ADVICE I GAVE MY OWN FAMILY

Our clients need to feel that they know & like us for them to trust us with their transaction. Building this relationship can sometimes take a while, but I’m going to share some advice that I gave my own family – the ones that know, like & trust me most.

Two little disclaimers though…

Disclaimer #1:
This only works if you have a real estate agent that does a heck of a lot more than just put a sign in the yard & put your property on the multi-list. If your agent doesn’t “wow” you with their marketing plan, these tips WILL NOT give you the desired results.

Disclaimer #2:
This may not be the advice I give 10 years from now, or… maybe not even 10 months from now. These recommendations are marketing techniques in which I’m experiencing fabulous success right now in these very market conditions.

SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR MULTIPLE OFFERS:
First & foremost, I’m going to ask you to just accept the fact that the way we negotiate today is not the same as we did 10 or 20 years ago. Previously, sellers would think of the price that they’d be willing to accept on their home. Then, they would add a cushion to that acceptable price so that when an offer came in lower, you’d negotiate to the price you originally wanted – making the buyer feel like you gave them a discount.

Instead of this approach, I’m going to ask you to set your price at or even slightly below (I know, I know…. hold on! Let me explain!) I’m going to ask you to set your price at or even slightly below your acceptable price. This not only gains the most attention possible, but it’s the best approach for getting multiple offers.

I know what you’re thinking: “Well what if we underprice the house?! That would be detrimental, wouldn’t it?!” Let’s think about it… would it really be detrimental?

Let’s say you do underprice your property. There are enough buyers out there right now that are willing to take a chance on your house. When we have multiple buyers interested, we have multiple offers. When buyers compete for a property, they not only bid up the price but they clean up their terms as well!

The price is only one line item among 14 pages of other terms. Would you be willing to accept a good price but you have to make a ton of repairs, agree to a buyer with riskier financing, & now they’re asking for the lawn tractor & your grandmother’s artwork, & oh – they want to move in asap, but you were hoping for a longer closing…?! All those terms stink! Wouldn’t you rather get a great price & great terms?

The goal when you underprice the house is to push buyers to compete so that both the price as well as the terms are advantageous to YOU.

DON’T LET THEM SEE THE HOUSE… (at first):
I highly recommend delaying the showing appointments. (I know! “Katina you’re crazy! First we’re underpricing the house, & now we’re not letting buyers see the house?! People PAY you for this bullflarky?!”)

There’s a method to this madness… I recommend NOT allowing any showing until you have an open house & then you can open up the house for showings for the entire day. Not only are you creating a little bit of anticipation, but there’s something I need to reveal about the real estate business. There are some really, really bad Realtors out there. These subpar agents are sometimes working with a buyer dying to see to your house. Buyers are begging their agent to make an appointment & these Realtors are sometimes:

• Out of town & don’t want to pay another Realtor to show it for them
• Have a full-time job & communicate slowly
• Would rather sell these buyers a higher-priced home
• Are just rotten at their job.

For whatever reason, these types of agents aren’t making their buyers or your home a priority.

Let’s say that Buyer Moneypants is willing to pay $350,000 for your $300,000 house & they’re ready to go! They’ve been looking for a house just like yours! But… (Whomp! Whomp!) they’re working Realtor Mo Crappy. Even though they’ve texted, emailed & left messages, Realtor Mo Crappy isn’t getting back to Buyer Moneypants.

There’s also Buyer Mediocre who is preapproved up to $325,000. This is great for your $300,000 house but not as good as that $350,000 that Buyer Moneypants has in cash in his bank account.

Buyer Mediocre is working with a great agent with the Katina Hunter Team. Mike has already researched the house, provided Buyer Mediocre with the walkthrough video & disclosures & has preliminary docs all signed up ready to go!

If you open up showings the same day that your home hits the market on a Tuesday, Mike takes Buyer Mediocre through on the same day. Buyer Moneypants also wants to get in on Tuesday but doesn’t get a response from Realtor Mo Crappy for a day or so. Finally, Realtor Mo Crappy texts Buyer Moneypants, & the text says: “I see that there’s an open house on Saturday – why don’t you swing over then & give it a peek?”

Who is going to make the first offer? Buyer Mediocre! Mike is writing his $325,000 offer on Tuesday night – 4 days before Buyer Moneypants can even get into see it! You’re going to see an offer coming in $25,000 over your asking price & you’d rightfully jump on it.

You’re then going to lose Buyer Moneypants & his $350,000 cash offer.

However, if you list the house on a Tuesday & say “No showings until Saturday,” Mike is going to snag up the very first private appointment for Buyer Mediocre & write up that offer. However, Buyer Moneypants has a chance to see it that same day at the open house. You force the timeline to work for you & all buyers have an equal opportunity to view the property on the same day, funneling potential offers to hit at the same time.

POTENTIAL RESULTS:

That is the advice that I give all of my sellers & that’s the advice that I gave my brother who got multiple offers on his condo. That is the advice I gave my parents & aunts who sold my grandmother’s farm.

I obviously can’t guarantee these results, but… we had 48 groups through the first 2 hours of the open house at my grandmother’s. We received 10 offers in the first 48 hours after showings were allowed & accepted a cash offer that was substantially higher than the asking price.

I still have other tricks up my sleeve. That’s just a couple of ways I create an atmosphere for those types of results.

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com