Seller’s Guide
Selling Your Home with the Expert Help of Phil Greely
Contents Introduction
1
About Phil
2
Designations
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Phil Sells Seattle
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Community
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Windermere
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Preparing Your Home
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Pricing Your Property
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Overpricing
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Market Value
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Marketing Plan
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Marketing Examples
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Professional Photography
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Marketing Online
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Windermere Online
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Finding a Buyer
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My Gift to You
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What My Clients Are Saying
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Introduction Thank you for the opportunity to work towards selling your home! My goal is to have you delighted by the process and happy with the outcome. The success of my business depends solely on the satisfaction of my clients! Helping people buy and sell real estate is my full time career. Your home, your goals and your needs deserve my full attention and commitment. In working with me, you have my commitment to the following:
Alignment with the #1 real estate company in the Seattle area: Windermere
The highest levels of professional marketing
Up to date knowledge and education on the real estate industry in Washington
A never-ending drive to make my clients happy
So thank you again for taking the time to meet with me. I hope you find the information in this guide and on my website useful and I look forward to helping you accomplish your real estate goals. Sincerely,
Phil Greely Phil Greely Windermere Real Estate
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About Phil Welcome! The process of buying or selling your home can be both exciting and nerve-racking all at the same time. My goal is to serve you as a proactive trusted advisor throughout the process to make the transaction easy and fun. I want to add value to not only your real estate assets--but your life!
Personalized Service I strive to provide legendary customer service and have that be the core of my interactions with clients. Every person deserves customized and personalized service before, during and after their real estate transaction. Real estate often involves acquiring or selling the largest asset a person will ever own...doesn't that warrant the utmost care from your Realtor? I want you to have power and choice from beginning to end!
Commitment to Education In addition to keeping pace with the ever-changing field of real estate, I strive to take my business to another level by seeking out professional designations that distinguish me from the masses. Such designations require many hours of course work to complete. Adding these titles is more than alphabet soup after my name. It's a commitment to my clients and me to be top in my field. Here are some of the professional designations in my tool belt: CNE: Certified Negotiation Expert ABR: Accredited Buyer's Representative SRES: Senior Real Estate Specialist CRS: Certified Residential Specialist
Active in the Community My wife, daughter and I live in the Whittier Heights part of Ballard. When I'm not helping people with real estate, we spend time enjoying Seattle's many city parks, craft breweries and tasty restaurants. We are also active members in our local church. I absolutely love living life in Seattle and can't wait to help you plan roots here as well!
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Phil’s Designations Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Only 3% of Realtors are Certified Residential Specialists. Realtors who receive the CRS designation have completed advanced professional training and demonstrated outstanding professional achievement in residential real estate. Only 37,000 Realtors nationwide have earned the credential. When it comes to your home, you want a Certified Residential Specialist.
Accredited Buyers Representative (ARB) The Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation is the benchmark of excellence in buyer representation. This coveted designation is awarded by the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC), an affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS®, to real estate practitioners who meet the specified educational and practical experience criteria
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) REALTORS® who carry the Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) designation are specially qualified to address the real estate needs of those age 50+. SRES® designees bring a unique approach to each transaction and interaction with clients. They not only offer a deep knowledge of real estate and the local and economic issues shaping market trends, but they're also educated on issues of particular concern to aged 50+ clients.
Certified Negotiations Expert (CNE) A Certified Negotiations Expert has been trained in advanced negotiating tactics and approaches. This training enables your agent to better help achieve your goals. Your real estate negotiations will be handled with skill and with a CNE trained agent you will achieve excellent results.
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Phil’s Sells Seattle! SOLD! Below are just some of the homes that I have sold over the past two years:
2820 W Dravus St $960,000
823 W Cremora St $546,063
1920 4th Ave #1807 $515,000
2204 S Norman St $729,950
820 Blanchard St #1509 $510,000
410 N 67th St $505,000
8228 16th Ave NE
517 N 70th St $481,000
$481,300
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Phil Sells Seattle!
