A common thread emerges when dealing with clients. Four frequent and important concerns are...

• Dollars: What's in your pocket when the deal is done? If you’re like most of us you want to maximize the sale of your home or cottage for the most dollars. Would you be surprised to learn it’s not just list price alone?
   
• Promotion: Are they all the same... or are some strategies better than others? Personally, I believe that some strategies do offer better market opportunity.
   
• Traffic: Just how does your property get onto the buyers search list and sell in a reasonable period of time? If you had the best piece of real estate on the market, and nobody ever came, you would likely never see an offer. Marketing must be focused on generating traffic through your front door.
   
• Communication: My system provides you with online access to important communiqués 24 hours a day seven days a week. Have you ever listed a home/cottage with a realtor and never heard from them again... I know some of you have. My system is designed to keep you informed and included in and through the entire process. You will have access to buyer activity feedback, listing activity, promotion activity, things needed and to be done, and even email alerts for important dates in the selling process.   Sample Online Communication Format
   

Whether you are a first time home seller or experienced home seller there are many decisions that require your careful consideration. Among those many decisions, is one of utmost importance - Choose your Real Estate Professional wisely.
 

Does the Realtor you want to work with educate you so that you can make an informed decision, or simply take the ten-minute-tour and tell you what they think. While it is true, a Realtor’s experience can provide valuable market insight, the bottom line is this: It’s your investment, and likely the largest you’ll ever have. You should know first-hand if what the Realtor or the neighbour down the street has the hard-data to back up what they are they are telling you.

I believe my job is to provide my clients with sensible knowledge, education and tools that empower them to make an informed decision regarding their real estate investments. Some of the tools I provide along with important valuable advice and market insights are:

• My report “Thinking About Selling”
• A comprehensive Competitive Market Analysis
• The analysis of what has sold over the past twelve months
• The report on what has not sold over the past twelve months
• The current market statement of who the competition is and their asking price
• The market statistics overview for the past three years
• The monthly market sales analysis as to what has sold and when
• The price category breakdown to help identify market positioning opportunity and niches

When selecting a Real Estate Professional to work with, consider the following:

• Are you sensing that there is a cohesive working relationship?
• Is there a unique, effective marketing approach?
• Is there a method to quantify and qualify potential buyers?
• Is there client access to important communiqués 24 hours every day?

After we, together, have identified where to position your home in the market we will need to bring it to the market utilizing the most effective means.

Did you know… that the first four weeks is the most important time on the market for the sale of your home? Don’t miss this point – It’s important! If your home has not sold in those first four weeks you’ve missed the greatest window of opportunity to sell the home in a reasonable time and for the most dollars.

So you don’t misunderstand, let me interject: It’s not that homes don’t sell in a timeframe longer than the first four-weeks. Many in fact do. Market influences may have some impact on this timeframe, and yes, you will receive my Days-On-Market report as part of my market evaluation. What I am trying to say is this; the moment your property hits the market, all active buyers in waiting, that are looking for a property like yours, in the correct price range, will want to view your home. After the first four weeks, that pool of potential buyers will have been-there and done-that and have moved on. If they don’t tender an offer then you will have to wait for new potential buyers to enter the market, one buyer at a time. That is why the first four weeks is so critical and that is why you want to enter the market well positioned.

The realtor you hire had better have more than a shoot-from-the-hip approach. What is needed is an actual Marketing Plan that identifies the, who(s), what(s), when(s), where(s) and why(s).

• Who is our target for the property features and benefits?
• What is our admat content and format?
• When are we to engage the “what”?
• Where is the “what” to seen by our target?
• Why are we doing what we are doing?

Remember This, It’s Important: The first four weeks is your biggest window of opportunity and it had better be good!

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit...
               Wisdom is knowing to not put it in a fruit salad.

Knowledge is knowing that real estate agents help you to sell real estate...
               Wisdom is knowing that not all real estate agents are created equal.

The process is part of the marketing plan. It includes the implementation, monitoring, measurable analysis and follow-up on the plan’s progress and effectiveness. For example: It’s not just running an advertisement, but rather it’s running the advertisement and having the ability to track the effectiveness of an advertisement.

• How many calls are you getting from an advertisement?
• What is the quality of those calls?
• What is the result from those calls?
• Are we generating traffic?
• If yes, what is the feedback?
• If no, what can we change to generate traffic?

The objective of marketing is to stimulate buyer activity, identify our strengths – weaknesses – opportunities and threats and implement the solutions necessary to get the homerun... our sale!
 

Congratulation! You have received an offer.
      Now there is the negotiating, firming and the closing of the deal.

While you do want a good negotiator on your side, you don’t want a “bull in a china shop”. Your realtor negotiator should have assertiveness, but not be overly aggressive. Think about it, nobody really likes an overly aggressive sales person.

Your agent should have market flexibility, sensitivity and the finesse to identify when is the time to press the buyer’s agent for more and when it is time to accept. The objective must always be to get an offer, firm it up and close a deal that works for both the buyer and the seller. Let’s be realistic, in today’s savvy market, both buyers and sellers are generally well educated and as a result the deal has to make sense for both parties or it simply won’t happen.

Once the offer has been accepted, there are usually conditions such as various inspections, insurance, finance and others that need to be dealt with. Your agent needs to stay on top of these conditions and their respective dates. If there’s a hiccup it’s up to your agent to work the issue through with you and the buyer to get your offer to go firm. Sometimes this means standing firm and sometimes this means a little give and take... you had better have a skilled agent on your side that either has the answers or has the resources to get those answers. Failure for the agent you hire to follow-through on this critical step may result in your deal falling apart and eroding a big chunk of that first four-week ever-important timeframe.
 

If you are ready to take the next step:

Step 1. Call me and ask me to visit you home.
I’m not going to pressure you. I am going to put your best interest up front and evaluate your home, your personal needs, your objectives, as well as your prior successes and failures with this specific home. I will also provide you with some information to read that we will talk about during my second visit.

Step 2. Competitive Market Analysis and report preparation
I will prepare a competitive market analysis that will look at the features and benefits of your home compared with other similar homes to evaluate what sales have occurred in the market over the past twelve or so months. I will also put together various other tools and reports that we will evaluate and use to help us better position your home in the real-marketplace.

Step 3. My return visit
Together we will assess prior successes and failures with your home/cottage, if applicable, as well as evaluate the data and information to determine an effective market position. We will also discuss what needs to be done to maximize dollars in your pocket in a reasonable period of time. We will take time to talk about strategy, marketing and I will answer any questions you may have.

I look forward to talking with you soon.

Regards
Mike Bussiere

Office:  (705) 788-1444
Cellular:  (705) 787-5333
Toll Free:  1-800-817-8850

Re/Max New Lifestyles
Huntsville, Ontario, Canada