Marketing

Overpricing your home, even by a small margin, is the number one way to sabotage your chances of getting top dollar for your home. Here's why: 

First, buyers are looking at homes online. And they know their budget, so they can filter their search results. Now, if you’re house is worth $599,000, but you want to try pricing it at $630,000, your listing won’t even show up in the search results for buyers willing to spend up to $600,000! 

Secondly, the agents who represent buyers know immediately if a home is overpriced, and they will inform their clients. In many cases, agents and their buyers assume that sellers who overprice are not serious about selling; they just want to test the market to

see if they can get an offer that makes it worth moving. So serious buyers will steer clear. And the longer the home sits on the market, the worse it looks to potential buyers. Then you’ll need to reduce the price after a few months, which makes buyers wonder if there is a problem with the house.

Devil’s advocate: let’s say you overprice your listing and actually find a buyer willing to pay the higher price. But then the buyer’s lender orders an appraisal to confirm the value of the property, and the appraisal comes in lower than the offer price. In many cases, buyers will then reopen negotiations on the price. Worst-case scenario: the lender will refuse to issue a loan for the house, and you’ll have to start over at square one, looking for a new buyer.

Pricing correctly from day one helps you avoid this disaster.

To get an accurate price on your home, we will gather data and help you analyze comparable properties (comps), location, size, age, condition, updates, and a host of other relevant factors. Through this analysis, we will come to a price that strikes the right balance between current market conditions and the features that make your home attractive to buyers.

Our goal is to sell your home for the most amount of money possible, in the shortest amount of time. To do that, we need your property to stand out in online searches and to impress buyers when they tour. So we need to properly prepare your home to be marketed. 

Here are some tips for helping your property show its best and maximizing your return on investment:

• Focus on curb appeal. First impressions matter, so make this one count. Consider pressure washing, fresh paint on doors and shutters, replacing house numbers, and a new mailbox. And of course, clean out the flowerbeds, spread fresh mulch, and plant some seasonal flowers.
• Make sure your kitchen shines. Kitchens sell houses, so make yours stand out by clearing out the clutter and updating the hardware. And please, please, please, make sure it’s clean!
• Reduce furniture and decor to a minimum. Too much furniture (or furniture that is too big) will make your rooms look small and choppy. Arrange the furniture in a way that makes each room feel spacious, homey, and easy to navigate.
• Depersonalize your home. Remove all the family photos, keepsakes, refrigerator art, toys, and personal items in the bathroom. You want the buyer to easily envision themselves in your home, not you in your home.

According to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), 37% of contracts fall through because of repair issues sellers could have addressed before listing their property. 

Most buyers have an inspection done on the property as soon as they get a home under contract. If there are serious issues found, the buyers (or their lender) could require repairs or even cancel the purchase contract.

For this reason, we recommend getting a presale inspection. This will give you a heads-up about potential issues so that you can address any items that need to be handled before listing the house.

The photos of your home directly influence whether or not a potential buyer will schedule a showing. It is crucial that we take high-quality, appealing photos of your listing, showcasing the best qualities and features of the home.

We work with the top real estate photographers in the area to capture the property in the best light. This is so important that we pay for this service on your behalf. Never work with an agent who skimps on professional photos or allows cellphone photos to represent your listing!

The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is your key to getting on the radar of buyers and their agents, all over the world! Because of this expansive reach, our team is strategic about when and how we go live in the MLS. We will gather information about your home to understand its unique selling points, and write a detailed, professional listing description to entice buyer’s agents and their clients to schedule a tour.

Once your home is live on the MLS, it will be syndicated to thousands of websites (like Zillow and Realtor.com). This gives your home worldwide exposure to potential buyers!

In addition to the worldwide market exposure through the MLS and subsequent syndication to other real estate websites, you can expect your marketing plan from De Costa Realty to come with a custom plan for further advertising and promotion, including:

• Social media promotion
• Email marketing campaigns
• Signage
• “Just listed” eFlyers
• A slideshow property tour
• Online promotions
• Print advertising
• Notifications to local real estate agents
• An open house (to local brokers and/or the general public, depending on market conditions and your personal preferences)