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Old 02-24-2011, 04:37 PM
 
2 posts, read 2,528 times
Reputation: 10

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I own a georgeous 5br home in a very desireable area in Chatham Borough. The neighborhood couldn't be better and the proximity to the train (NYC), walk to town, schools, etc... have tremendous, tremendous value.

Here's the catch..

I want to stay in Chatham but I no longer need some of these premiere traits. I'm thinking about selling my home to a family who can take advantage of these things.

Does anyone know where to go to find buyers? I could easily "list" the house on a multiple service but -let's face it, the realtor fees will get passed along to the buyers. I know a lot about real estate and know what the house is worth ($1.3M).

I'd rather sell direct (in private) instead of broadcasting my intentions.

Ideas?
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Old 02-24-2011, 05:06 PM
 
Location: Vermont
5,439 posts, read 16,831,630 times
Reputation: 2651
You can get it listed on the MLS yourself. I can't remember, but one of these sites allows you to get it listed on realtor.com I think. I think it was $500. Anyone know ?

Also craigslist, buyowner.com, fsbo.com, etc.

I thought that most homes that try to sell by owner don't sell and eventually turn to a realtor.
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Old 02-25-2011, 12:12 AM
 
11,337 posts, read 11,006,487 times
Reputation: 14993
Don't be coy or play games. It makes little sense. You have a product. The best way to get the highest price for the product is to make it's availability known to the widest possible audience.

If you want to avoid using a Realtor, Google "How do I sell my home on the Internet" and proceed from there.

I've never understood the "secret seller" approach. Why limit yourself? The laws of supply and demand indicate that if you have a limited supply of a good product (your home in its location), then get the word out to the largest possible audience to create sufficient demand for you to realize the highest possible price and the most qualified buyer.

Your target audience is national, including all the transferees who might be moving into the area and who might compete for your home.

Plaster the Internet with quality photography, descriptions, and exhibits (interactive floor plans, surveys, etc.) Your house should have its own dedicated website, and on that website should be extensive photos, interactive floor plans, full motion video, a virtual tour, full documentation, feature lists, school rankings, links to everything of interest in Chatham, and whatever else you can think of that might cause a buyer to decide that your home is "the one".

Don't hedge or hesitate. You have a goal, commit to it, go full bore, and get the job done. If you aren't going to use a professional, BE the professional you aren't going to use.

Oh and by the way, have an appraisal done. You DON'T know how much your house is worth. You are not objective, you probably think it is worth more than it is, most sellers do. Pay $350 measly bucks and have a certified appraiser give you the data you need. Bottom line? It does not matter at all what you think your house is worth, it matters what the market thinks it's worth, and what the bank's appraisal will enable with respect to financing. If you get an appraisal done prior to marketing, you will have an inside look at what the bank appraiser will be thinking when he comes out to do the appraisal for your buyer's mortgage. That will enable you to price properly and to the market, like a professional does.

And have a stager and a cleaning service come in, like I do. You probably have too many pictures of your kids and dogs, too many artifacts and knick-knacks, and too much clutter. You need to de-personalize your home, it is now a product, and you do not want distractions of any kind to prevent potential clients from pre-visualizing their future life in their new home. The basement and garage need to be empty. The house needs to smell good. Any signs of deferred maintenance need to be erased.

Oil tank underground by any chance? Get rid of it. Your house cannot be sold with it anymore.

And when you are ready to show the house, do yourself a favor, let the people in, and get the heck out of town. A guided tour by a seller is the quickest way to make a buyer uncomfortable and cause him to want to leave immediately and get to the next, hopefully quiet and vacant, house. Pets? GONE! Nobody wants anything to do with dogs and cats and lizards and birds when looking for their next home. Make sure the buyers can't see them, and most importantly, can't smell them. Even if it's only a Chia Pet on a sunny window sill: Get rid of it!

Set up a display rack for your buyers, and make sure it contains a feature list, a brochure, floor plans, a survey, and your disclosure statement. Quality "takeaways" will keep your home in their memory when they get back to their current home.

