Marketing Homes for Sale
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The Affordable Advantage:
In This Issue:
Marketing Homes for Sale
- March 2010
- Volume 1
- Issue 3
- Al Wright
- [email protected]
Affordable Home Inspections
- Al Wright
- 55 Deschene Avenue
- Hamilton, Ontario
- L9A 3J8
- 905-730-9300
- Home Inspections since 1997
- 30 plus years as a renovation expert
- 15 plus years as a real estate investor
- 15 plus years in marketing
- Technical teacher since 2000
- MCSE, CNE, SCO Unix, A+, Network +
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Real Estate Network Coffee Group
Where:
Tim Horton's (Upper Wellington and Mohawk)
When:
Every Tuesday at 8am
Info:
No need to RSVP, just show up or you can add to join this informal group through Meetup.com @
http://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Network-Coffee-Group
Area Networking Organizations
http://hamiltonchamber.on.ca
(Member))
>Hamilton Chamber of Commerce
http://www.bnicanada.ca
(Member)
>BNI - Business Network International
http://www.meetup.com
(Member)
>Real Estate Network Coffee Group
>Burlington Like Minded Business Networkers
>Hamilton Business Strategies and Networking Group
>Networking Edge
http://www.linkedin.com
(Member)
>Linked In
Other Networking Solutions:
-Blogging / Discussion Forms - Activerain (Member)
-Online Business and Social Networks - Linked in (Member)
-Instant Messaging - MSN / Skype (Member)
Advantages of selling a home Move-In Certified: Pre-listing
Eventually your buyers are going to conduct an inspection. You may as well choose your own inspector rather than be at the mercy of the buyer's choice of inspector.
Having an inspection performed ahead of time helps in many other ways:
- It allows you to see your home through the eyes of a critical third-party.
- It helps you to price your home realistically if problems exist.
- It may uncover a huge potential "deal breaker" like toxic mold, termite damage, code violations, etc. If a buyer discovers this after submitting an offer they are more likely to back out, rather than adjust the price or ask for repairs
- If the first buyer backs out due to a large defect, the seller stills has to make the repairs for the next buyer while the house remains on the market longer; possibly needing a further price reduction
- Making the repairs after the buyer discovers them does not "add value" after the fact, it only prolongs the sale process
- It permits you to make repairs ahead of time so that ... Defects won't become negotiating stumbling blocks
- Can help the seller substantiate a higher asking price if problems don't exist or have been corrected.
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A seller inspection reveals problems ahead of time which:
- Might make the home show better.
- Gives the seller time to make repairs and shop for competitive contractors.
- Permits the seller to attach repair estimates or paid invoices to the inspection report.
- Removes over-inflated buyer procured estimates from the negotiation table.
- There is no delay in obtaining the Use and Occupancy permit.
- It may encourage the buyer to waive the inspection contingency.
- It may alert you of items of immediate personal concern, such as radon gas or active termite infestation
- The report might relieve a prospective buyer's unfounded suspicions, before they walk away. Giving them more confidence to submit an offer, especially if the home is older and competes with new construction
- It is less likely that the buyer will "renegotiate" the offer after their own inspection because it is less likely they will find a surprise or a "new" deal breaker; the buyer will likely submit their highest offer at the outset
- It reduces your liability by adding professional supporting documentation to your disclosure statement.
- The report provides full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.
- Alerting you to immediate safety issues before agents and visitors tour your home.
- The seller can schedule the inspections at the seller's convenience.
- The seller can assist the inspector during the inspection, normally not done during a buyer's inspection.
- The seller can have the inspector correct any misstatements in the inspection report before it is generated.
- A seller inspection permits a clean home inspection report hosted on www.FetchReport.com to be used as a marketing tool.
- Buyers can view your reports by typing in the address at www.moveincertified.com
- Move In Certified yard signs attract potential buyers.
- Agents can market the property as Move-in Certified in their advertisements
- A seller inspection lightens negotiations and 11th-hour renegotiations.
- The deal is less likely to fall apart the way they often do when a buyer's inspection unexpectedly reveals a problem, last minute.
Real Estate Marketing Tools
FREE DOWNLOADABLE FILES
These files are absolutely free to download, print and distribute to all your friends, family and clients.
These and more can be found by visiting:
- 3 Critical Mistakes
- Know Your Inspector
- 10 Tips to Speed up Your Home Inspection
- 223 Page – Home Closing Checklist
- Cost Estimates
- Home Care Guide
- Home Closing Costs
- Sell Your Home for More
- 450 Ideas to Sell Your Home
USEFUL LINKS
- Ask the Builder
- Canadian real estate
- Canada Mortgage and Housing - CMHC
- City of Burlington
- City of Hamilton
- Do It Yourself Online
- Gardens Alive
- Haldimand County
- HGTV - Home Restoration
- Home Inspection Directory
- Home Time
- Ian Evan's World of Old Houses
- MLS - Multiple Listing Service
- Mortgage Calculator - TD
- National Trust for Historic Preservation
- This Old House
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Marketing Homes for Sale
Promotions generates prospects. The more prospects, the more offers. The more offers, the higher the eventual selling price. It is a simple numbers game. If you get enough people to see your home, some of them will want to buy it.
