Fast and for Top Dollar!

If there is a universal truth in real estate it is that sellers want to sell FAST and for TOP dollar.

You will notice many Realtors claiming to offer this service. However, it becomes very important to qualify what “fast” means and also what is “top” dollar? Both can have gray areas as we will see, it is in these gray areas where sellers can get caught and make poor choices.

Lets start with fast. What is fast? One day? One week? One month? Is there a too fast? Certainly, we are familiar with “two slow” as the market the past few years has presented us with challenges and longer days on market to sell. To me, fast is anything less than two (2) months or about eight (8) weeks or less. At the same time, I do believe that you can sell your property too fast. For example, if you sell your home on the first day of the listing to one buyer without competition, this would be too fast in my opinion.

Experience shows that in order to sell a property for top dollar at any given market condition, the property needs to be exposed to the most amount of buyers who are able to buy within the listing period. With technology today, we can track how each and every listing “does” when we post the listing and start the promotional campaign. The campaign produces statistics and as each week progresses the “word” about the listing details, price, features, condition and location all factor to create a statistical package.

Based on my research, I believe that a home is fully promoted at 3 weeks (the incubation period). Which means, everyone on the market area who wants or needs to buy with the needed budget will know about the property. Based on this, selling a home in less than three weeks could be problematic because there may be people who are willing to pay top dollar but have not yet seen the home. So, not only is it important to create a good marketing plan for your property, it becomes even more important to monitor how the property is “doing” and what type of activity it creates.

When you plan to sell your home, there are only three factors that you can control over and above the general market situation. They are: 1) the marketing plan 2) the condition of the property and 3) the price. If you have listed your home for more than eight weeks an it has not sold then you need to look at each of these factors and make changes.

The Marketing Plan that your Realtor activates for your property needs to cover the bases and ensure that the home is marketing properly. Realtors market differently and nearly all use MLS as the core of their plan. However, differences exist and these differences may cost you a buyer or hurt your positioning. I believe that you need a comprehensive marketing plan activated by a skillful and knowledgeable marketing professional. You also need to view the track record of the marketing plan. You may or may not like each marketing activity but what you are paying for is the result. The result that is most important in my view is the sales price to list price ration (SPLPR).

My marketing plan produces 98.1% sale price to list price ratio (at the time of publishing this blog). This is the percentage of the asking price that the home sells for. This means that my clients on average sell their home at 98.1% of the asking price.

Currently, our board average is +/- 94.5%. In simple terms, I often earn my clients 3-4% more per $100,000 than the average Realtor in my local market. On a $500,000 home, this could translate into $15,000 - $20,000 more for my sellers than if they were to sell at the board average of 94.5%. However, this definition is far too simple because this number also reflects my ability to price your home properly but also negotiate to get the best price and terms possible. In summary, the marketing plan that you choose should have a track record and you need to know the past results of your Realtor's marketing plan.

Next, the condition of your property will definitely affect the speed and price of sale. Today, we are seeing that homes in the best condition and for the best price are selling better. Which means, even if you have a great price, you may not sell if the condition of your property is problematic. You may need to renovate and leave your price where it is on order to gain a sale.

Lastly, if all another factors where equal (marketing and the condition of your home) then the most important choice a seller must make is that of price. The price you choose will dictate whether you sell or not. The advice you receive therefore becomes even more important. Today price comparables are sometimes few and far between. Data on buyers and recent transactions is not an exact science. You may choose a price at the start of your listing period but withing a week or two, this price may be out of date for the market conditions. It may be too high or it may be too low. Normally, its too high as too low should lead to a sale - but not always.

The best tactic to use when it comes to price it to create a strategy based on your overall property. You need to look at the competition and position your property. A pricing strategy may be to set the price at slightly higher than you competition and then monitor the statistics. If you do not get an offer or your feedback from showings does not support the price, you need to adjust the price quickly and often, more than once. Using this technique, you can often ensure that you got top dollar because you are making your price adjustments based on market feedback. However, if you get market feedback and fail to adjust your price, it is unlikely that in today's competition market, that you will sell at all.

So, if you or a friend or family member need to sell your property or home FAST and for TOP dollar remember the three pillars of selling. 1) A great Realtor with a proven marketing plan, 2) fix up the property to show it the best it can and 3) create a pricing strategy and make quick and timely price adjustments.