And make sure you take professional pictures. Do the terms 16mm F/2.8 L, High Dynamic Range, Color Temperature, and Focus Stacking mean anything to you? If not, hire a pro photographer to create a portfolio of photos to help your home compete with the other available homes in Chatham. And how about full-motion video? Are you proficient with a Glidecam, Avid Media Composer, Boris FX, and Adobe Master Collection CS5? That is what you need to be able to use to create a professional Hi-Definition video presentation that will attract the most amount of buyers and generate the highest possible price. You want as many potential buyers involved as possible so make sure you do everything you can to make that happen.

Chatham is highly attractive to buyers moving from Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. So get some ads in the New York Times and on NYTimes.com. More city buyers competing for your home means a higher price and a higher likelihood of a qualified buyer.

Selling a house is war, and the enemy is the other houses competing with yours. Your images, video, staging, presentation, condition, and location need to make the other homes look like NO ALTERNATIVE AT ALL to the superior product you are offering.

The Spring Market is already underway, so you better get it in gear. Buyers want to close by early Summer to get settled in for the school year. You needs lots of them to compete with each other for the right to own the best home in its value range: yours! You have your work cut out for you.

Last edited by Marc Paolella; 02-25-2011 at 01:02 AM..
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Old 02-25-2011, 12:28 AM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 46,060,080 times
Reputation: 16273
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella View Post
Don't be coy or play games. It makes little sense. You have a product. The best way to get the highest price for the product is to make it's availability known to the widest possible audience.

If you want to avoid using a Realtor, Google "How do I sell my home on the Internet" and proceed from there.

I've never understood the "secret seller" approach. Why limit yourself? The laws of supply and demand indicate that if you have a limited supply of a good product (your home in its location), then get the word out to the largest possible audience to create sufficient demand for you to realize the highest possible price.

Your target audience is national, including all the transferees who might be moving into the area and who might compete for your home.

Plaster the Internet with quality photography, descriptions, and exhibits (floor plans, surveys, etc.)

Don't hedge or hesitate. You have a goal, commit to it, go full bore, and get the job done. If you aren't going to use a professional, BE the professional you aren't going to use.
Good post. Don't half ass it.
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Old 02-25-2011, 05:13 AM
 
Location: Vermont
5,439 posts, read 16,831,630 times
Reputation: 2651
^^^^ this is why they get paid. great advice.

My problem is that I don't think most realtors do what Marc says. Many realtor listed homes I go see on the internet have horrible pictures taken with cheap cameras with the shades drawn, etc. Not enough info on the internet, etc. How many listings don't even have more than 1 picture.. why is that?

my wife thinks there is such thing as "too much info" as in you don't want people to not come look at a house due to too much information being presented that they might not otherwise reject if they saw the house in person or if that info weren't being presented directly, but I am not so sure...

Last edited by joe moving; 02-25-2011 at 05:27 AM..
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Old 02-25-2011, 05:42 AM
 
3,269 posts, read 9,919,853 times
Reputation: 2025
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella View Post
Don't be coy or play games. It makes little sense. You have a product. The best way to get the highest price for the product is to make it's availability known to the widest possible audience.

]
Great post / advice by Marc. I would agree...if you are going to sell your house for the best price you need to tell the world, not keep it a secret.
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Old 02-25-2011, 07:13 AM
PDD
 
Location: The Sand Hills of NC
8,773 posts, read 18,342,639 times
Reputation: 12001
If you "think" you want to sell your home you can try doing it yourself.

If you "really" want to sell your home contact a Realtor.
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Old 02-25-2011, 07:52 AM
 
2,535 posts, read 6,652,948 times
Reputation: 1603
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella View Post
Don't be coy or play games. It makes little sense. You have a product. The best way to get the highest price for the product is to make it's availability known to the widest possible audience.

If you want to avoid using a Realtor, Google "How do I sell my home on the Internet" and proceed from there.

I've never understood the "secret seller" approach. Why limit yourself? The laws of supply and demand indicate that if you have a limited supply of a good product (your home in its location), then get the word out to the largest possible audience to create sufficient demand for you to realize the highest possible price and the most qualified buyer.

Your target audience is national, including all the transferees who might be moving into the area and who might compete for your home.

Plaster the Internet with quality photography, descriptions, and exhibits (interactive floor plans, surveys, etc.) Your house should have its own dedicated website, and on that website should be extensive photos, interactive floor plans, full motion video, a virtual tour, full documentation, feature lists, school rankings, links to everything of interest in Chatham, and whatever else you can think of that might cause a buyer to decide that your home is "the one".

