Selling Tips


Jump to: First Impressions >> Marketing Strategy >> Sell Your Home

First Impressions Last!

Why try to tell a prospective buyer how your home could look when you can show him with just a few small repairs, some clean-up and a little redecorating? Many times, buyers overestimate the costs of painting and repairs. Showing your home to its best advantage will result in a faster sale at a higher price.

Here are some things you can do to enhance the sale of your house.

  • The front door greets the prospects. Make sure it is clean and inviting. Paint gutters and downspouts. Keep your lawn well manicured.
  • Faded walls and woodwork reduce appeal. A small investment in painting will make your home look fresh and can return more in additional selling price.
  • Pay attention to details - loose knobs, sticking doors and windows, pushed out screen doors and other minor flaws detract from your home's value.
  • Fix that faucet! Dripping water discolors sinks and implies faulty plumbing. Always make sure sinks and drains are clean and clear.
  • Bathrooms help sell homes. Check and repair caulking around tubs and showers. Make this room sparkle, enhance it with fresh flowers, clean guest towels and bathmats as you would for a special guest.
  • Arrange bedrooms neatly. Remove excess furniture and use attractive bedspreads and freshly laundered curtains. Open the windows and let lots of fresh air in.
  • Make closets look bigger. Neat, well ordered closets show that space is ample. Closet lights are a special bonus: put some in!
  • Display the full value of your attic and basement by removing all unnecessary articles. Perhaps, now is the time to start packing some of these items, and have neatly stacked boxes instead of cluttered shelves.
  • Let the sun shine in! Open drapes and curtains to show how cheerful your home can be. Turn on every light in the house including closet lights.
  • Soft music is inviting. Have the intercom or stereo tuned to a station of soft background music.
  • Pets underfoot? Keep them out of the way - preferably out of the house. Pay special attention to pet odors in the house: air it out often.
  • Silence is golden. Be courteous but don't force conversation with the potential buyer. He wants to inspect your house, not pay a social call.
  • Three's a crowd. Avoid having many people present during inspections. The prospect will feel like an intruder and will hurry through the house. Too many people in a house makes it look smaller.


The Marketing Strategy To Sell Your House.

There is a lot more to selling your house than simply putting it on the market. The key to a successful sale is Exposure. At Helen Adams Realty, we employ a wide range of marketing methods all geared to provide maximum exposure for your property.

Local & National Marketing
The Helen Adams Realty's strategic marketing plans effectively bring qualified buyers and sellers together. In addition to local advertising to reach interested buyers, Helen Adams Realty has extensive marketing resources to reach buyers from across the nation.

Corporate support for these efforts include:

  • An exclusive partnership with The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce allows over 50,000 visitors to search for Helen Adams listings on an interactive kiosk at the Chamber's Visitor's Center in Uptown Charlotte. Helen Adams listings are also advertised via a link on the Charlotte Chamber's official website: www.charlottechamber.com. Helen Adams listings are also advertised at and updated weekly at the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce. Our company receives several hundred leads a month from the Chamber regarding people who are moving into the Charlotte area.
  • Our listings are promoted extensively on the Internet through www.charlotte.com, www.Realtor.com, www.carolinahome.com, www.charlottechamber.com, www.UptownClt.com, www.trulia.com and will soon be promoted nationally on www.bankofamerica.com.
  • Our listings are advertised in major local newspapers and magazines like: The Charlotte Observer, Uptown Magazine, Lake Norman Magazine, Ballantyne Magazine, The Huntersville Herald, The Mountain Island Monitor, and are displayed at the Charlotte and Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce.
  • "On The Move" is our company newsletter.  This free, tabloid-sized publication features our home listings and it is direct mailed bi-monthly to Charlotte residents, REALTORS and our agent's Past Clients and Sphere of Influence.  

    Referral Network
    A great part of the "visibility" we use to sell your property cannot actually be seen. A large percentage of our clients are referred by former clients, and friends and business associates of former clients.

    Signage
    Helen Adams Realty has a professional image, and more than half of our buyers come to us as a result of the signs posted in front yards.

    Multiple Listing Service
    Your home will also be visible through the Multiple Listing Service. This Listing is used daily not only by our Associates, but by Realtors in the area, thus assuring maximum exposure for your home.
  • Showing Appointments Made 24/ 7. Helen Adams Realty has the ability to make showing appointments for your listing 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.
  • Support Staff - Helen Adams has a full time support staff, specialized in managing all email and website inquiries about your listing as well as calls from our toll free 800#.


Selling Your Home

When you're ready to think about buying or selling your property, you need to ask yourself the following questions: Do you have the time, energy, sources of information, and contacts to do the job yourself?

If you were one of the 'do-it-yourself' people, would the results be as good or better than they would be if you had professional assistance? Would it have gone smoother? Would it have given you more personal time? Would you have purchased for less, or sold for more, if a real estate agent was involved? There are obvious advantages to both.

Pricing
This process generally begins with a determination of a reasonable asking price. Your real estate agent can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms, and condition of competing properties. These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle.

Marketing
The next step is a marketing plan. Often, your agent can recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of the property. Marketing includes the exposure of your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets across the country, over 50% of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer. Your agent acts as the marketing coordinator, disbursing information about your property to other real estate agents through a Multiple Listing Service or other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc.

Advertising is part of marketing. The choice of media and frequency of advertising depends a lot on the property and specific market. For example, in some areas, newspaper advertising generates phone calls to the real estate office but statistically has minimum effectiveness in selling a specific property. Overexposure of a property in any media may give a buyer the impression the property is distressed or the seller is desperate. Your real estate agent will know when, where and how to advertise your property.

There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. The National Association of REALTORS studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends and family, and personal contacts.

Security
When the property is marketed with an agent's help, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Agents will generally pre-screen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

Negotiating
The negotiation process deals with much the same issues for both buyers and sellers, as noted above under the buying process. Your agent can help you objectively evaluate every buyer's proposal without compromising your marketing position. This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections, and financing -- a lot of possible pitfalls. Your agent can help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.

Monitoring, Renegotiating and Closing
Between the initial sales agreement and closing (or settlement), questions may arise. For example, unexpected repairs are required to obtain financing or a cloud in the title is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. Your Helen Adams Realty agent is the best person to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing (or settlement).

How Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid?

Real estate agents or brokers are generally paid through the sales commission paid by the seller when a transaction closes. Agents have expenses and financial obligations just like you, so it will be to your mutual benefit if you choose a real estate agent and stick with that person. The agent will respect your loyalty and respond with a sincere commitment to you.
 
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