Getting Top Dollar

Getting the highest possible price is the goal I set for myself with every listing I take. I pride myself on having the highest comparable sales in a large number of neighborhoods. This is usually the result of terrific teamwork between the agent and the seller. I have to expose your property to the largest possible market (getting the buyer into the home), and you have to show the property at its best (making him want to buy it). Remember, in San Antonio a large number of all sales are new homes. This means that you are competing against model homes which have been professionally decorated, so the more you can make yours look this way the faster it will sell.

 First impressions are critical. I can spend thousands of dollars in advertising, but if the buyer's initial reaction to the home is negative we're back to square one. I will personally go through your home with you to determine the most effective ways of presenting it, but in the meantime these are some tips that can yield big results. 

To start, pretend you are the buyer. Go outside and sit in your car. Then get out and come up the front walk slowly. Really look at your home. Have a paper and pen handy. Make a list of all the things you would want fixed if you were buying the home right now. Chances are these are the same items your buyer will want you to fix. 

Curb Appeal
This is the buyers first glimpse of your home and it had better be a good one! Keep lawn and bushes mowed and well-manicured. Plant flowers in the front yard to add color and warmth. Touch up any peeling paint and wash down front doors or varnish if necessary. Check stucco, brick and siding around the home for needed repairs, replace missing roof shingles or tiles. Wash all windows and keep walkways and driveways swept at all times. All garden tools, hoses, toys and clutter should be cleared away and yard furniture neatly arranged. Check to make sure the doorbell and outside lights are working properly. Park vehicles so they are not obstructing the front of the house. They should either be inside the garage or across the street.  

Front Entry Hall 
The impression the buyer takes from this area will stay him through the rest of your home. A sour smell or dark "feel" to the home in the front entry will make him think the whole house is that way, no matter how bright and sunny the rest of the home may be.  Make sure you have a light pleasant odor to greet guests at the door, vanilla or cinnamon is usually the best. There are wonderful scented candles on the market today that can put a subtle "feel good" scent into the air at VERY low cost. Keep all the lights and ceiling fans turned on and blinds or curtains open to create that sunny model home look. You may run up your utility bills a little, but the results are worth it.

Kitchen
This is often the most important room in the house. Start by eliminating "refrigerator art,"  any magnets, pictures or drawings on the refrigerator. Clear counters of all but the most basic appliances. Check faucets for leaks and re-grout or re-caulk tile as needed. Often kitchen cabinets show water damage from splashing, a coat a varnish can work wonders here. 

Bathrooms 
Make them sparkle is our best advice here. Remove any mildew stains and re-grout and re-caulk tile as necessary. Hang bright fresh towels and remove any stains from sinks or toilets. 

Create Space
This applies to both closets and furniture placement. Furniture should never impede traffic flow from one area to the next.  Rearranging and removing excess furniture can create a whole new mood. Closets should be cleaned out so that clothes hang freely. Piles of anything are bad, so box it up and store it while your home is being shown.

Floors
Carpets should be freshly cleaned and tile or wood floors polished before showing. If carpets are badly worn in traffic areas or are heavily stained or if there is a strong pet or smoke odor it may be advisable to consider replacing them prior to showing. Sometimes a "carpet allowance" in the listing will compensate in this area, but most buyers see only what is there rather than what can be done. Again I will be glad to advise you based on my experience for your particular situation, and I do have access to flooring contractors who offer substantial discounts to our clients and some without interest for six months!

Painting 
One of the least expensive and most effective forms of upgrading your home is a fresh coat of paint. Sometimes just a touch-up will do, again I will be glad to go through your home room by room with helpful suggestions.

Lighting
Nothing makes more of a good impression than a light cheery home. Always make sure all the lights are turned on and the blinds and curtains are open.  Model homes use high wattage light  bulbs - if you have any particularly "dark" rooms try using a higher wattage to lighten them up. Avoid leaving bedroom or bathroom doors closed, it makes the house feel boxy and un-welcoming. Soft music playing in the background is always a winner too.

Pets 
As much as we love animals we suggest you try to keep them out of the way of prospective buyers. Some people are quite allergic to different types of animals and others are genuinely frightened of even the most friendly small dog.

Be Invisible
When the buyer comes to your door be friendly and welcoming and then disappear! No matter how well you know your home a good real estate agent can usually show it effectively. But your presence may keep a buyer from feeling comfortable enough to really check it out as much as they would if you weren't there. And statistics show that the longer a buyer stays in a home the more likely he is to buy it! So a showing is a great time to take the dog for a walk or run that small errand to the grocery store. If for some reason you must remain home try and go out in the backyard so that the buyer can have some privacy indoors.

Never Apologize
No matter what your home looks like or what its shortcomings may be, always act as if it is the greatest place to live in the world! A laughing happy seller is contagious. Your positive attitude will inspire a positive attitude in the buyer!