Don't hedge or hesitate. You have a goal, commit to it, go full bore, and get the job done. If you aren't going to use a professional, BE the professional you aren't going to use.

Oh and by the way, have an appraisal done. You DON'T know how much your house is worth. You are not objective, you probably think it is worth more than it is, most sellers do. Pay $350 measly bucks and have a certified appraiser give you the data you need. Bottom line? It does not matter at all what you think your house is worth, it matters what the market thinks it's worth, and what the bank's appraisal will enable with respect to financing. If you get an appraisal done prior to marketing, you will have an inside look at what the bank appraiser will be thinking when he comes out to do the appraisal for your buyer's mortgage. That will enable you to price properly and to the market, like a professional does.

And have a stager and a cleaning service come in, like I do. You probably have too many pictures of your kids and dogs, too many artifacts and knick-knacks, and too much clutter. You need to de-personalize your home, it is now a product, and you do not want distractions of any kind to prevent potential clients from pre-visualizing their future life in their new home. The basement and garage need to be empty. The house needs to smell good. Any signs of deferred maintenance need to be erased.

Oil tank underground by any chance? Get rid of it. Your house cannot be sold with it anymore.

And when you are ready to show the house, do yourself a favor, let the people in, and get the heck out of town. A guided tour by a seller is the quickest way to make a buyer uncomfortable and cause him to want to leave immediately and get to the next, hopefully quiet and vacant, house. Pets? GONE! Nobody wants anything to do with dogs and cats and lizards and birds when looking for their next home. Make sure the buyers can't see them, and most importantly, can't smell them. Even if it's only a Chia Pet on a sunny window sill: Get rid of it!

Set up a display rack for your buyers, and make sure it contains a feature list, a brochure, floor plans, a survey, and your disclosure statement. Quality "takeaways" will keep your home in their memory when they get back to their current home.

And make sure you take professional pictures. Do the terms 16mm F/2.8 L, High Dynamic Range, Color Temperature, and Focus Stacking mean anything to you? If not, hire a pro photographer to create a portfolio of photos to help your home compete with the other available homes in Chatham. And how about full-motion video? Are you proficient with a Glidecam, Avid Media Composer, Boris FX, and Adobe Master Collection CS5? That is what you need to be able to use to create a professional Hi-Definition video presentation that will attract the most amount of buyers and generate the highest possible price. You want as many potential buyers involved as possible so make sure you do everything you can to make that happen.

Chatham is highly attractive to buyers moving from Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. So get some ads in the New York Times and on NYTimes.com. More city buyers competing for your home means a higher price and a higher likelihood of a qualified buyer.

Selling a house is war, and the enemy is the other houses competing with yours. Your images, video, staging, presentation, condition, and location need to make the other homes look like NO ALTERNATIVE AT ALL to the superior product you are offering.

The Spring Market is already underway, so you better get it in gear. Buyers want to close by early Summer to get settled in for the school year. You needs lots of them to compete with each other for the right to own the best home in its value range: yours! You have your work cut out for you.

This is hands down one of the most informative and helpful posts I've read on city data. My advice is to follow this to the letter...and if that should fail hire Marc to sell it for you.

Last edited by Goldendoodle1969; 02-25-2011 at 08:10 AM..
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Old 02-25-2011, 07:54 AM
 
572 posts, read 2,018,526 times
Reputation: 341
Great advice and great post. I would definitely want you as my realtor if I were selling!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Paolella View Post
Don't be coy or play games. It makes little sense. You have a product. The best way to get the highest price for the product is to make it's availability known to the widest possible audience.

If you want to avoid using a Realtor, Google "How do I sell my home on the Internet" and proceed from there.

I've never understood the "secret seller" approach. Why limit yourself? The laws of supply and demand indicate that if you have a limited supply of a good product (your home in its location), then get the word out to the largest possible audience to create sufficient demand for you to realize the highest possible price and the most qualified buyer.

Your target audience is national, including all the transferees who might be moving into the area and who might compete for your home.

