Month: September 2023

Real Estate Sales

Who Has Your Money?

How we prepare and describe the property depends on the concept of the Target Market, that is – WHO is your buyer? Better yet – who is your BEST Buyer? And ultimately – Who is the BEST Buyer that has YOUR money and is willing to exchange it for your house?

THAT’S WHO WE’RE INTERESTED IN FINDING.

To refine the definition of Market Value we explained earlier, I would change “What a home is worth to a Buyer” to “How much the Best Buyer is willing to pay for the home”.  

We aren’t interested in just ANY Buyer, and we know that there are many types. Two important ones to consider are the CHEAP BUYER that wants the best price on EVERYTHING. We all know this Buyer – cheapest clothes, car and virtually everything else. “What’s your best price?” is the mantra for this buyer. The buyer we want is called a QUALITY BUYER, that is – a buyer that is looking for quality and is willing to pay for it. It’s important to know that not every buyer is looking for the cheapest house. In fact, most aren’t. Most buyers are looking for a GREAT house that will make them happy, give them the life they are looking forward to, and make them feel safe and proud. We have all kinds of emotions and different motivations to work with here – and that is the plan. 

In determining how we will prepare and market a home, we first look to identify that Target Market. Typical Targets are young couples, first time home buyers, young families and investors. Not so typical Targets include very specific demographics relating to age, culture and even socio-economic status. It’s often considered taboo to market housing to a specific demographic for fear of discrimination, however ignoring clear signs of groups or types of people that absolutely pay more for specific houses in certain areas is a little reckless and is leaving money on the table. Of course, there is a tactful and respectful way to market homes as well. 

First Time Home Buyers are looking for things like value, security, stability and excitement at the same time. 

Young families are interested in yards, parks, school bus routes, rec rooms, open concept spaces, and community. 

Investors are looking for opportunity, growth and stability. 

Once you’ve identified the Target Market, you then need to consider how to prepare the home in a way that appeals to them the most. This is where staging and design comes into play. What types of upgrades are they looking for specifically? What style are those upgrades? What type of quality are those upgrades? What types of décor speaks to that buyer and attracts them? You can even get down into certain smells and sounds in the home they will appreciate. How should the home smell and sound when they walk in during showings? 

When properly executed, preparation of the property is an incredibly powerful way to attract the highest and best offers, and for this reason, we put in a great deal of effort into carefully curating an environment that will showcase the most value to our target market.        

Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING

Brainpower or Horsepower?

Brainpower or Horsepower?

How to get a job well done means something different today than it did a few years ago.

You see, for the last 50 years we were in the ‘Information Age’, where speed and access to information is what gave people a competitive advantage. This of course, was preceeded by the Industrial Revolution, where mass production defined success.

Apparently we are now in the Age of ‘The Internet of Things’. I’m 42 years old – so don’t ask me what that means.

How to get a job well done means something different today than it did a few years ago.

But I will tell you this – we have gotten TOO FAR AWAY from Mass Production.

As valuable as Brainpower is, it is not a substitute for Horsepower. Quite obviously, we need both.

For far too long people have guarded and leveraged their access to information to have an advantage – and it’s made them LAZY.

Ever wonder at how many Tradesmen make multi million dollar empires all the time?

HORSEPOWER – that’s how. They understand their trade, they understand business – and they GO.

So say what they will. The ‘Internet of Things’ can be the new ‘soup du jour’ all you want. But if that knowledge is not applied and showcased with an obsessive and mighty work ethic – it will just blend in with the rest.

In fact, the more society evolves to an even more dependent knowledge based economy, I would bet my house that those that embrace that knowledge but keep their PRIMARY focus on outworking others will enjoy success at the highest level.

So don’t get comfortable.

Get to work.

Real Estate Sales, Uncategorized

If you think Realtors cost a lot – you should see how much missing the perfect Buyer costs.

Ever hear a person say Realtors’ cost too much? I have.

This statement implies that we all do the same thing, and the only difference between us is price. If that were true, then there would be a giant race to the bottom for commissions to get the client the best value.

The fact is – we don’t all do the same thing. There are a ton of different models and even more Realtors, and depending on WHAT we do – you can get a very different result.

Here are the Top 5 ways in which (what I would call) a GOOD Realtor NETS their Seller MORE money than ANY OTHER OPTION THEY HAVE.

5. Keeping more money on the table during post-inspection negotiations. Quite often, once the preliminary negotiations are done, buyers will get a home inspection. It is entirely possible they either find some serious issues, or even pretend like they do – and they come back to RE-negotiate and get a better deal. The problem here is that they may feel they have you stuck because your property is Conditionally Sold and they are threatening to walk away and stigmatize your property unless you bend to their wishes. A good agent will be able to skillfully evaluate the alleged problems and their costs, let alone use great communication and potentially bring in other aspects of value to keep the deal together.

4. Negotiating a better deal. Even better than having to save a deal, is negotiating an air-tight one in the first place. No conditions is best, but in their absence a good realtor will mitigate the risks of foul play by disclosing and being up front about potential hurdles, securing a high deposit, and even using verbage in the offer that keeps their client protected in the event the Buyer tries to pull a quick one. They can keep some value shelved in case they need to use it later, and have excellent rapport and communication with the other side to make sure things will go smooth.

3. Making your home more valuable. Bringing in stagers, repair men, cleaners and even just sound advice on extremely cost effective ways to pump up the property’s value are a few ways we can do this. We certainly are aware of trends and areas that can be improved, and have a strong network of specialists to pull on for expertise as well.

2. Making your home appear more valuable. Marketing will showcase your home in the best light possible – giving it an appearance that it is as valuable as it could be. There is a delicate balance to be had here between showcasing and exaggerating, where we want to make sure we aren’t misleading the Buyers and setting their expectations up improperly. When good marketing makes a home appear more valuable than poor marketing would – you get better buyers in the door.

1. Finding the Right Buyer. Number 1 on my list because this is the BIGGEST deal a good (listing) agent will do for you. There a LOT of buyers for your home, but you want the ONE who is willing to pay the most amount of money for it, right? Identifying WHO that Buyer is from the get go (Marketing 101: Identify your Target Market), and rolling out a marketing plan (staging, photos, video, ads, descriptions etc) that appeal directly to THAT buyer is what will ensure you attract the best offer(s) possible. Think about it – the Buyer willing to spend the MOST amount of money on your home is looking for quality, and more importantly – WILLING TO PAY FOR IT. That’s who we want. Your home can be a lot of things to a lot of people. We want it to be the PERFECT home for the PERFECT Buyer.