Successful San Mateo Home Seller's Guide

The RayChel Realty Group Seller Handbook What you can do to prepare your home to meet the market...

Telephone (650) 655-2500 info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com Blog: www.LivingWellinSanMateo.com Dept. of Real Estate # 00657178

Helping YOU Sell Your Home for All It’s Worth!

Client Advocacy...

Technical Expertise...

Professional Advice

Factors Affecting Your Home’s Saleability Location

Price

No control

Seller Controls

Market Conditions

Condition

No Control

Seller Controls

Marketing

Accessibility

Agent Controls

Seller Controls

Understanding Your Role...

Of the many factors that go into selling your home, there are a limited number that can be controlled.

Location and market conditions are unchangeable. Marketing is controlled by the agent, but three factors: price, staging and accessibility are the responsibility of the seller.

In the next few pages, we will help you understand your role and provide you with the best-practices that we have acquired in our over thirty years in the business.

And if you need more help, the entire team at The RayChel Realty Group are available to help you understand what you can do to get top dollar for your home.

Let’s Get Started!...

Understanding the Importance of Pricing Right the First Time

The most important time for your home is during the flurry of early activity... don’t gamble your best opportunity to sell your home.

What Your Home Is and Is Not Worth It is often helpful for sellers to understand what the market value of their home is not.

The market value of your home is not: 1. What you have in it 2. What you need out of it 3. What you want 4. What it appraised for 5. What you heard your neighbor’s home sold for 6. What the tax assessor says it is worth 7. How much it is insured for 8. Based on memories and treasure 9. Based on prices of homes where you are moving The true market value of your home is what a buyer is willing to pay: 1. Based upon today’s market 2. Based upon today’s competition 3. Based upon today’s financing 4. Based upon today’s economic conditions 5. Based upon the buyer’s perception of the condition 6. Based upon location 7. Based upon normal marketing time 8. Based upon showing accessibility Properties that sell in today’s market: on a scale of 1-10. The 10’s are the ones that are selling.

How can your property be a 10?

1. By improving the condition dramatically 2. By improving the way the home shows 3. By offering good terms 4. By adjusting the price

Finally, take a minute to determine what you want the buyer to know about your home.

•What is the strongest selling point about your home?

•What are the features or amenities of your home that you believe should be pointed out to a Buyer? (i.e interior/exterior, backyard, neighborhood) •What do you think would be the best title line or opening phrase for any advertising or promotional material?

•Are you aware of any plumbing, electrical, heating, or air conditioning system upgrades?

•What improvements have you made since you owned the house?

•What is it that you believe will make a buyer want to buy your home?

•What are the least appealing features of your home or property?

•What is the most objectionable condition about your property?

•What features of your home do you feel should not be advertised, promoted or necessarily highlighted?

Remember... we’re here to help!

Some Tips on Pricing Buyers Determine Value

It’s All About Price

These are some statements we often hear from sellers that really have nothing to do with their home’s value:

Price is the most important factor in selling your home. There are some general guidelines you can follow to help you determine whether your home is priced right.

“Another agent said it was worth more…”

“People always offer less than the asking price…”

The true If your house is not being shown, it

“The buyers can always make an offer…”

market

“My neighbor was able to get this price…”

value of Recommendation: A significant price

“We paid more than that for our house…”

Other Factors That Do Not Affect Value: Your Original Asking Price Chances are you paid the market value at that time. Markets are continually shifting, and today we have to deal with the current market conditions which may have changed significantly.

your home

means the agents think our price is too high for that neighborhood. adjustment.

is what a If your house is being shown, but buyer is we are not getting any offers, it

means the Buyers are finding nicer willing to homes for the money.

pay...

Recommendation: A moderate price adjustment.

Over Improvements Improvements should be made for enjoyment and personal use…not for resale. You cannot add a feature to a home, select it to match your lifestyle, use it, then expect the buyer to pay your original cost.

If your house is in the running, but the Buyers buy something else, or if the Buyers view the house a second time, but buy something else, it means that we are close.