$455,000
2743 Garlough Ave SW $420,000
1760 N Northgate Wy #1 $380,000
4553 4949th Ave SW $365,000
7535 Seward Park Ave S $350,000
18 Dravus St #201 $270,000
14047 Wayne Pl N $229,000
6960 California Ave SW #106 $191,500
13236 4th Ave
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Community Windermere’s Commitment Windermere - Helping Homeless Families My commitment to serving our communities goes beyond providing the best in real estate services. Since the beginning, through our Windermere Foundation (founded in 1989), I’ve also reached out to help address one of America’s most pressing problems – homelessness.
Housing Is Our Business Supporting programs that provide housing and related services to help homeless and lowincome families is a natural extension of our business. We assist homeless families by giving funds to a variety of nonprofit social service programs for emergency and transitional shelter projects, temporary rent assistance and daycare for families in need. Other activities include underwriting the cost of summer camp, and basic necessities such as new school shoes, socks and underwear. I believe that building a child’s self-esteem is an investment in the future of our communities.
Every Transaction Makes a Difference What makes the Windermere Foundation unique is the way that it is funded. Every time a Windermere agent sells a home, a portion of the commission goes to the Windermere Foundation. Salaried employees and managers, as well as the public, make contributions. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed millions of dollars to non-profit organizations dedicated to fighting homelessness, with less than one percent going to administrative costs.
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Windermere The Best in Seattle The Best Tools Windermere’s structure allows offices to operate independently while retaining the benefits of being associated with respected brand benefits such as advertising buying power, agent benefits and powerful technology tools. At the same time, I am intimately familiar with my local communities, allowing me to provide knowledgeable and high-caliber real estate services tailored to your needs. As part of the Windermere network, I also take advantage of a variety of programs and innovative services including technology, marketing and education that I put to work in the local market. These innovative tools allow me to serve homebuyers and home sellers in a way that is unique to Windermere.
Windermere.com At the touch of a button, you can view thousands of homes throughout the West via Windermere’s award-winning website, Windermere.com. From here you can effortlessly preview homes for sale, learn about my company and get information to help you make your buying and selling decisions. The easy-to-use site includes homes listed by Windermere as well as other real estate companies.
Photo Gallery Allows you to view multiple photos of a home.
PropertyPoint An exclusive interactive map search tool now featuring Google Maps.
myWindermere A feature, which automatically notifies you via email of new listings that fit your criteria daily or weekly. You can create multiple searches.
Mortgage Calculator Determine if the home is within your price range.
Builder Gallery For newly constructed homes, which can assist you in learning about the home, builder and development.
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Seattle Market Share 2013 Market Share by Company By Number of Transactions NWMLS Ares 140, 380, 385, 390, 700, 701, 705 & 710
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Preparing Your Home Making a great first impression Property Enhancement The first step to selling your home is to make it show it’s best. We will walk through your home together at the beginning of the process and get an idea of what you need to do to get ready. This can range from simply arranging your belongings to remodeling in some cases. Each home and seller is unique and there is no cookie cutter answer to what it takes to prepare a home for sale.
Some Things We Might Discuss: Purging You are moving anyway so you may as well start packing! If you plan on taking things to charity, now is the time. It may make sense at this point to start packing away extra clothes and things you don’t need on a day-to-day basis to help de-clutter your home for showing. And you may need to do a dump run or two in the process.
Staging I utilize many methods to help in this arena. This can mean simply arranging your things to make your home show it’s best. It can also mean bringing in a professional Staging Expert to consult. In some cases, when a home is empty, sellers opt for full staging of their property.
Repairs These are some repairs you’ve been “meaning to take care of” for a long time. They are things that might distract from the charm and livability of your home. We want a buyer to feel comfortable and concentrate on how much they love your home, not on that torn vinyl or unpainted wall. Most of the time, these are low cost tasks you can do yourself or hire a handyman to help with.
