially looking for your property. There is no doubt in my mind that the Canadian MLS is the best real estate system in the world. It enables rapid disemmination of information and encourages co-operation between agents. More importantly, it is a raving success story.

So we have covered how we get the word out and now we need to discuss how to make the greatest impression once the we get their attention. This is equally, or perhaps more, important than just getting people there. Sure, you can attract 100 people in a single day but if no one is impressed enough to make an offer then the effort was wasted. It’s more valuable to attract just 10 people and get more than one to write an enough, don’t you think? So how do I do that?

First, you want to be able to attract the right clientele. These are qualified buyers, not just financially on their side but also in that your product meets or exceeds their wants and/or needs. To do this effectively you need to be able to show them that they want to come to your home. Show them everything. Think about it, when you shop for a car or a computer you see an ad, you may see several ads, and you start reading magazines or visit a website. You may even pick-up a brochure from a dealership. At each level of interest you craving for more and more information and details grows. This initial attraction may be the price and the basic specs but then you want to know about power, accesories, options, colours, etc. A automotive website likely employs interior and exterior shots drawing your eyes to key points. It may enable you to look 360 degrees around the exterior and interior. The magazine may do a shootout between several competing models and an analysis of which was fastest, which had better handling, which was more comfortable, and so. All this data you likely crave before you even take a step into a dealership for a test drive. After all, you don’t want to waste your time looking at one model when you really prefer another, do you? (Sidenote: Some people just like to go for test drives - test pilots and tire kickers, they’re called by dealers).

If this is so effective at maximizing the limited resources of a dealerships sales force, why aren’t these tactics employed more by home sellers? Well, with me they are. For example:

Professional Staging from just basics to the bold and dramatic. You have likely lived in and loved your home. Or maybe you’ve rented it out and the tenants have done the same. Or perhaps it was an investment and sits vacant. In any case there are improvements that can be made to maximize value. Just as you don’t sell a car without a wash and polish, you don’t sell a home without looking through a buyer’s eyes. Remember, though you may love your collection of Coca-cola bottles from around the world, the buyers may not. And it’s no longer “Your Home” we are selling; it is the “Buyer’s Next Home” which we market. Stagers will come in and do anything from rearrange furniture to maximize flow and declutter personal items to create a feeling of space to bring in new furniture, rent artwork, and renovate new floors and paint. They “stage” the home with a designers flair to appeal to the broadest of the targeted market. They create that “wow, gasp, ooooh, ahhh” feeling when a buyer walks in.

But you have to keep it clean. That’s why we hire Professional Cleaners to keep its spotless shine. You’re busy and you don’t have time to keep the place in immaculate show-home condition. I understand that. It’s stressful when people sell and and feel like they’re walking on eggshells throughout the selling process. Especially if you have children. Professional Cleaners will come in and provide a maid service every two weeks until the home is sold.

Now that it looks good and will stay spotless for whenever a buyer wants to look at it we need to present it to the public. This is how we do that:

360 Virtual Tour of the home hosted on the website and available on any computer screen. This will answer many questions a buyer would have before they even come to see it and it will keep the property fresh in their minds after they saw it and have returned home. Every room of the home is documented as well as the exterior and perhaps a neighbourhood shot or two.

Professionally photographed. Properly lit, perfectly shot. One pic? No way! We’ll take as many are needed to show your home in the best light and show its best features. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, but lets make sure they’re words of awe and amazement.

A Floor Plan made for both printed listing sheets and on the web. How many times have you seen a listing online, gone to the home and not liked the floor plan then leave thinking it was a waste of time? Even more how many times have you thought or quickly realized the dimensions were wrong and that bedroom is actually quite a bit smaller than stated? This laser-measured floor plan not only looks professional but also guarantees the measurements and comes with insurance. Now buyers won’t need to measure that wall to see if their couch fits. they will know before hand. At the open house, or at a showing they will receive a floor plan print out. And it is also one of the MLS 10 pictures.

But people also like motion and movement. That is when we employ a Video Tour filmed and hosted on the website. this will draw the buyers eyes to features that they may not notice in a still photograph. This is where we show the attention to details.

So it is staged to look good and then it is measured and filmed. And we make sure that it is as clean the second week as it was the first day. Buyers get the word, they qualify themselves, and when they get their they are impressed. If you want to sell a home quickly and for top dollar, make it look like it is a bargain in the Buyer’s eyes and they will flock to it. You know what “expensive” is? It’s when the perception of value is less than the reality. Make all five senses of the home richer and the price will be thought of as “value”. On the other hand, a home that is in poor, or even reasonable shape will only attract a poor or reasonable offer (if at all!) That is not what you should be looking for as a seller, is it?

But there is more. Buyers can get swept up in the moment. They will likely require an inspection which will include a cooling off period. You, as a seller, do not want the buyers to be able to find anything even remotely wrong or it will cost you money from that offer, or worse a collapse of sale. To solve that problem we use a Pre-listing Inspection. If we catch things early and fix them then we can command top dollar. We can even share our inspection report and note the repairs made which may dissuade the buyer from even having their own. And if they do they should find nothing wrong. Sounds like too much common sense doesn’t it? Yet how many Sellers have you heard from doing this?

If you have a condo then I will also obtain all the documents needed to sell the home from the property manager. You may have copies but we like to have a complete set provided directly from the Manager just to be sure and to shift liability away from yourself. A buyer will want to look at these and we will have them ready as soon as possible (ie before the first showing if possible).

One final detail needs to be mentioned. When you list with me I include your Lawyer’s Fee (hey, that rhymes). Why do that? Simple. You hired me to market and sell your home. That, in my mind, includes conveyancing and title transfer. Could I do it myself I would, but I can’t, so I pay someone to do it for us. You do have to be using a real estate focussed lawyer or notary to qualify for this feature as they are specialists who do the best job in the most efficient and reasonable manner.

Does this seem amazing? Maybe overwhelming? Perhaps, and I hope, refreshing and agreeable? That’s the aim. To leave no stone unturned and nothing left to chance. Total time from “Yes” is estimated to be 7 days wherein we prepare the home by staging/cleaning then film the home and make the floor plans. The following week will have an Agent’s open followed by a full weekend of Public opens. The public opens will supply coffee and tea to encourage greater time spent by potential buyers and enable more time for my staff to “sell” your home. Because it is when we get them into your home, interest piqued, that we really need to go to work and get the job done with an offer (or offers) to present to you.

If you have been thinking that this makes perfect sense and would benefit you, or maybe someone you know, then please, hit me up by giving me a call or pass the info on to a friend. My number is 604-787-6977.  You can also fill out a quick form here to get started.  And if you want to pass this on to someone just click the “Share This” button below to the left. Naturally, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions feel welcome to leave one.