Why you should use a REALTOR®

Did you know that only members belonging to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) can use the term REALTOR®?

Did you know that REALTORS® must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and continually maintain and improve their skills and knowledge with continuing education and certification courses?

Your local REALTORS® are in essence, community experts.  We keep up-to-date on market trends, legislation that could affect the community and are in general, "good neighbors who are in the business of helping others buy and sell homes." (cited from Realtor.com)

There are many ways to choose a REALTOR®:

• Get recommendations from neighbors and friends.
• Look around your neighborhood for REALTOR® signs
• Look through classifieds and home for sale publications (real estate magazines)

Once you have narrowed down your choices, there will probably be a list of questions you might want to ask.  Some suggestions from Realtor.com are:

• What services do you offer?
• What type of representation do you provide? (There are various forms of representation in different states. Some brokers represent buyers, some represent sellers, some facilitate transactions as a neutral party, and in some cases different salespeople in a single firm may represent different parties within a transaction.)
• What experience do you have in my immediate area?
• How long are homes in this neighborhood typically on the market? (Be aware that because all homes are unique, some will sell faster than others. Several factors can impact the amount of time a home remains on the market, including changing interest rates and local economic trends.)
• How would you price my home? Ask about recent home sales and comparable properties currently on the market. If you speak with several REALTORS® and their price estimates differ, that's OK, but be sure to ask how their price opinions were determined and why they think your home would sell for a given value.
• How will you market my home? At listing presentations, brokers will provide a detailed summary of how they market homes, what marketing strategies have worked in the past and which marketing efforts may be effective for your home.
• What is your fee? Brokerage fees are established in the marketplace and not set by law or regulation. Typically, brokers who list homes are compensated on a performance basis - that is, the broker is not paid unless the home sells under the terms and conditions that are acceptable to you.
• What happens if another REALTOR® locates a purchaser? That is, who will that broker represent, and how will he or she be paid?
• What disclosures should you receive? State rules require brokers to provide extensive agency disclosure information, usually at the first sit-down meeting with an owner or buyer.
• How long do you want to list your home? A "listing" agreement is a contract that shows the broker's obligations and outlines the terms under which your home is being made available for sale. The length of the agreement is a negotiable matter.

Your REALTOR® should present you with a written marketing plan of action which tells you exactly what to expect so that everyone is clear.

Marketing tips:

Buying or selling a home is a unique experience.  Although floorplans can be "identical," can any two homes really be the same?  And, the real estate market and variables that affect it are always changing.  Interests rates go up or down.  Real estate markets become Seller or Buyer markets. 

What does that mean to you?  I means you need a REALTOR® to prepare a personalized marketing plan for YOUR home and YOUR market conditions.

The general steps might be to put the sign in the yard and the lockbox on the door, get the home into the various multiple listing systems, (FMLS and GAMLS in Georgia) - hopefully with multiple photos and onto realtor.com, one of the largest sites for consumer real estate shopping.  As a Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage agent, my listings are also place on the national Coldwell Banker site as well as the local one.

Other marketing tools might include e-mail and regular mail of new listing announcements, advertising in the local real estate magazine and/or newspaper and networking with top agents in the area. 

Many of the things that your REALTOR® does are behind the scenes, but exceedingly important.  Your REALTOR® spends time on the phones working with contacts, calling around your listing, contacting people in "move-up" markets, following-up with Buyers' agents and keeping current on exactly what is going on in YOUR real estate market.

Did you know that according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that 37% of all buyers check the internet and that most sellers move within 10 miles of their current home?

How to price your home:

When you get ready to put your home on the market, a couple of things usually happen.  You find out how much your neighbor's home sold for and use that for comparison, even if that home has features that differ from your own.  Some of us look at the price we originally paid and add a random appreciation figure to come up with a price.

Pricing a home is really based on market value.  What is market value?  It is the price that the Buyer is willing to pay.

Here are some suggestions to help figure out how much your home is worth:

1. Put your personal point of view aside.   Buyers don't generally care about how much the home means to you, how much you have invested in painting or landscaping or how much cash you need to walk away with.  They DO care about how your home stacks up against other comparable homes in the area and in getting the most house value for THEIR investment.

2. See for yourself what other homes in your neighborhood are selling for (or have sold for).   Educate yourself and try to make an impartial evaluation as to how those homes compare with yours in terms of condition, location and features.  If all the asking prices were approximately the same, would you buy YOUR home or someone else's?

3. Consider the condition of your real estate market.   What are the real estate trends in your area?  Here in the North Metro Atlanta area we are and have been in a Buyer's market.  Do you see prices moving up?  Does there seem to be an overabundance of homes for sale (buyer's market).  Are homes in your neighborhood selling quickly or are they staying on the market for longer periods of time? 

4. Think about what incentives you can offer the buyer to put YOUR home at its stronger advantage.  Sometimes the bottom-line (price) is not the only way that you can attract a buyer.  In the North Metro Atlanta area we are in the unique position of having many families relocating in and out of the area.  Can you be flexible in your closing date?  Can you see yourself offering a Home Warranty for the Buyer to help level the playing field with new construction?  The more flexible you can be, the better chance you have of pricing your home and getting ready to hire that moving truck!

Don't forget, the best place to get house selling assistance is with a licensed REALTOR(r)!

Are you ready?

Once you decide that it's time to begin the home selling process, it's also time to look at your home objectively - not an easy task.  Ask yourself, if you were buying this home today, what would you see?

Walk outside, look at your home...how is the curb appeal?  Does the exterior view make you say "Wow, I want to see this home"  Or, does it make you say "Nope, not for me.  It looks kind of blah"?

Do you need to do some touch-up painting?  Make some minor repairs?  Finally get the caulking done?  Have a yard sale? 

Your goal is to show your home to its greatest advantage.  A home that is priced "right," looks good and maximizes space (get rid of the clutter) will attract many more buyers. 

Although part of the "getting ready" phase has to do with repairs, painting and other home improvements, it's also a good time to ask yourself why you really want to sell.  Your reason for selling (motivation) can have a strong effect on the  negotiating process so it's important to discuss your needs and wants in private with the REALTOR® who lists your home.  Ask for suggestions about any necessary improvements and then follow  them!