FROM EXPIRED TO SOLD!
WITH ALAN CHAMBERS
A L AN CH A M BE RS
Exceptional Agents.
Exceptional Results.
R EA LTO R®
HOW WE WILL GET YOUR HOME SOLD When you sell your Fairfield or Westchester County property, do you want an agent that sees you as nothing more than a walking, talking commission check? Are you willing to list your house with someone that simply sticks a sign in the yard and disappears after making a ton of empty promises? Would you be happy with a Realtor that dodges your calls and withholds important information from you? Of course, not! As the owner of a property in Fairfield or Westchester County, you know that the real estate here is unlike that of any other market. The homes are exquisite, unique, and intricate. Therefore, selling them requires an elite set of skills and no two agents are created equally. As a homeowner looking to take their next step in life, you deserve a partner that will hold your best interests and goals paramount to their own. Furthermore, you need a Realtor that can walk the walk just as much as they talk the talk. As an experienced luxury listing specialist in Fairfield, I know first-hand what it takes to get real results that exceed your goals when you list your property for sale. When you hire me to list your property, I will take the time to listen to you, prioritize your goals, and identify exactly what it takes to deliver the results you deserve. As for marketing your property, I will implement a custom-tailored and proven strategy that includes digital print and traditional marketing techniques that have allowed me to surpass the competition. Don’t just take my word for it though! Here is what a few of my clients have to say about what it is like to work with me: “We were so fortunate to have worked with Alan throughout the home selling/buying process. Alan did a wonderful job and worked tirelessly, bringing in the best to photograph and stage our home, which was sold within just a few months! He also helped us buy our new home and we could not be happier. Alan’s calm demeanor and readiness to answer all our questions made the process less stressful. He listened to us and was compassionate, knowledgeable, thorough, and well-prepared. We truly appreciate Alan’s professionalism and hard work and would recommend him to anyone who asks!” “Alan was a pleasure to work with. His marketing strategy was spot on and our house sold in only a few months with Alan after being on and off the market for several years with no solid offers using a different agent. He gave great advice and provided assistance with inspection issues. I highly recommend Alan as a real estate agent. Plus just an overall nice guy!” “We highly recommend Alan to sell your home in CT. We suffered a long period of no success with other realtors in a tough market. Then we hired Alan and he was able to bring us several offers and close the sale. We especially appreciated his skill in marketing through social media and his regular communication of feedback after showings. He also provided valuable contacts and suggestions for staging. He is a talented professional.” If you’re ready to sell your Fairfield or Westchester County property and don’t want to waste your time with an average agent, give me a call. I promise to spare you the regret and get you results like no one else can.
HOW DID WE GET HERE? I am so sorry to hear that your property expired. However, the first thing that I want to tell you that this is actually a fantastic opportunity for you to get even more out of this experience than you may have thought. As a Realtor in New York & Connecticut that specializes in working with people just like you that have had their listing expire, I know that you are feeling many emotions right now. Just know that despite the discouraging feelings that an expired listing can bring out, this is not the end of the road for you. In this guide, you will come to understand the reasons why your property failed to sell the last time around, if it is still in your best interest to sell your property right now, and exactly what you will need to do in order to take your listing from expired to sold if you still feel motivated to sell. I will also be sharing my comprehensive marketing plan for your property and getting the results you deserve this time so you can move on to the next phase in your life.
23%
Homes sold by agents are sold for an average sales price 23% higher than those sold without an agent.
THE TOP REASONS PEOPLE MOVE 1. THE HOUSE DOESN’T MEET YOUR NEEDS Before you purchase a home you can easily underestimate how important certain features will be to you. Sometimes a pool becomes more work than its worth, you get tired of tripping over the stairs, or perhaps you didn’t realize how important it would be to you to have a yard. Whatever you might convince yourself of when you buy a home, it is easy to get tired of a house after a few years. It is also very common to simply grow out of the house altogether. 2. YOUR FINANCES HAVE CHANGED The other most common cause of people moving is financial reasons. Not only can you outgrow a house in terms of size but in lifestyle. If you are making a lot more money now than when you first purchased a property, you could be looking to upgrade your home to match your income. Other times, it may cost you more money to make repairs on the home you currently own than it would for you to go out and purchase another home that is in better condition. A third common financial reason that you might want to sell your house right now is to cash in on all of that equity that you have acquired. As you know, the market goes up and down so it is always a good idea to try and sell you house at a time when you believe you will be able to extract the maximum amount of equity out of your investment.
REASONS FOR SELLING Life is unpredictable and it is common that one life’s many curveballs will be the reason for you to move on. You could get a new job or be transferred, you may want to be closer (or further) to your family, or simply have a shift in your priorities.