Remodeling In some cases a seller is better off making more costly improvements to increase the value or salability of their home. In all cases we will weigh carefully the cost vs benefit of any home improvement you make. I will never recommend you do anything that won’t get you more money or make it more likely that you get a buyer for your home. No matter what level of preparation is needed you will have my full support. I have a long list of trusted vendors who do good quality work for reasonable prices. If you need a certain type of contractor or service provider chances are I know one. I can even manage the logistics of the process if you need my help.
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Pricing Your Property The market decides Pricing If you are selling your home, you want the best possible price and terms. The idea is to get the maximum price and the best terms during the window of time when your home is being marketed. My goal is to get you where you need to be in a timely manner.
Comparable Market Analysis aka CMA I pride myself on keeping a close eye on the market by gathering and analyzing statistics on a regular basis. The Comparative Market Analysis will provide you with the information needed to make an educated decision about pricing your home.
The CMA Consists of: Comparable photos and detailed listing reports on current competition. Market statistics illustrating supply and demand. A broad picture of your competition. Net proceed estimates.
The Role of a Real Estate Agent in Pricing I don’t tell you your home’s value, the market makes that determination. There is no “exact price” for real estate. We don’t tell you what we think your home is “worth”. The market determines value - together we determine pricing strategy. I will educate you on the current market arming you with the knowledge to make sound pricing decisions.
You Determine the Price Based on the Factors You Control Timing. Condition of the property. Exposure methods.
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Overpricing What are the effects? You will lose the excitement that a new listing generates Most activity will take place within the first 21 days. Appoximately78% of homes sell in the first 30 days of listing, or within the 30 days of a price reduction that brings their home into the right price range. Your odds of selling drop to about 11% between 30-60 days and after 60 days they drop to about 5%. Your best chance of selling your home for the most money is in the first 30 days!
You will lose the most qualified prospects Your objective should be to enter the market in a position that will attract qualified buyers and ready prospects.
Overpricing helps sell other, more competitively priced homes first Prospects will wonder why it has been on the market so long or if something is wrong with the property, even after you lower the price.
It’s all about leverage Buyers will not rush to make an offer on an over priced listing. One of the major benefits to pricing to the market, rather than above the market, is that you retain the most leverage in negotiation. Both in negotiating initial purchase price, and in negotiating the inspection, which can become very costly if a buyer knows your home has been on the market longer than average.
I know the market! As you can see, pricing your home correctly will make a tremendous difference in your bottom line. I make it my business to know the market and help my clients price their home to sell for the most money in the least amount of time. Just ask my clients.
Consumer Reports Says: Do not list with the Realtor who will price your home at the highest price. You should expect a Realtor to suggests price range, but there are some Realtors who will suggest a very high price. We call that “buying the listing�. Ultimately they will be forced to pressure you to lower your price after they have secured your business.
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Market Value Understanding the factors Determinations The existing pool of prospective buyers determines a property’s value based upon: Location, amenities, bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and lastly, condition. Availability of comparable (competing) properties. Economic conditions affecting real property transactions.
Little or No Influence Factors that have little or no influence on the market value of a house include: The price the seller originally paid for the property The sellers expected net proceeds The amount spent on improvements The value of your property is determined by what a BUYER is willing to pay in TODAY’S MARKET based on COMPARING YOUR PROPERTY to others currently for sale in the market.
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Marketing Plan Comprehensive + Aggressive I have a comprehensive and aggressive marketing plan that creates the maximum exposure for your home.
Pre-title Commitment I will order a pre-title commitment to reduce your risk of any title problems at closing.
Pre-market Repairs & Staging I will review with you ways to enhance your property for sale. This involves walking through each room of the home, as well as the exterior of the property and coming up with a detailed list of things that should be done in order to maximize the “salability” of the home. This will ensure you get the highest sales price in the least amount of time.
Pricing I will assist you with pricing your home, using current market statistics as well as a current competitive market analysis. This will help you strategically place your house in the current marketplace.
Windermere Sign I will place a very visible and professional for sale sign at your home.
Photographer I will hire, schedule and coordinate a professional photographer to come and take several pictures of your home from every angle, to be used for the brochures, websites and the multiple listing service.