Why Use a REALTOR®?

If you're like most people, your home is probably your most valuable possession. Chances are good that if you needed an operation you would not want an amateur to perform it, you'd want the most highly skilled physician available. The same philosophy should hold true for your home - you should hire the most highly skilled professional REALTOR® around to market it for you! Industry surveys show that homes sold by REALTORS® sell for an average of 9 1/2% more than similar homes sold by owner. 

When is a Real Estate Agent a REALTOR®?

When they are a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, The Voice for Real Estate® -- the world's largest professional association. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics

Listed below are the primary reasons why: 

The goal of any seller is to realize the highest dollar amount practical for his property. This means exposing it to the largest possible pool of potential buyers in order to make sure that the offer received is truly the best one obtainable. In San Antonio, only a small percentage of all buyers come from sources other than the Multiple Listing Service. So if you are trying to sell your home on your own you have now eliminated 90 % or greater of the potential buyers! Also, be wary of hiring a "discount" broker who will place your home in the MLS but will charge you fees in advance which are non-refundable whether or not your home sells. These brokers are not actively working on your behalf - they've already been paid! And most professional REALTOR® will avoid showing these listings because they know that in the long run they will end up doing the work of both the listing and the selling sides for only half the pay.

The goal of any buyer is to buy the home for the least amount of money possible. Quite often the people that show up at your door are the bargain hunters hoping that you have under-priced your home. Plus their philosophy is, if you are not using a REALTOR® the commission you are saving should come off the price of the home. So not only do you end up not  saving any money, now you have to handle the all the details of the transaction as well. Do you know how to write up a legally binding contract? Do you know what liabilities may be involved? Do you know what disclosures a seller must make? Do you know how to find out if your buyer is truly qualified before taking your home off the market and tying it up for a couple of months? Not only will you spend your time, you'll also have all the out-of-pocket expenses for advertising. Hiring a professional REALTOR® will save you time, money and aggravation.

A professional REALTOR® can market your home on a full time basis. As a homeowner, even if you don't work, it is difficult to stay at home 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There are always trips to the grocery store or the doctor's office that must be performed. Most buyers don't have the patience to wait to see a home. And if they call on a classified ad and get an answering machine, only 3% will leave a message!

Quite often financing is critical to making a deal work between the buyer and the seller. There are over 150 different loan programs on the market today, but many lenders offer only a fraction of them. Unless you are a financing expert, you may sacrifice the buyer who is willing to give you top dollar for your home just for lack of knowing how to make it affordable for him and where to look for his loan. All professional REALTOR® have a variety of lenders on call who each specialize in various types of loans. And the REALTOR® can help protect you from tying up your home with a buyer who truly can't qualify. Many of the prospective buyers who look at FSBO's are those who cannot qualify with a regular lender and hope to get you to finance the home for them.

Buying a home is an emotional decision. It has to "feel" right to the buyer when he first walks through the door. The house "talks" to the buyer as they are looking through it and making it their own. But it is hard for a buyer to feel comfortable with the seller following them through the property and describing every improvement the seller has made. The buyer feels he is intruding into someone else's private space instead of molding the home in his mind to his own taste. A REALTOR® can even help suggest changes they know would appeal to the buyer based on the REALTOR's knowledge of what the buyer has responded to in the previous homes they have viewed together. And as a seller it can be very hard to accept the implied criticism of any changes the buyer might wish to make.

The bottom line is this, if you settle for less than the best real estate professional in your area, you are settling for inferior marketing and can expect to obtain inferior results.

The cost in time and net proceeds will far exceed the commission dollars you thought you were saving!

Determining Your Home's Value

Proper pricing is dependent on several factors, the most important being recent comparable sales in the neighborhood, what is currently on the market in competition with your home, and the condition of your home. These factors can change rapidly within months, so a current market analysis on your home is crucial to pricing your home correctly. Price it too low, you lose some of your equity, price it too high you lose potential buyers. 

The most common mistake is over-pricing. Overpricing your home means it sits on the market longer, and one of the first questions a buyer usually asks is how long a property has been on the market. The longer your home has been for sale, the more the buyers are inclined to believe something is "wrong" with it, and the lower the offer will be.  

What Does Not Affect a Home's Value

1. What you paid for the home. 

2. What you put into your home in remodeling or decorating. These are features which really only enhance a home's desirability and make it sell faster. 

3. The amount of cash you need to buy your new home.

4. What you say your home is worth.

5. What I say your home is worth.

6. What another agent says your  home is worth.

7. What an appraiser says your home is worth.

What Does Affect a Home's Value

1. Location of the home.

2. Major improvements on the home (pools, covered patios, etc)

3. Recent comparable sales within the last six months

4. Current competition on the market

5. What a sophisticated buyer is willing to pay based on his comparison of your home with others currently on the market. Agents and sellers set list prices, but buyers determine value!