Selling a home
Selling a home can be a favorable experience.
You don’t have to experience the less than favorable experiences that you hear from friends and family nor those stories you’ve read across the internet. However, like anything it’s important to choose wisely. Do your homework. Know what the home selling process entails and who is best equipped to get the job done.
What are the methods for selling a home?
1. Sell it Yourself
This method may have crossed your mind. Are you equipped to sell a home? As a Real Estate Agent, I can’t understand why anyone would want to tackle the selling of their own home, particularly when they probably have never done it before. Is it that you think you’re a quick study and have a gift of learning new things at a remarkable speed? Hmmm. Perhaps. Yet how many people could we actually clump into such a gifted category? Not many.
So if you’re not a quick study how will you learn the process of selling a home along with all the nuts & bolts of a Buyer’s offer to buy your home? Are Buyers qualified to buy a home? Do you know what legal contracts to use and how to complete them? Do you know how to prepare your home for sale? Do you know what Buyers like to see in a home? Do you know how to price your home? Did you know it’s not simply based on a square foot calculation adding in all the money you paid for upgrades? It’s not, you wonder! How about marketing your home to the 90%+ Buyers who are searching online to find a home to buy? How will you reach them? Do you have a top rated online presence in your local Real Estate market? You don’t? My point might be starting to sink in now as these are just a few of the issues involved in selling a home.
Perhaps you thought you’d love to save the standard Real Estate commission and sell your home yourself. 47% of those that try it alone do it for this reason, according to the National Association of Realtors reporting. However, studies have shown that utilizing the services of a skilled, professional Real Estate Agent to sell a typical home will allow a Seller to sell their home for more money. More money, isn’t that music to any Seller’s ears?! After all, more times than not, don’t you pay for what you get?! A Real Estate Agent’s skill can often be worth their weight in gold.
The number of homeowners who have tried to sell a home on their own has dropped to less than 10% compared to decades ago where the numbers were greater. More and more realize the complexity behind getting a home sold and prefer to leave it to those well qualified to sell homes.
2. Use Your Cousin Who Just Got His License
“Can’t you help Jimmy get started in his Real Estate career. He’s really nice, I’m sure you’ll like him”. That’s probably true, if they said he’s nice, yet nice doesn’t get you top dollar, a fast sale and the fewest number of headaches. Do you really want to be a testing ground to let Jimmy embark on his new Real Estate career? Someone so green will not ensure your home sale’s success. Securing a Real Estate license does not make someone instantly skilled at selling homes. You have no idea what kind of training they may have received up to this point. How hands on was their Broker in getting them up to speed? Maybe your Aunt could give Jimmy a shot when she wants to sell her home.
3. Find a Real Estate Agent by Searching Online
Now that we’re living in the age of the internet and social media, you’ll find that we resort to finding answers to our questions and needs by accessing the internet to search for what it is we need. With that comes fierce competition. Real Estate Agents have discovered that to be found, their brand and story has to be blasted across the internet. They are competing with other local Agents within their market, along with the big box Real Estate sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and more. This allows you, the home Seller, to be able to search online for local Real Estate experts in your area. Your city’s Real Estate Agent or REALTORⓇ search will discover who is at the top of their home selling craft getting noticed for what it is they do, sell homes. If you notice them, imagine how your home for sale will be noticed when Buyers are searching for homes to buy in your city.
More and more Real Estate Agents are sharing their expertise in the Real Estate content that they write; what better way to discover their skill sets; do they really know how to sell homes? You’ll also find reported customer experiences on just how their Agent succeeded at selling their homes. Perfect. You can learn so much towards making the right choice in the right Agent to sell your home.
A Real Estate Agent’s online presence is also a good indication of how your home will be marketed for sale in order to reach prospective home Buyers. You want an Agent who is proficient in navigating social media letting the world know that they sell homes for a living and love doing it!
4. Accept Your Neighbor/Family Member/Friend/Co-Worker’s Advice Recommending a Real Estate Agent.
A great way to find help to get your home listed and sold. You’ll want to make sure that reasons are provided as to why they’re recommending a particular Real Estate Agent. It would also be a good idea to add #3 to the mix where you search online for the recommended Real Estate Agent’s name so you can discover how they market themselves over the internet. You’ll want to review their Real Estate content that should demonstrate their knowledge within their local market and see if you can locate other satisfied customers.
You could also consider an out of town friend or family member that you know who is a Real Estate Agent themselves who’d be able to find a qualified Real Estate Agent within your local market if you don’t have anyone local finding an Agent for you. I’ve helped a number of out of town friends track down an Agent in their area to help them. I have a broad network of Real Estate associates that I can reach out to find someone to help. I myself have received a great number of customer referrals this way too. It’s a great way in which someone else you know and trust and can help you with a bit of the leg work to locate a nearby, qualified Real Estate Agent.
In Summary
Now that I’ve gone over the 4 methods to selling a home, you likely know which method will work best for you, I’m sure. If you’re not going it alone, always remember to interview your choices finding out more about how they sell homes, how long they’ve been selling homes, how many homes they’ve sold, how fast do they sell homes, how do they price homes and what has been their accuracy of home pricing that is reflected in their list price to sales price ratio, their closing ratio (you want someone that actually sells homes and not just list homes and whether or not they have a sense of humor! It’s true, as not too long ago I was told by one of my customers that along with many other reasons for having chosen me to sell their home, they also chose me because I had a sense of humor! (That was a question that they had asked me when interviewing me). Who would have known! Now go get that home sold!
Additional Reading list to assist in finding out the best method to sell a home:
What does a REALTOR do to earn a commision from Great Colorado Homes Real Estate Blog
Top home seller mistakes when selecting a REALTOR from Maximum Real Estate Exposure Real Estate Blog
Real Estate Agent Trusted Advisor by Frederick Real Estate Online Real Estate Blog
Choosing your First Agent by RISMedia’s Housecall Blog
Book an appointment now to learn more about selling a home in Coral Springs Florida or anywhere in Southeast Florida. Call/Text Lynn at 954-464-1100 or email Lynn at LynnP@ImagineYourHouse.com
Today’s article “4 Methods to Selling a Home – Which works best?” written by Lynn Pineda. You’ll find Lynn selling homes in Southeast Florida in the cities of Coral Springs, Parkland, Margate, Tamarac, Coconut Creek, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Sunrise, Plantation, Ft Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines and Miramar areas within Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Lynn Pineda, a licensed Southeast Florida Real Estate Agent serving Coral Springs Florida and surrounding Southeast Florida. Keller Williams Coral Springs Realty. May 15, 2015. Real Estate Promises Delivered. You can speak with Lynn by calling/texting her at 954-464-1100 or you can email her at: LynnP@ImagineYourHouse.com if you need to buy or sell a Southeast Florida home. Your local, trusted professional when it’s time to buy or sell a home. Real Estate promises delivered.