7
REASONS TOP REASONS PEOPLE MOVE
A New Stage In Life - As you reach different milestones in your life you will acquire different preferences for your home. One of the most common stages are changes in your relationships. As you get engaged or married, break up or get divorced, you are likely to move. Upsizing and downsizing as you raise your family will also cause you to move. Obviously you will need a house with plenty of room while your children are home but it makes the most sense to downsize once the nest is empty. As you retire and begin growing older, you may also want to live in a home that is better-suited to any physical ailments you may face. For example, you may want to live in a single story home that won’t require you to deal with the dangers and hassle of going up and down the stairs all the time.
WHAT’S YOUR REASON FOR MOVING? Did you know that the average American will move every five years on average? The reasons behind why we are such a restless bunch vary a great deal. However, what might make a home flawed to one family can make it perfect for the next. Before we can dive into the reasons behind why your listing has expired and what the next best steps are, it is important to revisit the reasons behind why you are choosing to move in the first place. The more you understand why you are moving and the motives of potential buyers, the more successful you will be with this transition.
7 REASONS YOUR LISTING EXPIRE? One of the reasons that it can be so frustrating when your listing expires is not understanding the true reason or reasons behind why it didn’t sell. While there are exceptions to every rule, there are a handful of very common reasons why properties expire. To better help you understand what may have caused your listing to expire and help you prevent it from happening again, I have assembled the following list.
1. REMEMBERING WHY YOU ARE SELLING As we have already discussed, it is important to remember why you are selling your property in the first place. Sellers that lose touch with their motivation for selling quickly sabotage their chances of actually selling. If you are not motivated to sell your property, you are not a true seller. You are a homeowner with a sign in your yard. If you lack motivation, you are just as likely to sell your house as a homeowner with a “keep out” sign in the yard. Therefore, it is very important you keep reminding yourself about why you are selling and the positive impact it will have on your life when you sell.
19
Homes sold by their owners without the help of an agent take an average of 19 days longer to attract a buyer.
2. REVIEW YOUR MARKETING PLAN One of the biggest reasons that a property expires is that the marketing plan was not strong enough or appropriate for the property. Before you put the property back on the market, you need to take a hard look at the marketing plan that was used the last time around and get some expert advice to identify where things went wrong. Did your last real estate agent drop the ball or perhaps lacked the tech-savvy tools needed to properly promote the property online? Remember, nearly 100% of all homes sold in the United States are initially found by their buyers online. That means you need an agent that can get the maximum exposure for the property online. You also need to acknowledge what went right and which tactics collected the most attention from qualified buyers.
11%
Despite what people think, only 11% of people try to sell their house without a professional Realtor on their side.
3. CONSIDER PROPERTY CONDITION The condition of your property and how it shows has more impact than many people realize. To get a better idea of your competition, you may want to consider going out to tour other properties that you are competing with or similar properties that are under contract. If you decided to skip making repairs before you listed the last time, it may be time to reconsider how necessary that really is. You may have also chosen not to stage your home the last time around despite the fact that it could make an ove whelming impact. You might also be suffering from poor curb appeal. Before you list your property again, you would be very wise to get an expert pair of eyes to assess the condition of your entire property.
4. TAKE BUYER FEEDBACK SERIOUSLY One of the best tools you have at your disposal in marketing your property the next time around is the feedback that you received from buyers the last time that it was listed. After each showing, your agent should have spoken with the buyers and/or their real estate agent to get feedback about what they liked, loved, and hated. Although it can be easy to get defensive when getting negative feedback, try to look at it objectively. If there are any points made multiple times by different sets of buyers, that is a very strong indication that you need to make a change before you list the property again.
PROUDLY SERVING CONN DOING THE USUAL
NECTICUT & NEW YORK UNUSUALLY WELL
5. DISREGARD SUDDEN AGENT ACTIVITY When you have your property listed for sale with a real estate agent, other agents are prohibited from trying to get you to hire them. However, they have software that notifies them when properties expire and a litany of other tools to help them get in touch with you. This is why your phone will start ringing off the hook with real estate agents showing interest in your property as soon as it expires. Despite the scripts that they read you in an attempt to get your listing, all of this sudden interest has nothing to do with why your property expired or the likelihood it will sell this time around. Take agent interest in your property with a grain of salt.
86%
of people that do attempt to sell their house on their own end up listing their house with an agent later.
6. RECONSIDER YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT It is not always the real estate agent’s fault when a property expires but many times it is. Before you automatically list your property with the same agent, you should interview other agents to ensure that you align yourself with the best person for the job of getting your property sold. Find out what other agents would do differently and why they believe that is a more strategic approach. Overall, the three most important qualities you should be looking for in an agent are open communication, honesty, and tech-savviness.