YOUR BUYER CAN’T FIND YOUR HOME.
Conventional marketing, like newspaper ads and for-sale signs, have always had one problem. Such marketing only reaches your local geographical area (Hamilton) and your buyer may not even live in your country. Internet marketing reaches the whole world but it has one problem. Every competing home for sale is also being advertised on the internet. Your buyer still can’t find you amongst the millions of other homes for sale. In some ways, conventionally marketing on the internet is already obsolete. The good news is that times have changed. Still using the internet, it is now easier and less expensive to find your buyer, rather than marketing enough for your buyer to find you. Prospect lead generation, computer matching, and target marketing using the internet is now the fast efficient way to find a willing and able buyer.
PREPARE PROMOTIONAL PACKETS.
These can be big envelopes full of information about your home for potential home buyers (prospects). Make plenty of promotional packets available so prospects do not feel inhibited about taking one.
They should include the following:
1. Plenty of pictures inside and outside the house: Pictures remind prospects which home was yours out of the many homes they have seen. Take pictures that allow a buyer to imagine him/herself in the picture, so leave out the family and pets. A digital camera can make this easy and cost effective.
These pictures should show your house at its very best:
- Clean
- Nearly empty
- Showing off your home’s best features
- Showing your pool open, if its winter
- Showing your home in different seasons (go thru your photo album)
- Showing any improvements or additions, before and after
- At angles that make the rooms look large
Tip: With camera in hand, walk backwards thru the door until the picture frame fits just inside the door frame.
2. A disclosure statement: Your real estate professional can provide you with this standard form that is required by law in most states and provinces. If the home is pre-inspected you can offer them a copy of the report, which can be easily downloaded from www.moveincertified.com . This can help with disclosing any major deficiencies that are not corrected prior to listing
The disclosure statement does three other things:
- Puts your prospect at ease
- Identifies house defects, thus removing them from the home inspection contingency
- Avoids future legal claims
3. Copies of any home warranties in effect.
4. Copies of the house property tax assessments.
5. A copy of a survey or plot plan.
6. A floor plan of the house.
7. A copy of your title insurance policy
8. A local map of the area with your house pinpointed on it.
9. A neighborhood profile including information about...
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10. Web address.
11. Copy of house appraisal.
12. Copy of move-in certified pre listing home inspection report.
13. Copy of your environmental report.
14. A list of personal property that comes with the house (curtains, chandeliers).
15. The price of the home in terms of monthly payment.
16. A letter from your local authority stating an addition is possible.
17. A note stating how far away the nearest fire hydrant is.
18. A personal handwritten letter saying what you liked most about living in your home and advance well-wishes to the new owner.
BUILD A CUSTOM WEB SITE FOR YOUR HOUSE.
Show off your home on-line. This is a boon to timid or forgetful buyers. They can revisit your home over and over on-line without need of an appointment.
Your web page should include:
- Many pictures
- Local school and crime statistics if available
- Links to local web-sites for parks, restaurants, and Chamber of Commerce
- An offer to mail them a promotional package
- Your email address for feedback
Tip: Put web address on your advertisements, promotional packets, and for-sale signs
MAKE A CD BROCHURE AND TOUR OF YOUR HOME.
You can put a tour of your home on a CD. Include digital photos and highlights of your home. To include streaming video and sound you’ll need some extra expertise.
MAKE A PROMOTIONAL OUTGOING ANSWERING MACHINE MESSAGE.
Give callers a sense of what’s best about your home, but don’t make it too long. You want them to leave a message so that you can follow up.
Tip:
For security purposes confirm their phone number. Use caller ID or allow the answering machine to take the message even when you are home. Then call them back.
MAKE A PROMOTIONAL FAX SHEET OF YOUR HOME.
When a prospect calls, you can offer to fax out or email this sheet that includes:
- A description and main features of your home
- A small map and directions
- Contact numbers
- Your home’s web address
Tip: Keep a record of these fax numbers/email addresses so that you can send them updates or open house announcements.
ASK YOUR NEIGHBORS FOR HELP.
- Ask those to keep junk cars parked indoors
- Propose that you both cut grass at the same time
- Encourage them to introduce themselves to prospects
- Ask them or pay them to watch your pets or kids during showings so they aren’t under foot
- Ask them if they have any friends or relatives who might be interested in your home.
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Give your neighbors a supply of promotional packets and ask that they give them to:
- Friends and relatives that might be interested.
- Drive-by prospects that stop by when you are not home.
INSTALL OUTDOOR LIGHTING.
