NV, Las Vegas: Marketing Your House to Sell Quickly

Posted at 1:55 PM, Sep. 6, 2007

In this market where most REALTORS have more listings than sales...marketing listings and getting them sold can be a REAL challenge, especially since there are close to 30,000 active single family listings in Las Vegas!  This is not counting new homes, for sale by owners, land, commercial and multi-family units over four.  It's important to choose a REALTOR who will get you the most 'bang for your buck' and get out there and actively market your home!  Your pricing the home correctly (with the help of your REALTOR is top priority.  An over-priced listing in today's market is probably not going to sell.  Your REALTOR should show you comparable sales of others in your neighborhood, and help you with setting your price.  Priced correctly and with good marketing your home should sell!

How do I market?  I market in MANY ways...some traditional, some not so traditional.  Your listing will be entered in the MLS and a sign in front of the home within 24-hours of signing the listing agreement.  Fliers will be in the flier box, as well as colored fliers in the house, will be available within the same time period.

Statistics show that 78% of home buyers start their search for a home using the internet.  I do massive advertising via this media.  My promise is to put your new listing on these web sites, as well as do the other items listed, within 48 hours of taking the listing.

1. MLS (with a total of eight pictures of features in your home) - goes out to to over 17,000 Las Vegas area REALTORS
2. REALTOR.com - the MOST viewed website for first time home buyers.
3. MaryW.com and MaryWarren.com - advertised on both of my web sites with hundreds of hits daily.
4. Yahoo, Google, and other search engines
5. Keller Williams Listing Service
6. Craigs List
7. Postlets
8. E-mailed fliers to over 1,500 Las Vegas REALTORS (opt-in) and my sphere of influence of over 200 (a sample can be seen here)
9. Advertised on both my Blogs - My Active Rain Blog and Welcome2LV
10. YOUR OWN WEB SITE and domain - as in www.2705Cheshire.com - a sign rider will be put at the bottom of the FOR SALE sign showing your own domain name and thus leading neighbors to view the flier on the internet. (the sign rider sometimes takes a little longer than 48 hours)
11. and More......

You say you don't live in Las Vegas but yet you own property here and want to sell it?  NO PROBLEM!  I can do that for you...I've gone TOTALLY paperless and everything can be done by e-mail, fax, and/or phone.  I've done this many times in the past without ever meeting the seller.   Make it easy for yourself!  Ask me about it....no obligation!

www.MaryW.com  or  www.MaryWarren.com

Why should you hire a Realtor to sell your House?

Posted at 7:12 PM, Aug. 31, 2007

This was sent to me by one of my lenders this week.  I've attended many of his classes and seminars and they are always very informative.  He writes from his own perspective and gives some wonderful advice.  I trust you will find it helpful and informative in your decision as to whether using a Realtor is the right decision.

Why should you hire a Realtor to sell your House?

This question is posed to me when I do public speaking, when I talk to clients & when I meet people at a restaurant.  The question I always ask them is "Why do you think you can sell it on your own?  And if you do sell it on your own, do you really think you will make more money without a Realtor?"  You would be surprised at the answers I get, I am.

The bottom line answer is, in my opinion, you will make more money if you use a Realtor every time.  Here's why...

The last statistics dated 2006 I read show that homes sold using a Realtor sold for an average of 15% more than homes that did not use a Realtor.  If the average commission was 6% or even 7%, you would still make more money every time.  Why is that you ask?  The simple answer is who is better at your job, you or someone that has never done your job before.  The more technical answer is:

1. A buyer of a home knows you are trying to save money.  The first thing they are going to say before they make an offer is "there are no Realtors involved so we need to take 6% right off the top of your asking price". 
2. Can you possibly market your home like a Realtor does?  Realtors have access to MLS (17,000 other Realtors are looking at MLS every day), spend thousands of dollars marketing homes, and they have an office full of people where they work who represent buyers.
3. How do you know what price to ask for your home?  Who do you think has more access to the data needed to price a home appropriately?  If you ask too much, you will never get an offer.  If you ask too little, you just gave away money.  If you ask the correct price, the buyers are just going to beat you up because you have no information to base your asking price on.  You can't win.
4. Who does the negotiating & knows the legal issues?  Good Realtors are the best negotiators.
5. What happens if there are legal issues?  Do you want representation or do you want to go down this road by yourself without any knowledge or history?

If you want to sell your home & make the most money, hire a Realtor...

