By Steve Levine
As we move into the fall season and inventory issues stabilize, it becomes more important than ever to find a way to make your particular home stand out from the crowd, in an effort to get the best possible sales price that you can.
Overall, I would have to say that the best piece of advice I have always given my clients has been not to “rush” the home onto the market, instead of taking the time to prepare it properly. For this, a pre-marketing team is an essential value-added service for an agent to bring to the table, and is the second thing you should ask a potential listing broker right after the obvious question of how many homes they’ve sold in their career. I’ve spent years assembling a team of professionals to assist with all aspects of pre-sale preparation. By bringing in my team of painters, handymen, stagers, landscapers, carpet installers, etc., I’m getting homes to hit the market as near to perfect as possible. The better job we can do in preparation, the higher price you’ll ultimately command for the property, and that’s a win-win for everyone. By removing that layer of stress from the transaction itself, we can add a level of piece of mind that enables a seller to relax, without worrying about the details of the sale.
Now that we the craziness of the summer is over, we can begin anew with a fresh approach, and with nothing but hope and optimism for what lies ahead. It’s hard for many to believe that the fall is still an amazing time to sell for top dollar. After all, many homeowners logically figure there are less buyers in the fall than there are in the spring, but there are also so many less homes for sale. We’re actually still seeing inventory shortages in many towns and ranges, so if you were on the market in the past, and your listing expired – or even if you weren’t – now is the time we should be talking. Once the tulips are blooming next March, you may be the last one to the party.
Working with people re-entering the market is one of my favorite things. It’s sometimes a bit challenging, because these homeowners often feel as though their last agent let them down. In the end we need to look at each and every one of these, and come up with the most decisive marketing strategy to get the job done. The one answer we know for sure isn’t that “nothing was selling” last year. In fact, an analysis of many towns shows that the number of sales increased
To try to help maximize profits this fall, I’ve opened up the Homeowners Blend program again, in the hope that we can get 10 or 12 new listings on that program this month. That’s always been a huge hit with the local home sellers, in that it provides real estate fees as low as 2.5, percent, which is a huge difference in profits. We already have all of the slots filled for October, but I have five open for November – so if you’re looking for a solution that will put a bit more money in your pocket, just give me a buzz at 508-735-4663 or email me at [email protected] and I’ll save you a place in the program.
Steve Levine is president of Steve Levine, Inc., and an agent for REMAX Professional Associates. He has been ranked 10 times as the top REMAX Agent in the six-state New England region, and can be reached online at www.stevelevine.net or by phone at 508-735-4663.