Recommendation: A minor price adjustment.

The Owner’s Need For Money The owner’s need for money or the fact that the owner is moving to a community where property is more expensive has nothing to do with the market value of the home.

The Seller’s Personal Attachment to the Property The seller’s memories, recollections of the good and sometimes even the bad times experienced in the property have absolutely nothing to do with market value. Market value is what a willing buyer will pay for this home in this market at this time.

According to studies by the National Association of REALTORS, if your house is priced correctly, it should get one offer for every 10 showings. In a normal market, it should get 1-2 showings per week.

If your home has not sold in 30 days or been shown in 2 weeks, it’s overpriced.

As a client of The RayChel Realty Group, you will be informed at regular intervals of these statistis and we will work with you to understand the facts and help you make adjustments as needed.

The Importance of Presentation In our thirty years of experience, we have found that the most important step you can take in marketing your home is learning to look at your home through the eyes of the buyer. As you do this, you will probably find some ways in which you can improve your home’s presentation. In the business, it’s known as staging.

Studies show that homes that are staged sell in about half the time of unstaged homes and sell for 1% - 6% higher than similar unstaged homes. So, thousands of dollars are to be gained by spending a little time, money and effort. How you decorate and accessorize to live in your home is very different than how you decorate and accessorize to sell it.

There are two ways you can stage your home – professionally and do-it-yourself. While there is no shortage of excellent professional staging companies, you can achieve solid return on investment by just exerting a little elbow grease yourself.

Here are some no-cost or low-cost improvements which we have found to be most beneficial: • Organize and declutter your home - making it generic is important to allow a buyer to envision their home • Neatness and cleanliness counts- most home buyers are looking to buy a home that doesn’t require a lot of work or repairs prior to move-in • Hide your personality - remove your family photographs and religious articles so you can appeal to the larger audience • Kill the odors - if it smells, it won’t sell • Add flowers- they brighten most everyone’s day • Create spaciousness- remove at least half the clothes from the closets, keep room corners visible, push furniture to within three inches of the walls • Accessorize to make a room visually interesting- use it sparingly, but well • Light & bright- allow as much light as possible to enter your home

Think like a buyer and you’ll have your house sold in no time!

Accessability A Faster and Easier Sale...

People don’t often think of a home buying decision as an emotional purchase, but it is. A buyer needs to see, smell and absorb how your home makes them feel before committing to the purchase.

People buy homes on emotion and justify their purchase decision with reasoning.

That’s why accessibility is so important - we can’t sell your home if we can’t show it.

Making your home accessible at reasonable times to agents and potential home buyers is a vital part of maximizing its exposure. Like you, today’s buyer has a schedule with limited availability, so keeping your home ready-to-view at all times is a must. By doing so, you will maximize your home’s exposure and increase interest - which drives up its value.

To facilitate showing your home, we use a device called a Key Safe - a secure lockbox holding a key to the house. It can be accessed only by agents who have a special handheld keypad encoded with a unique access code, recording who and when opens and closes it. This provides a record for us to identify the names of the agents who previewed your home and monitor the showing activity to keep you informed.

Make it easier for agents and their clients to see your home and you’ll have a faster, easier sale.

It’s Just This Simple...

Selling a house is not a mysterious process. You can sell nearly any home with the right price, staging, accessibility, terms and incentives. That’s right it’s just this simple...

Price It Right Stage Your Home Make It Accessible Offer Incentives to Agents Offer Good Terms to Buyers And as one of our clients, you’re never alone in the process. We’re here to ensure your house is on the way to sold, even before it hits the market.

My staff and I work diligently to improve our systems, processes and services to go well beyond the standard level of service provided by most agents.

I hope that you have found the information here to be useful and informative and I look forward to working with you.

The RayChel Realty Group Telephone (650) 655-2500 E-Mail: info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com Blog: www.LivingWellinSanMateo.com Department of Real Estate # 00657178

©Copyright 2009 Raymond Stoklosa • The RayChel Realty Group • (650) 655-2500