Category: Selling

Open House Marketing ~ caveat:

March 1, 2013

You’ve heard about “disclosure”… well, I believe that a Guest at an Open House needs to disclose if:

Anibal-Group-RealtyNetWorth-Selling-Open-house-brown-wooden-sofa-set-with-lighted-table-lamp

  • They are only being nosy – looking for decorating ideas
  • They’re hungry and looking for a cookie
  • They need to use the bathroom
  • They’re casing the joint  for goodies
  • They have ever been, or intend to be, rapists, murderers or other deviants

How does your broker attract well qualified serious buyers? How are they screened once in your home. Are your ‘smart house’ tools up to date and your valuables out of reach?

A good start: use ‘ID verification’ and get ‘proof of funds’.

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Two Simultaneous Principal Residence Exemptions

October 26, 2012

Homeowners who are selling their homes, but moved into another home elsewhere in the State, get to have two Imageprincipal resident exemptions. …the St of MI Act provides that an owner may retain an exemption for up to 3 tax years on property previously exempt as principal residence if that property:

• is not occupied;
• is for sale;
• is not leased; and
• is not used for any business or commercial purpose

Big penalty for not rescinding when the old home is sold.

We complete this form free for clients that have retained us under buy/sell brokerage, minimal fee for others.

DIY’s for profit ( but not necessarily fun )

October 22, 2012

Four piles ! – that’s the bottom line.

  • Toss it.
  • Donate it.
  • Sell it.
  • Keep, organize and store it.

  1. Wash or paint the walls and trim. Wash light switches. Please make windows spotless. No dust anywhere. Any closet, wall space, furniture inclusions in a given room & the garage or basement areas should be no more than 60% occupied – otherwise they look like the home lacks sufficient space for ‘stuff’.
  2. Those new fixtures you’ll install need bright bulbs! Windows/ shades open all the way.
  3. If you have hanging wires, your post-accepted offer inspector can cost you dearly. Don’t let those unstapled wires in the basement or garage beg for concessions – or worse – make the buyer walk.
  4. Trim back the bushes and make the house look bigger! Bright colored flowers on the porch. Water, fertilize and trim the lawn impeccably.
  5. Spend on bright, clean, new items including house plants to add $’s to the sale, get quicker responses, and bonus, you get to those bold wall hangings & new area rugs with you!
    • >> Please! Look at the decor in ‘on-markets’ and recently sold comps. If you are all ‘brass’ trimmed & they are brushed nickel, eBay or Home Depot are your best friend to swap knobs/ handles/ & lighting fixtures – inside and out. You’ll have only yourself to blame if you leave thousands behind because you didn’t spent hundreds to increase appeal.

If a seller wants to get the same price the neighbors got for their property, then I have expectations for them too !

Read the entire list with a caveat, e.g., I’d put kitchen bath rehab higher on the list, but if yours in no more than 5 years old and you clean clean clean, then its off the list. You get the idea.

 

Above is the jest of today’s suggested reading.

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“I’ll just Short Sell it ;-) “

September 25, 2012

Oh yeah ? Not so fast.

I hear it over and over – “lets bandwagon, let the bank have it, let it go, walk away”…after all, Mr Fix It is in the white house and America cares for the little guy, not those ding nab fat rich bankers !

Try on a dose of reality:

To short sell, you’ll need to prove hardship, and then wait for the income tax bill and higher insurance rates while you ponder getting sued for the short fall and remaining fall out of bad credit for 7 years.

..do NOT constitute hardship:

  1. Bad purchase decisions.
  2. Unhappy with the neighbors.
  3. Buying another home.
  4. Pregnancy.
  5. Moving into an apartment.

Examples of hardship are:

  1. Unemployment
  2. Divorce
  3. Medical emergency / sudden illness
  4. Bankruptcy
  5. Death

A decent article for the cold shower awaiting.

ps, consider buying something that makes sense in the first place – questions ? Call us.

For Sale By Owner com Founder used an agent

August 21, 2012

Today I learned something not so surprising.  CEO of ForSalebyOwner.com, Colby Sambrotto sold his home using a Realtor! said the article title.Anibal-Group-LLC-RealtyNetWorth-Marketing-Open-House-Signs_3_In-Yard_Open_ForSale_Website-2

He’d used his FSBO site for 6 months, then listed the property and sold it in weeks, …. for thousands more than he’d been asking no less. Why  is this NOT surprising to me? I’ve been in the business 30 yrs as a 2nd generation multi-state broker and even I know the value of not representing property yourself, Yes, I too have listed more than 1 property with other offices. Why ? I practice what I preach, that’s why.

With face to face buyer/seller situations I see many opportunities for immediate loss of strategy.

The buyers may think:

  • ‘Well, you’re not paying an agent so I’d like to save that cost’ (you get nothing extra for all your work).
  • They ask a question, seller answers, they move in and have a problem and say “well you said such and such and now I have this problem. (extra pain, no financial gain).
  • Or buyer is old, seller is young – buyer thinks, ‘we’ll offer much less since we should be in a better negotiating position due to our age’.
  • Or seller is old, buyer is young – buyer thinks, ‘we’re young and craftier then seller, we’ll make sure we get the anibal-group-llc-realty-net-worth-all-over-usa-seal-beach-california.pngbetter deal’.
  • Or seller is _____ and buyer is ______, the list goes on what personality and etc things can get in the way.
  • Forget the possibility for sellers violating disclosure requirements, HUD Fair Housing parameters, silent fraud, implied warranties,….

So what about me, a buyer, going it alone and buying from a FSBO ? Been there done that didn’t go well. Did it once and never again. If an agent isn’t there to talk sense into a seller on my behalf re: price/ repairs/ etc etc, it ends up a waste of my time. Unrealistic sellers that don’t have a plan of attack may even say YES to my fair price, but then I have to do all the work from then on with little to no help or cooperation from them. So I have to earn my discount running things about, setting up appraisals, closings, inspections, and no lockbox makes for a really (not) fun time getting back in the property after acceptance of offer.

I’m not surprised the FSBO chief used an agent, after all, I – a broker – prefer not to rep my own properties !

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The Best Time Of Year To Sell A Home

January 5, 2010

  • https://www.zillow.com/research/best-time-to-list-2018-19215/

    • ‘.. Nationwide, the first half of May is the best time to list a home ..’ 
  • Best month to sell Best day of the week to list Why?
    First half of May Saturday Nationally, homes listed for sale in this window sold almost two weeks faster than average, and for $2,500 more,

    ​

Property not moving quickly ?

 

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