Staging Secrets Revealed

Small Things can Make a Big Difference

Decluttering and cleaning are the two most important things sellers can do to get their house ready for showings. But small touches — new bathroom towels, a well-placed bouquet of flowers or an accent color — can liven up your listings. Here, we spent about $70 on fresh flowers and another $400 on props to stage a few key areas of a 1920s bungalow. Other props were borrowed.

Warm it Up

Bring life to a monotone bathroom with contrasting draperies and towels. A towel rack hung upside-down is reversed, so towels can be displayed on the rack rather than the tub. A borrowed table adds elegance and carries the eye upward, making the room feel more spacious. Purchased: Drapes, $80; towels, $25; wastebasket-tissue-box-handtowel set, $18


Create Focal Points

Above, a bench and mirrored hatstand that blend into the woodwork are replaced with contrasting furniture. The boldly colored chest and pillow combine to provide a focal point. Purchased: Blue vase, $25; pillow, $30


Pare Down

Books and photos go into storage, replaced with accent pieces and flowers that brighten the dark shelves. Purchased: Square baskets, $10; white mirror, $12; white vase, $30; top-shelf basket, $25


Accent With Color

Surfaces are decluttered and red accents added to enliven a seating area. Purchased: Nothing except the flowers

Think in Threes

Odd numbers create tension that provides visual interest. This principle is applied with three grass bundles on the fireplace hearth and three varied-height vases on the kitchen counter below. A painting retrieved from storage and a larger rug improve the balance of and add warmth to the mantle area. Purchased: Grass bundles, $30


Set a Scene

Kitchen counters are transformed from utility into a welcoming oasis. Purchased: Cream vases, $40; succulents, $12; pear tray, $13; basket, $5; towels, $8

-- Realtor.org

Criteria for Selecting the Best Listing Agent

Two of the biggest mistakes home sellers make when choosing a listing agent are selecting an agent solely based on:

• Highest List Price for Your Home
  
• Lowest Commission

At first glance, a seller might say, "What?! Are you nuts?!" Because sellers want the highest possible price and to pay the least amount of commission. But those two criterion have very little to do with hiring a competent agent and, in many instances, are completely irrelevant. Let's look at why.

The Highest Suggested List Price

Agents can't tell you how much your home will sell for. That's a fallacy. A listing agent can show you comparable sales, pending sales and active sales. But YOU choose the sales price and a buyer will tell you if the price is right.

Unfortunately, to get the listing, some agents distort the truth.

Since agents can't guarantee your sales price, the listing agent who suggests the highest price is probably untruthful. Ask the agent to show you numbers supporting that suggested list price. They probably won't have them or the home sales will be located in a different neighborhood.

Look for a listing agent who gives you a range.

There is always a price range. It might be apart $10,000 on the low-end versus the high, or the spread might be greater. Many factors determine the range, among which are location, temperature of the market and improvements.

Pricing is an art.

The best time for an offer is within the first 30 days on market. If the home is priced right, you'll get an offer. If it's priced too high, you might not get any showings at all; buyers will shun your home and you'll eventually end up reducing the price, leaving buyers wondering what's wrong with your house.

Should You Choose an Agent Based on Commission?

Real estate agents are not equal; each is unique. Remember about 10% of the agents do 90% of the business. Each has their own marketing techniques and advertising budget. Your goal is to gain greater exposure to the largest number of buyers, which is ideal. Reaching greater numbers of buyers equals better chances of a good offer.

Why would an agent willingly work for less than competitors?

There is always a reason why a broker or real estate agent would discount a real estate fee. Sometimes it's the only way the agent feels it's possible to compete in a highly competitive business, because the agent can't stand apart from the competition on service, knowledge or negotiation skills.

If the sole benefit an agent brings to a table is a cheap fee, ask yourself why. Is the agent desperate for business or unqualified? Do you want to work with a desperate agent?

Sometimes full-service agents will negotiate a lower commission under special circumstances such as:

• You're buying a home and selling a home at the same time, giving both transactions to one agent.


• You're willing to do all the legwork, advertising, marketing, and pay for expenses related to the sale.


• You promise to refer more business to the agent, which would result in multiple transactions.


• You're selling more than one home.


• You don't have enough equity to pay a full commission.


• The agent accepts you as a pro bono case.


• The agent will lose the listing unless she matches a competitor's fee.


• The agent wants the signage (exposure to traffic) over charging a full commission.

