The Secret To Selling For The Highest Price
For Home Sellers Who Want To Make The Most Money Possible – Part 1
Since the market started heating up, I’ve heard and read from multiple sources that home sellers can bypass a Realtor and sell their homes themselves saving the commission.
While, yes, this is certainly possible, statistics are against the for sale by owner with regard to the sales price that they will ultimately net from the sale.
The homeowner who takes on the sale themselves will receive, on average, more than 18% less than if they had sold with the help of a Realtor. Is it really worth it?
91% of all homes sold in 2012 were sold by a Realtor. 9% were sold by homeowners. The average homeowner sold for $174,900 while the average Realtor sold the home for $215,000. That’s an 18% difference between going to the “Dark Side” and doing it yourself.
Let’s just forget about the old sales crap Realtors spew out constantly to For Sale By Owners, or FSBO’s as they are commonly referred, ”you’ll have to hold the open houses yourself” and “the liability is just too great to risk” or “the paperwork is very tedious and difficult to figure out”.
The fact is you can sell your home yourself. It’s easy, pretty much anyone can do it and people do it all the time. There is no mystery here.
However, selling your home for the highest price however is not easy.
Clearly the statistics point to that. Is it worth $65,000 on average to avoid Realtors? 9% of people who sold their homes themselves thought so! (and sometimes, honestly, I can’t blame them!)
Selling with a Realtor will, on average, net you 12% more than if you sold yourself even AFTER paying a 6% commission.
The SECRET To Selling Your Home For The Most Money Possible
#1 – Hire a Realtor. Not just any Realtor but someone with a track record of success. 
I went on a listing appointment recently and showed the seller my ability, from results across the street from her, how I could make her the most money possible from the sale, as I did for her neighbor just 2 months before, then outlined my process.
She hired someone else who had no track record in her neighborhood who overpriced the home and here we are 50 days later in a very warm market and there the house sits, unsold and stale.
The market is asking “with as hot as it is out there and houses selling in a couple days tops, what’s wrong with this one?” Believe me this conversation is happening, warranted or not.
Once a listing gets stale, you’ll be lucky to get market price for the home. Homes that get stale, as a general rule, sell for less than market which leads us to Rule #2:
#2 – To sell for the highest price, start the initial listing price 1% to 2% below the market for homes with amenities and location of your home.
What? How does this make sense you ask? When a seller creates the perception of value in the mind of the buyer, buyers will compete for your home.
The initial listing price never means you must sell for that price. The goal of the initial listing price is to get butts through the sellers door.
Once we have interest then, if we’ve done the upfront work correctly, we’ll have multiple interested parties who will be pitted against each other and that will drive the price up BUT not the highest it can go.
I’ve sold homes throughout my career this way and have made my seller’s very happy. Sales for $30,000 over list, $18,500 and $51,000 over appraised value all in the last few months. Yes that’s correct…$51K over APPRAISED value not list price.
This strategy works and always has. The challenge is getting a seller to understand and believe that what they’re watching on HGTV is not real world. It helps no one to sell a home for less than market if it can be avoided.
NEXT in Part 2 – How To Keep The Buyer In Place Even If They Feel They’ve Paid Too Much
Buying or selling a home in Rocklin? If so, I’d like to help you. Please call or text me directly at 916-532-7653 or click here, for my contact page.
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