Why Getting Top Dollar For Your Home Takes More Than Just Throwing It On Zillow - or Uncle Henry’s. Six Part Series: Part Three
Why Getting Top Dollar For Your Home Takes More Than Just Throwing It On Zillow - or Uncle Henry’s.
Want to get the best price for your home in Maine’s hot, sellers’ market?
Although new home sales across the country may have hit a peak, data released for May 2021 by the Maine Association of Realtors shows Maine remains very much a hot sellers’ market. In Maine, 1,613 single-family homes changed hands last month, a 28% increase from the 1,257 homes that sold in May 2020. The median single family home sale price in Maine was $305,000 last month, a 28% increase over the same period last year and a 25% increase over 2019 prices.
Check out this chart below from the Portland Press Herald which shows booming home sales and prices around Maine:
Most people don’t realize there is much more to selling a home than taking a few photos and throwing it in Uncle Henry’s, Zillow or on Maine Listings (Maine’s Multi-Listing Service (MLS)), especially if you want the best price and the best contract terms for your property. Throwing a home on Zillow and leaving it there will not attract as many buyers as a strong selling system -- and could cost you tens of thousands on the sale of your home as well as favorable contract terms like rent backs, closing cost coverage, closing date selection and waivers of inspections or appraisals.
This is why Balsam Realty created our series, “Get the Most for Your House In a Hot Seller’s Market” - to help you (and anyone you know) maximize the profits from the sale of what may be one of your biggest assets. This is part three in our six-part series and is a must-read for any property owner.
In this part of the series, we will share key ingredients of the Balsam Realty selling system: How We Do Your Homework™
Why does Balsam Realty bother with a selling system to get your property sold when it could sell without a system? Because our definition of a “successful sale” isn’t just getting a property sold; for Balsam Realty, a successful sale means getting our client the most money possible, in the shortest amount of time, with the least amount of stress to the client. This takes more than a wide angle lens: it takes a selling system that will strategically guide you all the way from property preparation to closing.
Here’s a taste of the secret sauce to How We Do Your Homework™:
• Prepping your home: This topic deserves an entire article, it’s that important! Home preparation for sale does not have to be time consuming, stressful or expensive. Prepping and improving the proper elements of your property minimizes cost, maximizes return, and can dramatically increase the selling price of your beautiful, Maine property. The right landscaping improvements alone can increase your selling price by as much as 10%-15%. Read all about how to prep your home for sale, here.
• Proper pricing: Pricing, especially in this hot seller’s market, is both an art and science. Asking price is one of the most important factors which will impact your final selling price. Even though many homes are selling for more than their market comparables (“comps”), pricing your home for a little more than what your neighbor’s sold for isn’t enough to get your best price and tens of thousands of dollars can be left stacked on the table. Every property is unique and even if yours looks similar to the neighbor’s that just sold, your property deserves a unique price. Furthermore, there are certain price “markers” which attract maximum buyers and these must be considered when calculating your selling price. A price just $1,000 above one of these magical “markers” can dissuade buyers. Key selling points of a home or property also impact the asking price, negotiation and selling price. A pricing model and plan which includes these factors will help ensure maximum profit at closing.
• Professionally Measured Square Footage: Many properties have an incorrect square footage listing in the tax records. Why? Because people may not want to report to their town or city that their home is larger than the current taxed square footage or they don’t really know the true square footage. Most of the time, the tax square footage is much lower than the actual square footage, even here in Maine. When we list a home at Balsam Realty, we pay a little extra to have the square footage professionally measured. This ensures a best foot forward so that your property has improved salability and gets its best price. Once you go under contract, accurate square footage helps your property appraise at its fair market value, helping the property sell AND appraise for top dollar.
• Floor Plans: Buyers LOVE to have the floor plan of a prospective home so they can measure how your property fits with their dream. When a buyer can see how their life would work in your home, they are more likely to make a strong offer.
• Professional photography - We like to personally meet with the photographer to make sure we are getting exactly what we should (and shouldn’t) in the photos. These days, the photos have to be PERFECT in order to bring buyers to your home. Great photos will stop scrolling buyers in their tracks and they will demand to see your property. Photos should accentuate the fine points and highlight your property’s unique features.