If you are interviewing agents who offer similar services and can't decide between them, ask to see a track record of each agent's original list price and final sale numbers. Odds are the lowest-fee agent will show more price reductions and longer DOM. The difference between an agent who charges 5% and 6% is 1%. Ask yourself how you come out ahead if your price ends up being reduced 2% because you chose a lower-fee agent who could not afford to actively market your home.

Tip: If your home is located in a hard-to-sell neighborhood, hire an agent who lives in the neighborhood / sells homes in that neighborhood. Don't hire an out-of-area agent who can't adequately tackle the challenge without first-hand knowledge of the area.

Top 10 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Agent

With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask me, "Why should we hire a real estate agent?" They wonder, and rightfully so, if they couldn't buy or sell a home through the Internet or through regular marketing and advertising channels without representation, without a a real estate agent. Some do OK, many don't. So if you've wondered the same thing, here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

1. Education & Experience

You don't need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. The trick is to find the right person. For the most part, they all cost about the same. Why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We're all looking for more precious time in our lives, and hiring pros gives us that time.

I work as a full-time REALTOR®. Much of my "free" time is spent thinking and planning for my clients. Every day, I read and study many resources that will improve my knowlege as a professional real estate agent so that I can effectively serve you and protect your interests.

2. Agents are Buffers

As your agent, I take the spam out of your property showings and visits. If you're a buyer of new homes, I will whip out my "sword" and keep the builder's agents at bay, preventing them from biting or nipping at your heels. If you're a seller, as your agent I will filter all those phone calls that lead to nowhere from lookie-loos and try to induce serious buyers to immediately write an offer.

3. Neighborhood Knowledge

As your agent, I make it a priority to possess intimate knowledge about the industry buzz about your neighborhood. I can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction of where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example, you may know that a home down the street was on the market for $350,000, but an as your agent, I will know it had upgrades and sold at $285,000 after 65 days on the market and after twice falling out of escrow.

4. Price Guidance

Contrary to what some people believe, real estate agents do not select prices for sellers or buyers. However, as your agent, I help to guide clients as they make the right choices for themselves. If a listing is at 6%, for example, an agent only has a 6% vested interest in the sale, but the client has a 94% interest! As your exclusive seller's agent, I will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose a price. Then based on market supply, demand and the conditions, as your agent, I will devise a negotiation strategy.

5. Market Conditions Information

As your real estate agent, I can disclose market conditions which will govern your selling or buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Data such as the average per square foot cost of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do.

6. Professional Networking

As a real estate agent, I network with other professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, agents are restrained from recommending a certain individual or company over another, but we do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency and competitive pricing. As your exclusive seller's agent, I can, however, give you a list of references that I have worked with and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.

7. Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality

As your exclusive agent, I negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, I can remove myself from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because my skill has been sharpened by experience and knowlege. It's part of my job description! Good agents are not messengers, delivering buyer's offers to sellers and vice versa. We are professionals who are trained to present our client's case in the best light and agree to hold our client's information confidential from competing interests.

8. Handling Volumes of Paperwork

One-page deposit receipts were prevalent in the early 1970s. Today's purchase agreements run 8 pages or more. That does not include the federal- and state-mandated disclosures nor disclosures dictated by local custom. Most real estate files average a thicknesses of one to three inches of paper! One tiny mistake or omission could land you in court or cost you thousands.

9. Answer Questions After Closing

Even the smoothest transactions that close without complications can come back to haunt. For example, taxing authorities that collect property tax assessments, doc stamps or transfer tax can fall months behind and mix up invoices, but one call to me can straighten out the confusion. Many questions can pop up that were overlooked in the excitement of closing. As your exclusive agent, I will stand by ready to assist and not leave you in the dust to fend for yourself.

10. Develop Relationships for Future Business

The basis for my success as a REALTOR® and continued career in real estate is referrals. Few agents would survive if their livelihood was dependent on consistently drumming up new business. This emphasis gives me strong incentives to make certain that my clients are happy and satisfied. It also means that because I maintain my reputation as an excellent again I will be there for you when you need to hire an agent again!

It's in your best interest to be represented as a buyer or a seller. Usually, the other person in this transaction is represented and you are at a distinct disadvantage if you do not have an exclusive agent looking out for your best interests during this time.

How do you find a qualified agent? That's the easy part. Just CLICK HERE!




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