Why Isn’t my Condo Selling? …My Magic Recipe!
I’ve met with hundreds of sellers over my career and the two most important things that sellers want to know is: #1 How much can I get (net) for my home? And #2 How long will it take to sell?
I have been answering these two questions for over 20 years and each time I explain that real estate is a numbers game based on the history of sold comparables and my MAGIC RECIEPE.
In this blog article I am going to explain what my Magic Recipe is and explain what you need to do to get your real estate investment sold for the highest amount of money in least amount of time. If your real estate investment is on the market and NOT selling then maybe this article will help you trouble-shoot and consider a few suggestions to hopefully change things around for yourself.
In 1996 when I began my career, we did not have condos on the market…condos weren’t even a thing yet! The Cell Phones were slowly hitting the market, Fax Machines were the state-of-the-art technology, and we got all of our contracts signed in person. I share this fact not to date myself but to share how much things have changed over the past 2.5 decades. But what hasn’t changed is my Magic Recipe and perfectly mastering the balance to successfully transition an anxious seller to a thrilled SOLD property!
Just like with any delicious recipe you need the right ingredients to make all the flavors pop. Everything needs to be done in the right sequence to pull it altogether successfully. The same is true for the successful sales process to bring everything together for the perfect closing and uniting an eager seller with an excited buyer. That is what I love about real estate…successfully uniting sellers and buyers using my magic recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Your Ingredient List
Here is a list of the ingredients that you will need:
- All of the comparable ACTIVE LSITINGS in your market
- All of the comparable SOLD LISTINGS in your market
- The history of all the SOLD listings for the last 90 days
- Product in Clean and Decluttered Showing Condition: this would be the property you are trying to sell.
- Social Media campaign
- Kijiji Ad
- Trustworthy home inspector
- Professional photography, RMS, and Virtual video
- Front lawn FOR SALE signage
- Experienced Real Estate Agent
The “magic” in my recipe is very simple.
FACTS + PRODUCT + BUZZ = SOLD
However, all of the ingredients must simultaneously interact for you to get a SOLD result. This delicate balancing act is definitely an art, and it takes time and practice to master…that is why you need to hire an experienced and successful real estate agent. But you will need to heed your realtor’s advice…, more on that in my other Blog Article, How to Hire a REALTOR that Suits Your Needs.
Let’s talk about the FACTS: The first part of this equation is gathering the facts. You need to know what other properties are selling for in your community, in your zone, and in the entire city. Some buyers may have a specific community already pre-selected where they want to live. However, most buyers are open to looking at locations all over the city and will go where their budget takes them. They will ultimately decide on the home that best suits their needs over the community location. It is a lot more work but comparing your property to the rest of the city is a needed fact. Most real estate professionals overlook this fact because it is a lot of extra work and research that takes considerable time.
Factual History: In combination with what other similar properties to yours are selling for, you will need to know the selling history of each Active Listing. This is important data that shows you what a successful road map to selling your home would look like. Understanding how to read the data and analyze the trend comes with practice and experience.
Let’s talk about the PRODUCT: The second, but equally as important, is the type of property you are selling. Is it a Condo? Half-Duplex? Single Family? Or a Farm/Acreage?
It cannot be over-stated enough that your home must be in acceptable showing condition. It cannot smell like pets. It must be clean. It must be de-cluttered, and all of its features must be displayed in the best possible way if you are going to get fair market value. You can read more about showing your home in my other blog article, Prepare Your Home for Showings.
This again is where the experience of your real estate agent comes in handy. Experienced real estate agents have been in hundreds of homes, and they know what your home needs to show the best. There is nothing more frustrating or a bigger waste of time than to spend hours with a seller showing and telling them what they can do to get the most for their home…..only for the sellers to choose not to get it done.
Home Inspection: This is a very good tool for a home that appears to need some work and isn’t in the best condition. This is called a Pre-Inspect and it is done by a certified home inspector. It costs usually half the price of a full home inspection, and it is very helpful for the cautious home buyer.
The Pre-Inspect separates your home in the market from all the others and makes your home memorable. This is very important especially if the market inventory is high and homes similar to yours are saturating the market. The Pre-Inspect instills buyer confidence and is encourages a buyer to write an offer easier on your home than on your competitors.
Photography, Video, RMS (Residential Measurement Standard): Putting your home in showing condition is super important but equally important is capturing and displaying it to the anticipatory buyers. “You only get one chance to make a first impression”. Many buyers love the RMS floor plan with room dimensions.
It has only been in the last couple of years that the real estate industry relies on a third party to take the measurements, photography, and do a 360 Virtual video of the property. This is slowly becoming an industry normal practice to deliver this service to our clients, and it is appreciated by the buyers.
Let’s talk about the BUZZ: I don’t want you to think of BUZZ like people are talking about it.
I want you to understand BUZZ like the popping of a cork on a shaken bottle of champagne (and you didn’t know the champagne was shaken)! Just imagine the moment, the anticipation, the excitement, the uncertainty, and a little bit of tingling thrilling fear of the unknown… just before a bottle of champagne pops. THAT is BUZZ!!
That is what I create each time I launch a listing to the open market. That is the BUZZ that is needed. It takes time, money, work, dedication, planning, patience, and forecasting.
BUZZ is created by yard signage, social media launch, Kijiji Ads, Blog form announcements, Social Group Ads, newsletter, flyer campaign, etc, etc. Planning, creating, designing, and launching the BUZZ is all about precision timing. It is not “winging it” or dripping everything out slowly. Imagine popping the cork on the champagne and it was flat, no fizzle, barely leaked out of the bottle and there was no cork popping sound…pretty uneventful-not memorable at all. That is how majority of listings hit the market. So, when my BUZZ listing hits the market people are attracted to the POP!
Let’s Talk About the SOLD! Incorporating all the work previously mentioned, becoming SOLD is similarly as much work. It needs experience, dedication, attention to detail, and specialized knowledge. Getting an offer on your home is not a simple task in a difficult market. The Covid Pandemic taught me even more about market challenges, buyer reluctance, unexpected financing difficulties on closing day, and so much more.
Negotiating the offer, getting an offer accepted, removing the buyers’ conditions, collecting trust deposits, conveyancing the deal to both of the lawyers, working with a buyer’s real estate agent to get their job done on time, picking a long enough possession date so seller has time to move out, and navigating and preparing for possession date are only a few of the SOLD procedures.
The MAGIC happens when everything comes together. My seller is overjoyed and thrilled to be moving on to their life’s next adventure. The buyer is excited–giddy with anticipation to get the keys released so they can move into their new home. If I had to work with another real estate agent, they are feeling confident and grateful that they had me as the listing agent and looking forward to doing another deal with me. That is when the magic really is felt.
The magic recipe is a seller willing to heed the advice of their real estate agent that is hard working, dedicated and experienced. Getting a property successfully SOLD is a joint effort between a seller and real estate agent. It takes hard work, collaboration, co-operation, communication, and follow-up management.
If you would like to have more information on my magic when buying or selling your home send me an email and I will mail you my Market Snapshot for your specific area…yes I actually still use Canada Post!
If you would like more information on Lorri Brewer you can go to her website at www.lorribrewer.com or call her at 780-756-7653. She would love to hear from you and is always happy to help!