• 3-D Tours: In addition to plain, 2-D photos, buyers can now “walk-through” a home with a 3-D Tour. This is perfect for a buyer unable to visit a property before purchase. It can also allow an interested buyer more time to commune with the property and develop a relationship with the property. A 3-D tour will also help build trust with a prospective buyer because they feel like they can see every part of your home, not just what 2-dimensional photos provide. Prospective buyers that have toured the home in person can also easily review the property and share it with others. Finally, a 3-D Tour will allow buyers from around the world to see your home and even give them a feel for what it is like to be there. They can’t smell the cookies in the oven or the flowers in the garden but they will think they can.
• Virtual tour link for the MLS - In addition to uploading photos and the 3-D tour to the MLS, Balsam Realty also suggests a Virtual Tour link which can serve as a property’s personal website while it’s on the market: all property information, photos and the 3-D Tour can be accessed through this link.
• Your property’s webpage on Balsam Realty website - This marketing tool is one of our favorites! The MLS listing, due to specific rules governing property details and character limitations, is only an outline. Our website page, tailored to your property, tells your home’s story and breathes life into the listing. We then use this link to market your property to buyers on multiple sites with local and global reach.
• Brochures-- (available printed and digital) These can be provided at open houses, digitally via signage and physically located at the property. Brochures give potential buyers a concrete summary to review or share later. It can also make a wonderful memento for the buyer!
• Lender Sheets: Most buyers (and even some agents) don’t know what the monthly payment and cash requirement is to buy a home. I work with our lenders to provide financing examples for buyers so they know generally what their monthly payments and cash requirements would be to buy your home. Most of the time, when a potential buyer is armed with the numbers in black and white, it makes the decision to make an offer easier.
• Open Houses - Believe it or not, open houses don’t generally sell a home. Serious buyers have agents and want to schedule a private showing to view a property so they can take their time and not be distracted. However, we use open houses as a way to get direct, honest feedback from buyers to bring back to you. This information is crucial as you consider and negotiate offers. Also, if an open house is scheduled via the MLS, the listing is automatically shown to more buyers.
• Facebook/Social Media Ads - You never know where you’ll find your perfect buyer. Sometimes they aren’t actively looking for a home. So, instead of just throwing it on the MLS and hoping they see it, we look for them. Facebook and other social media ads are a way to find buyers who maybe took a break from looking or just were distracted with other things and aren't on the MLS to see your listing.
• The Numbers/Metrics: We love numbers! We track online data daily once we place your property on the market. We can tell how likely and quickly your home is to sell and sometimes even how many offers we can expect just from analyzing market data. We provide regularly scheduled feedback to our clients. For instance, in the first week your property is on the market, the data can help us make decisions like “should we take that offer that has come in right away or should we wait for after the weekend and set a deadline to review all offers at once?” Data provides the key information needed to help you make the right decision at the right time.
• The perfect TIME and day to list your home: Speaking of going live…did you know there is a perfect day of the week and even time of the day to list a home? There is! This one is our listing secret and we are going to keep it under wraps -- along with a killer marketing strategy that buyers love.
• Location articles, maps: For those buyers that might not be aware of what makes the location of your property so special (whether they be from away or just outside your neighborhood), Balsam makes sure that information is ready and accessible during in-person home tours or after a virtual tour.
• Bonus Material: This marketing feature is dependent on several factors, but mainly is used to speak to potential buyers. Examples of extra material that might be useful for a buyers: special incentive or loan programs, special property tax programs, or energy efficiency rebates.
• Personal showings of the property: Professional representation by an agent is imperative to a successful sale. We are there to answer questions and guide buyers through the home. Many brokers refuse to take the extra care and time to do this except for ultra luxury homes. We believe every home and seller we represent deserves our time and attention on what can be the most important aspect of the marketing plan - an in-person showing.
The above key ingredients are what we include as part of our services and we handle all the logistics. While the Selling System is an integral part of selling your home, it’s only a small part of what we do for our clients. We make sure everything runs smoothly, every step of the way.