Web Strategy
I will enter your home’s information on Windermere’s website. This information is then syndicated to other websites, like Trulia, Zillow, RealEstate.com, and many other real estate websites that buyers look at to start their home search.
Photo Gallery Using the professional photographs, I will create a photo gallery used to highlight your home to all real estate websites affiliated with the MLS. Using Google Analytics, I will be able to track exactly how many people have previewed the site, how many pages they previewed and what area people are from.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS) I will enter your home’s information on the MLS, giving your home exposure to 15,000+ realtors in Western Washington and beyond.
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Marketing Plan Continued Tours I will hold your home open for a Broker’s tour on the appropriate tour date for your home’s area, and do weekend open houses as you so desire.
Flyer I will have a custom, full color flyer prepared.
Flyer Box I will place a flyer box on the Windermere sign and ensure that it remains full with color flyers.
Special Feature Cards - Affectionately Know as “Silent Talkers” I will place cards highlighting the home’s special features in different areas of your house. These help bring attention to items we want the buyer to be aware of.
Agent Feedback I will contact every agent who shows or previews your home. It is not only important to find out what buyers thought, but we also need to know what the Realtor’s thoughts are.
Weekly Contact I will contact you weekly (at least) to give you an update on the marketing of your home and how many previews and showings your home has had. I will also update you on changes that have happened in your home’s price range. You will know how many homes have been added to the market, which ones received offers, what homes have sold and what they sold for while yours is on the market.
Details I will handle details, follow-up and keep you informed before and after the contract has been negotiated. I will also oversee all lender, title, appraisal, inspection and other closing procedures.
Lock Box I will place a lock box on your property to increase showings and provide you with the security of knowing who has shown your home. The Lock Box can be set to be used at only certain hours of the day and tracks every agent that enters your home, providing me with their time of entry and contact information.
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Marketing Plan Continued Marketing Examples I have a wide variety of marketing pieces that I will use to bring attention to your home. Flyers, postcards, email and website marketing will all have a professional, polished look and feel.
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Marketing Plan - Photography Continued Stunning Photos, Global Reach My goal is to tell your property's story with a rich visual experience and so I use a professional photography company called Vicaso: Vicaso速 TrueView Images appear as our eyes see. In real estate photography, it's challenging to render room interiors and window views together without using expensive lighting setups. We've solved this problem by developing technology to create (in geek-speak) 16bit High Dynamic Range Images. The result is simple; it's just like being there. In addition to beautiful photographs, Vicaso速 Real Estate Photography instant web publishing syndicates your home to every major property listing website such as Trulia, Zillow, and Google, casting an even wider net to capture potential buyers.
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Marketing Plan - Photography Continued See the Difference? Over 90% of buyers see your home online for the first time and the photos are one of the most important things to get right.
Standard Digital
TrueView
Theirs
Mine!
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Marketing Online Your Home Where Buyers Search Where People Search Over 90% of home buyers use the internet to search for homes. When you’re ready to sell your home, you should expect your agent to have a plan to market your home online.
Advanced Online Marketing As a Windermere agent, I have access to the most advanced online marketing system in the industry. I will post your home on Windermere.com, and because I am a member of the Multiple Listing Service, your listing will also appear on all other major participating brokerage sites in the area. Windermere’s listings also appear on other leading real estate search sites like Trulia, Yahoo! Real Estate, FrontDoor.com, Realtor.com and Zillow. Your home is your most treasured asset. Don’t miss out on this crucial opportunity to reach buyers in your community.
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Windermere Online Click. Search. Repeat. Windermere.com Thousands of homebuyers enter the market every day, hoping to find their dream home. More than a million times each month, those buyers visit Windermere.com to help with their search. On a typical day, Windermere.com has hundred of thousands of active listings. Our listing information is updated as often as every 15 minutes to ensure that visitors have access to every available home. When you list with me and Windermere, know that your home will be exposed to potential buyers on the web more quickly than any other real estate site.
