You took the plunge. You decided it was time for you to move to bigger and better things. One of the things that you need to take care of now is sell your home. You hired a realtor and the house has been on the market for almost 6 months with only 3 or 4 showings. Something is wrong with that picture.
Suddenly you are presented with a challenge and you have to tackle it. But what do you do? Ask yourself and your realtor if your House has the PSP Factor…yes, I said the PSP factor, kinda’ like the X Factor.
IF the house has the PSP factor, you should be able to have at least 10 showings in the first 1 to 2 weeks of being on the market. For every 10 showings that take place, you should also have an acceptable offer.
If you are not seeing that kind of activity, than most likely your home lacks the PSP Factor.
What is the PSP Factor you might ask?
Here it is:
P is for PRICE.
Is the house priced to sell? I know we all take pride in our ownership and a lot of times our idea of what our house is worth might be a bit unrealistic. I hear, some realtors so as not to lose you – their client - will go along and list your house for what you think is worth and not what research of past sold homes reflects.
Well, this strategy backfires because for every month that passes by, you still have that expense of carrying your mortgage payment, tax payment, insurance and all the other carrying cost that go along with owning a home.
S is for STAGED.
The questions you need to answer are: How does your house show? Does it appeal to the BROAD target buyer? Yes, I know, that sounds like an oxymoron, (broad, and target) but really it is not. Did your Realtor bring in a Professional Stager to help you prepare your home for Sale? Did you do what you were advised to do?
Why is this so important? Because once you have decided to sell your home; it becomes a product; therefore it needs to be merchandised so that it appeals to a broad range of target buyers. So again, is your house Professionally Staged?
Well you could say: I had a decorator friend help me with my home. Or I have immaculate taste and my home is perfectly designed or decorated.
I will tell you this: that is not good enough because where as Staging is Attention Directing, Decorating is Attention getting. The last thing you want is for the potential buyers to “wow” and “wow”, after your personal belongings and not the precious square footage you are trying to sell.
P is for PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
Did your realtor bring in a professional photographer to photograph and produce a virtul tour of your home so they can start marketing it? Now this can go to two different extremes.
There are some homes I see listed on the MLS (go and do a search on Realtor.com and you will know what I am talking about) where the realtor took their own pictures with their cell phone and put them on the MLS to market your home - which is worth a LOT OF Money, I am sure – and then there are some other photographs that I see, which are otherwise “professional” but those pictures are taken from an extra wide angle, or they are photo-shopped, and sometimes they even look “fuzzy”to me cause they are stretched so much horizontally...sometimes they even look so "exotic"... either way. This could be a bit of false advertising if you ask me.
SO make sure that the pictures used to advertise your property are professional as well as an accurate representation of what your home looks like and what the flow of your home feels like.
Generally because the properties that Design by KETI Staged, have had the PSP Factor, they have gone under contract within the first week of being on the market.
What have been some of your experiences when you decided to sell your house in the past? Do you feel the above three points accurately capture why a home does not sell FAST and for TOP Dollar? Would you like to find out if your house has the PSP Factor? Call us today for a Free Evaluation.
Cheers,
Keti
I would like to start by saying I am a big advocate of always using a Realtor when it comes to buying and selling Real Estate. I would not recommend you go “FSBO” (For Sale by Owner) on me, because you might be doing yourself a huge disservice, if you do. Realtors have a wealth of knowledge and expertise that unless you hire them, you won’t have access to and benefit from. With that said however, like with any profession, not all Realtors are created equal.
For example, in my trade – which is Real Estate Staging - I have seen some staging jobs out and about that I don’t care for; they are poorly done, out of scale and on the cheap side.
On the other hand, I have also had the opportunity to experience firsthand and get to know in person some wonderful professional Stagers in the area who over time and because of their superb Staging jobs and expertise, have gained my professional and personal respect.
When deciding to put your house on the market - so that you can get the most out of your sale - there are certain things that I highly recommend that you do when choosing your Realtor.
1. Don’t just go with that one Realtor someone at the office or at your child’s school recommended to you. Drive around the neighborhood and see whose name you see consistently on those “For sale” or “Just Sold” signs. Interview at least three of them. Find out what sets them apart from the rest of the Realtors in your area. As the saying goes, past performance is a great indicator of future results.
2. What is their Distinguishing Client Benefit and what is their Competitive Marketing Advantage; what will they do for you that will help YOU sell your house Fast and for Top Dollar. Ask them, how will they Market your property, to whom will they market it.
Selling a home is not just about sticking a sign in the front yard (I have seen this happen many a times) and for sure selling a home is NOT going to be achieved by posting ugly pictures on the MLS (I see this happen more than I care to), that they might take with their I-phone or Android. This is totally unacceptable in my opinion.
And as a Seller if you agree to this, just know, you are doing nothing but selling the house down the road, that Design by KETI or one of the other Professional Stagers - that I highly regard - Staged and a Professional Photographer photographed it.
Check out some pictures I have seen on the MLS and compare it to some of the pictures from the properties that Design by KETI Staged.
Being that 96% of the potential buyers resort to the internet and on-line representation before they decide which house they want to tour, which one do you think they will be more inclined to go see?
The one represented by the ugly MLS pictures or the one that is Professionally Staged and Professionally photographed?
Picture of Kitchen in MLS
Picture of Kitchen in MLS, Staged by Design by KETI and Professionally Photographed
![HR3707442-8[1]](http://designbyketi.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/hr3707442-81.jpg)
Picture of Dining in MLS
Picture of Dining in MLS, Staged by Design by KETI and Professionally Photographed!
Picture of Bedroom in MLS
Picture of Bedroom in MLS, Staged by Design by KETI and Professionally Photographed
3. When choosing your Realtor, ask what is their average DOM (Days on Market). The lower their DOM, the better. If I find out a Realtor’s DOM is 175 (that means it has taken them on average 175 days to sell a home) and the other Realtor’s DOM is 23, then for sure I will go with the one whose DOM (Days on Market) average is 23.
On the other hand, if they tell you, they don’t know what their DOM is or that they have not tracked it, than count that response as a Red Flag.
3.1. And Last but not Least. Always, always Stage and De-personalize your home (Staging is nothing but packaging and merchandising your home). You see, when you decide to sell your home, it becomes a product – it turns into a house - therefore it needs to be “merchandised” so it appeals to the broad buyer, and Always Always, insist on professional photography.
If your potential Realtor does not want to pay $130 or so in professional photography for you, to ensure superb representation on the internet, than that Realtor does not deserve to get paid $3,000 to $5,000 - or whatever it might be - in commission from the sale of your home, in my opinion.
What's yours?
Cheers,
Keti