The Mark Baker Team Telephone (702) 451-1040  mark@markabaker.com

www.MaryWarren.com  or www.MaryW.com 

Home Repair Resources

Posted at 7:53 AM, May. 23, 2007

The cost savings and gratification of do-it-yourself (DIY) home repair motivate homeowners to tackle projects ranging from laying hardwood floors to fixing a squeaky garage door. Here are some resources that may help you:

Your library or bookseller: Most libraries offer various DIY titles. Besides multivolume series on home improvement, you can find single titles on specific jobs, such as plumbing, windows or kitchens. If you prefer to purchase your books, a vast selection of titles is available online. www.BarnesAndNoble.com offers more than 8,000 home repair-related items, while www.Amazon.com (my personal favorite!)  has more than 9,000.

The Internet: The web is full of how-to reference sites, blogs, podcasts and discussion groups. By simply accessing your favorite search engine and typing in a few keywords, you can pinpoint DIY information and either print it out or add it as an easy-reference bookmark. Four great sites are www.OnTheHouse.com, www.DoItYourself.com, www.EHow.com and www.HomeTips.com.

Home improvement and hardware stores: Aside from having a great selection of DIY books, most retail centers employ home-repair experts -- and some even offer training courses on household projects, from easy to complex. Check out their websites for more how-to information.

Some final advice: People without much DIY experience, such as many first-time homeowners, should consider starting with novice-level projects, and work your way up to more complicated jobs as you acquire new skills and knowledge.

Kirk.Alexander@americanhm.com

Staging Your Home For Sale

Posted at 7:53 PM, Apr. 26, 2007

The way you live in a home and the way you sell it are two different things, says home-staging guru Barb Schwarz in her book "Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money." Here are some home-staging tips to help you while your home is being marketed.

Staging is not decorating. Decorating is personalizing a space, where staging is "depersonalizing" it. Staging is not about displaying a favorite color rug or ruffles someone loves. It's about selling the house. Remember, if buyers are seeing a messy house, you are throwing away money.

If you can smell it, you can't sell it.  Do a sniff test and understand that odors you might be used to have to be eliminated.  Have an outsider come in and do the sniff test with you.

Clutter equates to stress. One of the biggest challenges to home staging is clutter.  It's just as important to get rid of excess "stuff" as it is to clean your house.  Clutter interferes with the potential homebuyers' ability to mentally move into the house. They can't imagine their own furniture in a room if it's cluttered.

Consider painting the interior of the house. You might like the designer colors and/or wallpaper, but homebuyers want the house to have a cohesive, simple color scheme. Drastic color changes from room to room can actually startle potential homebuyers.

For more information or to view Barb Schwarz's CD, give me a call at 702-360-8165 or e-mail me at Mary@MaryW.com.  I would be happy to loan it to you for a day.

How to Improve Your Chances of Selling Your Home Quickly

Posted at 9:38 PM, Mar. 30, 2007

Most of us do not have the luxury of moving out while trying to sell our house.  If you are still living in your home while it’s for sale here on some tips on helping it to show better:

• Leave the house during open houses and showings.  Buyers like to be able to look through the house without someone pointing everything out to them.  With you there they will picture the house as ‘your’ house and not ‘their’ house.  Realtors® are trained to point out all those special items and places for you. 
• Pick up all dirty clothes – no on wants to see them. Check your bedroom floors, bathrooms, and laundry room. 
•  Don’t forget to make the beds.
• Wash all the dirty dishes, or at least put them in the dishwasher.  Clean counter tops create an illusion of more space.
• Having a dusty/dirty house will only make prospective buyers wonder what else might be wrong with the house.  Keep it picked up and dusted.
• Odors from pets, left over food, garbage, smelly foods in refrigerator, and even dirty diapers can permeate your home.  If you’re not sure how your home smells ask a friend to test it out.  Don’t try and mask that smell with a spray, instead bake some cookies just before a showing.  A good idea is to keep some cookie dough in the refrigerator, then just bake a half dozen or so when you know the house is going to be shown.
• If it’s raining leave a mat or towel on the floor near the front door for people to wipe their shoes on (it will help from dragging leaves and gunk through your clean house)
• Put up a sign at the front door asking everyone to remove his or her shoes.  You can even provide a basket of booties for buyers and agents to use.
• Empty Rooms?  Leave them that way…don’t use them as a storage room.
• Be sure to lock down your computer – kids (and even adults) have a tendency to get bored and may try out some games, or Internet searching while your gone.
• Put away all personal information.  Lock up expensive “easy to pocket” items such as jewelry, iPods, etc.  Even lock up your bills, credit cards, bank info that you may normally keep sitting out. (Better yet purchase a small safe and rent a safe-deposit box for these items).  Don’t leave money sitting around.
• Turn all your lights on.  People want to buy light, bright homes. It may cost you a couple of extra $$ to do this but a dark house won’t sell.