Recent Windermere.com Statistics from a One Month Period Average Page Views Each Visit: Total Page Views: Total Visits In a Month:
17 22,927,254 1,370,486
Innovation To ensure that buyers find the home that meets their needs, Windermere.com features innovative online tools:
PropertyPoint PropertyPoint interactive map search allows buyers to pinpoint a particular location, then get detailed information about homes for sale in that area.
Photo Gallery Our exclusive photo gallery tool creates an online virtual tour to show off your home’s best features.
myWindermere MyWindermere, the online tool that allows for fast and easy home searches for those who set up a no-obligation account.
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Finding a Buyer It’s complicated Start with Phil Phil
End Happy!
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Off to a Great Start! Professional Cleaner
As a gift to you, I will pay for a professional cleaning of your home prior to bringing it on the market. I will schedule the cleaning at your convenience.
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Testimonials What my clients are saying Cliff - Green Lake Phil was a great Realtor. Not only did he listen to my needs, he got to fully understand my needs. This resulted in some great finds and never was a viewing wasted. When Phil called me one day to say he found me THE PLACE, he was right. He understood me and knew what I wanted. This made a very pleasurable first buying experience.
Thad and Lauren - West Seattle Phil put us first always. He handled every piece of the transaction in a timely, professional manner. What was important to us, he made just as important to himself. What he gave to us was not excellent customer service...it was care, passion and interest in our desires and needs for a home. Great job!
Dale and Patricia - Queen Anne Phil Greely worked to sell our house, 'above and beyond the call of duty!' What other agent would check on your empty house, work with your renters and even arrange for a cleaning service? He was excellent and we thank him.
Bart - Queen Anne Phil did a great job representing me in a purchase of an investment property in Queen Anne. I plan on coming back to Phil to sell it in a few years and know he'll help me get top dollar!
Behrooz - Magnolia I met Phil Greely while researching condo and townhouse options independently and immediately liked his style and approach. Phil is highly capable and hardworking and was able to provide me with options I had not considered that ended with my purchasing a townhouse in lower Magnolia. Right before closing, even though I had financing secured, the bank involved declined to close the deal and it was Phil's hard work and assistance that helped me secure another financing quickly and close the deal within a few days. I am extremely happy with the result of Phil's support.
Bill - Kirkland Working with Phil was a very good experience. He worked quickly to get our place listed, brought in someone who took very nice photos to show off our home and worked to get it sold in a reasonable amount of time.
Tim and Leslie - West Seattle Phil is one of the best agents that I have met. He is very thorough and is always available for questions and information. Phil always shows you what your interested in seeing and doesn't pressure you to make a decision without much thought. He explains the whole process so that there are no surprises along the journey. Overall, I recommend Phil to anyone looking to buy or sell!
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Testimonials What my clients are saying Grady and Becka - Snohomish Phil is an amazing agent to work with! I was in the real estate industry for years and Phil epitomizes service with a heart. In the process of selling our house and buying our new one Phil walked with us thru the whole process. He took risks when we wanted too and he advised us when to play it safe. I would highly recommend Phil to anyone - he cares about his clients first and foremost, and that is what you want in a real estate agent.
Mike and Lauren - Lynnwood Phil did an outstanding job marketing our condo...he made it look like a palace! Responded to questions and was ready to meet whenever we needed to. He gave guidance when appropriate but also respected our thoughts and ideas. He was a gift to work with!
Rowan and Athalie - Mountlake Terrace Phil did a lot of searching and pre-screening of houses. We had a short window for an offer and we were interstate when the final offer had to be in and when the contract needed to be signed. Phil took care of a lot of things for us and worked with us to get everything in on time. He also kept us really well updated during the entire purchase process.
Joe and Erika - Phinney Ridge Phil was great! He had a nice laid-back attitude but also was ready to move quickly when necessary. He also was happy and willing to answer so many of our first-time home buyer questions. I would wholeheartedly recommend him to others.
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Phil Greely c: 206.478-0941 b: 206.448.6400 f: 206.448.3291 e: pgreely@windermere.com w: philgreely.com