Shine lights at the outside of your home, particularly trees or landscaping, and at your for-sale sign.
- Outdoor lighting makes a home for sale quite noticeable if done correctly
- Night lighting markets to people who see your home only during night hours
- A home lit up at night often looks more attractive and warmer than in broad day light
- It increases safety for visiting prospects unfamiliar with your exterior
SET UP A “FREE-TAKE-ONE” BOX IN YOUR FRONT YARD.
Keep it full of promotional flyers. Make sure these flyers don’t tell everything. Give prospects a reason to want to tour your home.
WRITE A “KILLER” AD.
Buyers are out there now. Every day they read thousands of ads in newspapers, real estate magazines, and the internet. Attracting them is not easy. Give more thought to this step than anything else you do. Writing an ad that works is no accident.
Here are 4 basic goals:
- Get the attention of prospects. If you fail to do this, the rest won’t matter.
- Feed their curiosity with facts about your home but leave out some information. Include a few enticing highlights and reveal the community but not the number of bed rooms nor full address unless it’s an open house.
- Screen out prospects with price and location. More people will call about properties priced within their budget and are located within the area they desire.
- Give valid prospects a reason to call. Example: to receive free promotional packet.
Tips: Include in the ad features that denote character or charm. Emphasize mechanical reliability only after prospects respond.
- Ads for condominiums and senior living communities should emphasize the benefits
- The ad must comply with fair housing laws.
Keep it real: Ad writing is not the time to be humble but don’t exaggerate just to get prospects to respond. The author once wrote an open house ad that drew so many prospects that the local police had to come out to direct traffic. Yet, none of the visiting prospects made an offer. Too bad the home wasn’t as good as the ad.
GET THE WORD OUT.
You need to maximize your exposure. According to the National Association of REALTORs, the average prospect looks at 18 homes before purchasing. Make sure one of those homes is yours. The percentage of prospects that are both willing and able to pay top dollar for your home is small. The only way to find them is to market your home to many. It is difficult to do this armed only with a for-sale-by-owner sign and luck. A real estate professional can maximize your home’s exposure by offering a portion of the commission to thousands of other real estate professionals, each with their own pool of buyers. The system works.
OFFER A BONUS TO THE BUYER’S AGENT.
You need to maximize your exposure. According to the National Association of REALTORs, the average prospect looks at 18 homes before purchasing. Make sure one of those homes is yours. The percentage of prospects that are both willing and able to pay top dollar for your home is small. The only way to find them is to market your home to many. It is difficult to do this armed only with a for-sale-by-owner sign and luck. A real estate professional can maximize your home’s exposure by offering a portion of the commission to thousands of other real estate professionals, each with their own pool of buyers. The system works.
OFFER A BONUS TO THE BUYER’S AGENT.
Advertise a cash bonus to the real estate professional that brings you an offer. In theory, a buyer’s real estate professional is supposed to show his client homes without regard to the commission or bonus’s offered. However, in practice, a buyer’s agent, like you, is motivated by only two things: The first is money. I can’t remember what the second thing is. Another version of this promotion is to simply increase the commission offered to the cooperating (buyer’s) agency.
Tip: This bonus offer is an amenity for the other real estate professionals. Make sure it is prominently announced in the Multiple Listing Service.
Advantages of listing a home Move In Certified:
- Agents can recommend certified InterNACHI inspectors like Al Wright from Affordable Home Inspections to inspect the home properly before the buyer's inspector arrives.
- Sellers can schedule the inspections at seller's convenience with little effort on the part of agents.
- Sellers can assist inspectors during the inspections, normally not done during buyer's inspections.
- Sellers can have inspectors correct any misstatements in the reports before they are generated.
- Reports help sellers see their homes through the eyes of a critical, third-party, thus making sellers more realistic about asking price.
- Agents are alerted to any immediate safety issues found, before other agents and potential buyers tour the home.
- Repairs made ahead of time might make homes show better.
- Move-In Certified yard signs attract potential buyers.
- The reports hosted on www.FetchReport.com entice potential buyers to tour MoveInCertified homes.
- You can view the reports on any home that the client is interested in that is Move-in Certified by typing in the address at www.moveincertified.com
- The reports provide third-party, unbiased opinions to offer to potential buyers.
- MoveInCertified reports can be used as marketing tools to help sell the homes.
- Reports might relieve prospective buyer's unfounded suspicions, before they walk away.
- Seller inspections eliminate buyer's remorse that sometimes occurs just after an inspection.
- Seller inspections reduce the need for negotiations and 11th-hour renegotiations.
- Seller inspections relieve the agent of having to hurriedly procure repair estimates or schedule repairs.
- The reports might encourage buyers to waive their inspection contingencies.
- Deals are less likely to fall apart the way they often do when buyer's inspections unexpectedly reveal problems, last minute.
- Reports provide full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.
Agents can market the property as Move-in Certified in their advertisements