Plaster the Internet with quality photography, descriptions, and exhibits (interactive floor plans, surveys, etc.) Your house should have its own dedicated website, and on that website should be extensive photos, interactive floor plans, full motion video, a virtual tour, full documentation, feature lists, school rankings, links to everything of interest in Chatham, and whatever else you can think of that might cause a buyer to decide that your home is "the one".

Don't hedge or hesitate. You have a goal, commit to it, go full bore, and get the job done. If you aren't going to use a professional, BE the professional you aren't going to use.

Oh and by the way, have an appraisal done. You DON'T know how much your house is worth. You are not objective, you probably think it is worth more than it is, most sellers do. Pay $350 measly bucks and have a certified appraiser give you the data you need. Bottom line? It does not matter at all what you think your house is worth, it matters what the market thinks it's worth, and what the bank's appraisal will enable with respect to financing. If you get an appraisal done prior to marketing, you will have an inside look at what the bank appraiser will be thinking when he comes out to do the appraisal for your buyer's mortgage. That will enable you to price properly and to the market, like a professional does.

And have a stager and a cleaning service come in, like I do. You probably have too many pictures of your kids and dogs, too many artifacts and knick-knacks, and too much clutter. You need to de-personalize your home, it is now a product, and you do not want distractions of any kind to prevent potential clients from pre-visualizing their future life in their new home. The basement and garage need to be empty. The house needs to smell good. Any signs of deferred maintenance need to be erased.

Oil tank underground by any chance? Get rid of it. Your house cannot be sold with it anymore.

And when you are ready to show the house, do yourself a favor, let the people in, and get the heck out of town. A guided tour by a seller is the quickest way to make a buyer uncomfortable and cause him to want to leave immediately and get to the next, hopefully quiet and vacant, house. Pets? GONE! Nobody wants anything to do with dogs and cats and lizards and birds when looking for their next home. Make sure the buyers can't see them, and most importantly, can't smell them. Even if it's only a Chia Pet on a sunny window sill: Get rid of it!

Set up a display rack for your buyers, and make sure it contains a feature list, a brochure, floor plans, a survey, and your disclosure statement. Quality "takeaways" will keep your home in their memory when they get back to their current home.

And make sure you take professional pictures. Do the terms 16mm F/2.8 L, High Dynamic Range, Color Temperature, and Focus Stacking mean anything to you? If not, hire a pro photographer to create a portfolio of photos to help your home compete with the other available homes in Chatham. And how about full-motion video? Are you proficient with a Glidecam, Avid Media Composer, Boris FX, and Adobe Master Collection CS5? That is what you need to be able to use to create a professional Hi-Definition video presentation that will attract the most amount of buyers and generate the highest possible price. You want as many potential buyers involved as possible so make sure you do everything you can to make that happen.

Chatham is highly attractive to buyers moving from Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. So get some ads in the New York Times and on NYTimes.com. More city buyers competing for your home means a higher price and a higher likelihood of a qualified buyer.

Selling a house is war, and the enemy is the other houses competing with yours. Your images, video, staging, presentation, condition, and location need to make the other homes look like NO ALTERNATIVE AT ALL to the superior product you are offering.

The Spring Market is already underway, so you better get it in gear. Buyers want to close by early Summer to get settled in for the school year. You needs lots of them to compete with each other for the right to own the best home in its value range: yours! You have your work cut out for you.
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Old 02-25-2011, 08:07 AM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,366,438 times
Reputation: 3730
i didn't read all of marc's advice. but i think generally speaking, it's truly worth using a realtor. the bottom line is, people will offer you what your home is worth to them. what is it worth to you? what are the comps? if you do FSBO, which you absolutely can, are you going to sell your house for less than market value because you didn't pay a realtor commission? the buyer doesn't see the commission, so unless they are smart enough to negotiate the commission out of the price, why would you pay less than market value? seller pays commission. it can be argued that it's priced in, which it's been argued in another thread, and that may be right...but if your neighbor owns the exact same house as you, and sells it with a realtor for 1.3M, are you gonna sell yours for 1.2 because you didn't use a realtor, or are you gonna say to a buyer...this house just sold for 1.3, and it's exactly the same?

use a realtor! likely, they'll save you time and effort, and will get you a better price, more than making their commission worth it! IMHO at least.
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