Getting your house sold for the most amount of money in the least amount of time takes a disciplined, scientific approach. Misconceptions, mythology, opinions and lies must be dispelled even when it makes the messenger a very unpopular figure. Marketing and selling your house is a business and should be treated only as a business with professionalism, honesty, competence and good old fashioned hard work.

Long before I entered this profession a very wise man once advised me:

Do More of What Works and Less of What Doesn t!

This little slogan has been taped at the top of my monitor since the mid 80 s. I task myself every day to follow this simple tidbit of advice.

There are a lot of misconceptions about how to sell Real Estate, a lot of mistakes are made and money lost due to these misconceptions. To this day, misconceptions instead of facts continue to dictate practice, perpetuating the cycle of over-priced listings with long marketing times and increased loss to the seller.  Having ridden through the wildly swinging markets of late I know this to be true. The purpose of this page is to set the record straight, dispel the myths, crush the lies and give you a simple guide to what really works. Follow the simple guidelines outlined below and you will achieve the highest level of success possible.

My Philosophy

1.      Honesty is always the best policy.

2.      Hard work can be replaced by nothing and can be enhanced by honesty and knowledge.

3.      Commit maximum effort to my marketing efforts, exceeding my competitors efforts.

4.      Keep abreast of our quickly changing market (knowledge is power!).

5.      Share my knowledge and insight with my clients so their decisions are informed decisions.

6.      Always be truthful about your houses value even if it means another agent ends up with your listing.

7.      Treat rejection with open arms. You are always welcome back!

8.      List only that which I can sell within 10% of the original list price unless we mutually agree beforehand with a plan in place to react to buyer feedback (see #6 and 7 below)

Do More of What Works and Less of What Doesn t!

Price Dos and Don ts

1.            List price should be somewhere between average sale price and average list price of comparables. If marketing times are long, then list closer to sale prices; if short, closer to list prices.

2.           Price it right the first time and never state you are willing to negotiate.

3.           Never list more than 5% above present value! Unless

4.           the property is unique, wherein determining value can be difficult and a best estimate will be necessary.

5.           Never accept an offer less than 95% of your asking price!

6.           Regardless of initial list price, if activity is low, feedback is negative and/or the market is declining, then price adjustments are essential. Adjustments must be made based on recent sale prices while using current list prices only as a guide. I refer to this as the PDCA Cycle (Plan Do Check Act)

7.           If the opposite of #6 applies then a price increase should certainly be considered!

My Marketing

1.            Two Multiple Listing Service subscriptions.;  MLS is by far the most powerful marketing tool an agent has so why not have two? One is the local MLs which most agents subscribe to. The other is the regional MLS giving your house exposure to agents and their clients to our biggest source of buyers Portland and the Willamette Valley as well as the entire state. Very few agents offer this very effective and important additional marketing. 

2.            Four Websites that complement one another and draw in buyers from throughout the United States and even over seas.

3.           Massive internet exposure including upgraded Trulia account, upgraded Realtor.com account , Zillow, Ebay, Yahoo Real Estate, Google and a long list of other Sites

4.           Huge Craig s list ads with enhanced ad pages and huge pictures updated weekly.

5.           Two individual Property websites for every listing.

6.           Homes and Land Magazine, print (seasonal) and online.

7.           U-Tube Virtual tour

8.           I answer my phone!

Before formulating the marketing strategy you must be aware of the following:

     1.     I sell 85% of my listings in a market where most agents are lucky to sell 50% of theirs.
2.     Most agents will tell you what you want to hear while very few will tell you what you need to hear. Your over-priced listing creates calls so they can sell something else!
3.     Know current market conditions and local sentiment in your area/town and neighborhood. Central Oregon Trends and www.bendeconomyinforme.com
4.     Pricing correctly and competitively creates high demand and supports your asking price.
5.     Recent sales of similar properties dictate present value.
6.     Current List Prices do not dictate value and can in fact lead to false conclusions. 
7.     Past appraisals are useless. The only valid appraisal is one conducted in conjunction with an offer.
8.     County Real Market Values are always wrong and are even more useless than a 6 month old appraisal.
9.     If you aren t getting showings and receiving offers you are priced too high.
10.  What worked last time is irrelevant today and may very well be harmful to your goal.
11.  Your first offer is almost always your best offer!
12.  Time on market erodes perceived value in the eyes of the buyer.
13.  What you want or need has nothing to do with what the house is worth.
14.  Buyers almost always over exaggerate the price of repairs.
15.  Most buyers in todays market, prefer move-in ready homes with little or no work needed.
16.  Buyers rarely agree with the sellers perception of good . Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!
17.  Know the demand for your specific property type and neighborhood. Demand trends constantly shift within our market.
18.  How s the local economy doing? Are businesses flocking in or flocking out?
19.  You are competing with Bank owned properties and this will not change for a long time.
20.  The cost of upgrades and remodels are rarely fully recuperated and in fact you will be lucky to recuperate 50% of the material cost. The older the upgrade and more specific to your individual taste, the less you will recuperate.
21.  If current value is not high enough to pay off the mortgage or accomplish your goals, then a plan B is necessary. The sooner this is discovered, acknowledged and acted upon, the better especially in this declining market!
22.    You must be aware of recent sales data MLS Market Snapshot Get This Week's Local Market Conditions: and Central Oregon Trends (see the PDF link at the bottom of the page titled: Bend Residential Sold Data)
23.    Stay informed! MLS Market Snapshot Get This Week's Local Market Conditions: and Central Oregon Trends (see the PDF link at the bottom of the page titled: Bend Residential Sold Data)

          Act upon all of the above items and you will get the best possible price in the least amount of time.

What about the home and property?

Clean, uncluttered, necessary repairs taken care of, paint if necessary (neutral colors are a must!), replace carpets if necessary.  Curb appeal is extremely important. Make sure the lawn is well manicured and the front entry is welcoming. Most buyers want move-in ready homes. Sellers Groom The House

Offer Incentives

Very few sellers offer incentives. Doing what others don t can give you a huge advantage over the competition.

Consider some of these incentives:

1.            Conduct a home inspection early in the marketing stage to lessen surprises later on.  Costs around $300.00. Take care of the repairs considered safety hazards or code violations. Consider all other findings. Offer the report free of charge to prospective buyers as well as repairs conducted if any. This takes uncertainty out of the equation and speeds up the closing process.

2.           Offer a Home Warranty. Home warranties only cost somewhere between $300.00 and $500.00. They usually cover your house while marketing then the specified period of time after the sale.

3.           If you have nice appliances include all of them.

4.           Include window coverings.

5.           Include yard or farm equipment

6.           Include a year subscription to the newspaper, cable TV, Internet etc.

7.           Offer the R.V., boat, Harley, sewing machine, bicycles, muscle car, classic car, old VW, big screen TV, the propane in the tank, the bird bath in the yard, etc

8.           Got an older pickup in the driveway? Offer it! Especially on larger lots.

9.           Just be creative and think of things that have little or no value to you any more, that might be valuable to the new owner. Incentives are a huge part of marketing as can be witnessed by TV ads newspaper ads etc. Incentives can make a huge difference.

Do More of What Works and Less of What Doesn t!

I sell 85% of my listings in a market where very few agents even achieve 50%. There are good reasons for this and I sincerely hope this page illustrates to you clearly why.

Additional Information:

7 selling mistakes

Sellers Get Prepared!

Sellers Groom The House

Value

If you ve read this far, congratulations! You ve taken the first step toward getting the most from your property in the least amount of time. Call or email me to get your property marketed expertly and professionally.