7. TALK TO YOUR PREVIOUS AGENT ABOUT WHY YOUR LISTING EXPIRED In addition to collecting strategies and theories from other agents about why your property didn’t sell the last time around, it is always smart to get the same from the agent that actually had the listing. Sometimes, buyers and their listing agents do not truly agree on the right price or marketing strategy but the agent will do what the seller wants just to keep them happy. Many times, despite their best intention, sellers insist that agents make decisions about their listing that are not in their best interest. In many cases, the listing agent can do absolutely everything they are supposed to but the market does not respond. This is not the fault of the agent. If you truly value and respect them and the work that they have done, this is the time to take their advice, adjust your price, and conform to what the current market demands. The best listing agents spend thousands of dollars to market your property and they deserve your loyalty if the property expires at no fault of their own.
DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO RE-LIST YOUR PROPERTY? Before you decide to put your property right back on the market, it is always in your best interest to take a step back and analyze what has changed. If you put your property back on the market before making the necessary changes to your property and/or your marketing plan, you will likely see a repeat of what happened the last time around. As a result, your property will continue to depreciate in price and you will incur more and more carrying costs. Relisting a property that has already expired at least once requires a lot more strategy than a property hitting the market for the first time.
HOW DO WE TAKE YOU FROM EXPIRED TO SOLD? Listing agents are not created equally. When you list your property for sale, you need to be sure that your listing agent takes an aggressive and comprehensive approach to getting the listing the attention that it deserves. Here are a few of the exclusive marketing tactics that will drive results for your listing when you hire me:
• Professional real estate photographer to show off your property’s best qualities • Professionally produced full-motion video with narration published to YouTube • Professional interactive floor plans • Professionally written property description to optimize your listing for SEO & psychology to attract the best buyers • Professional virtual property tour for an immersive experience to attract distant buyers • Professional staging consultation to help buyers see themselves living in your listing • Dedicated property website (www.123mainStreet.com) to drive buyer’s attention online • Targeted social media marketing including Facebook & • Instagram advertising to attract qualified buyers • Neighborhood phone prospecting to find best buyers (min. 500 calls) • Email blast to local agents that compels them to bring their buyer’s • Professionally designed brochure w/ floor plans for buyers & agents • Your listing will be syndicated to over 400 websites for maximum digital exposure • Public and private open houses to generate interest on a small and large scale • Yard signs and directional signs to draw attention from neighbors and people passing through Listing agent-specific sign rider with my cell phone number so I can field all calls personally • Professionally designed postcards will be sent to all neighbors to alert them to your listing • Promotion of the property at the weekly company sales meeting to attract showings • Calls will be placed to all contacts, past clients, and current buyers to alert them of your listing • Professional closing coordinator to manage the entire closing process with efficiency and accuracy
TESTIMONIALS “Our house had been on the market for nearly 5 years. Once Alan came on the job, the house was sold within three short months! What better recommendation can we make! He was able to negotiate a better price than we had anticipated, and he was always there to answer any questions that we had.” B. Orenstein “After listing our home for 2+ years with another realtor, Alan’s approach to selling our home was so successful that we sold our home within 30 days of listing. Through his knowledge of the market, he knew what we needed to do to sell our home which resulted in the first potential buyer visiting our home within 10 days of the listing... Alan will be successful with any buyer or seller..” T. Rummans
TESTIMONIALS “We highly recommend Alan to sell your home... We suffered a long period of no success with other realtors in a tough market. Then we hired Alan and he was able to bring us several offers and close the sale. We especially appreciated his skill in marketing through social media… He is a talented professional.” D. McNulty “Our CT property was on the market for two years before we selected Alan Chambers to represent us. Within a very short time our property was sold… He is thorough, highly knowledgeable, and very dependable. He is enthusiastic, has excellent negotiating skills and keeps his clients informed... I recommend him without reservation.” G. Burns “In this difficult housing market, a seller really needs a Realtor who is willing to go the extra mile. Alan Chambers is one of those few. [Alan] made major changes in the marketing of the house. I greatly appreciate Alan’s dedication to his job and clients. I believe my house might still be on the market otherwise.” G. Groves
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Unlike other agents that will pressure you into hiring them to sell your expired listing, I want to encourage you to do what is best for you. I do not want to be the reason that you decide to move. However, if you need to move, want to move, or decide that it is still in your best interest to sell your property, I would be proud to be the one that gets you from expired to sold. In addition to providing you with all of the services that I have outlined, I will customize a marketing plan around your property and go above and beyond to deliver the best possible service. I believe in doing the usual unusually and when you hire me, you will understand from day one how I have earned my five-star status.
- Alan Chambers
Alan Chambers 203.417.2218
Keller Williams 404 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877 alan@sellwithchambers.com www.sellwithchambers.com