The two standard ways of discovering a property’s value are C.M.A. (comparative market analysis) estimates and appraisals. C.M.A. estimate is the process of estimating a property’s value based off of comparable sales in the same or similar neighborhoods. This type of estimate is done by an agent and can include an on site evaluation. An appraisal is similar to the C.M.A. but instead it is done by a certified appraiser for a fee of $200 to $300. Appraisers also use comparative techniques to analyze a property but they include a set of guidelines that affect a property’s value such as a certain value for every square-foot and added values for certain types of upgrades.

A home is ultimately worth the price that is paid for it. Aside from that amount, all other values are really just an estimate. Depending on the conditions of the market such as the supply and demand, the amount buyers are willing to pay for a property varies. Given the market’s conditions, when a buyer and seller can agree on a price for the property, that price would represent the property’s worth. An estimated value can be attained through an appraisal or a comparative market analysis. A hired professional makes an appraisal based off of comparable sales, the condition of the property, and several other factors. A comparative market analysis is pretty much less formal appraisal your agent can do for you by comparing to recently sold properties in the same and nearby neighborhoods and checking the prices of recently listed properties.

Time is always of the essence with property values. It does not matter whether your property’s value is appraised or estimated, it will not hold forever. Because the market is constantly fluctuating, your property’s value will not remain constant. A property’s value is highly dependant on supply and demand.? It is also important to know that the agent giving you the highest estimate is not necessarily the most qualified agent to sell your property. Everyone would like to sell their property for more but some agents will give higher estimates as a form of “buying” listings. You should choose an agent you know that is experienced and reliable and then have that agent make an estimate for you knowing that you can trust them.

Normally a seller would request an agent to do a C.M.A. estimate for their property. A seller would want to know what an agent thinks their property is worth based on the agent’s experience and familiarity with the area and the current market. A buyer, on the other hand, usually hires a certified appraiser because it is requested for by the bank. When a buyer applies for a loan to purchase a home, the bank will ask the buyer to get the property appraised. This is because the bank will only loan out an amount consistent with what the property is appraised to. Both methods are accurate but sometimes the value estimated by an agent and appraiser can differ greatly. That is because an agent based their estimates off of what they think the property can sell for based on the market’s current status. An appraiser appraises a property based off of previous sales without taking the market’s direction into consideration. Depending on the market, an appraised value can either be a good amount higher or lower than an agent’s estimate.

Three factors that are crucial to selling a house are price, condition, and exposure. The first step is to price your property correctly. In order to set a fair market price, you’ll want to use comparative sales information and discuss with your agent the conditions of the market. After you’ve decided on a price that can attract buyers, you’ll want to make sure your property is in selling condition. It is important to repair any obvious cosmetic defects that could turn away buyers. When that is done, make sure your property is given an adequate amount of exposure. Even if you have a fair asking price and a nice looking property, you won’t attract any buyers if your property is not exposed. Your agent should have various methods of advertising your home (flyers, newspapers, magazines, etc.).

There are generally three different types of agents. Which type they are depends on who they are representing. A listing agent represents the seller and lists the property for him or her. They look out for the best interests of the seller when negotiating with selling agents. Selling agents also known as buying agents represent the buyer. There job is to look out for the best interest of the buyer by negotiation for the best purchase price and terms. Often times an agent can be put into the role of a dual agent, one representing both the buyer and the seller. This scenario usually results from an agent who is hired by a buyer to search for a property coincidentally similar to one that he or she is already listing. Because of potential conflicts of interest that are created during dual agency, the law states that a dual agent cannot disclose to the buyer that the seller will accept less than the list price, or disclose to the seller that the buyer will pay more than the offer price without express written permission.

It is always possible to put your home up for sale by owner. The problem with doing so is that most people do not have the required knowledge, expertise, and understanding of real estate in order to successfully get through the transaction process. A large portion of failed escrows result from sellers who are unable to close the deal because they cannot handle the problems that occurred. An agent can maximize your our chances of closing a deal by helping you perform all the necessary paperwork correctly and anticipating any problems that might arise, and making sure the buyer does not get too much leverage to back out of a deal. In addition an experienced agent has connections to resources you normally wouldn’t have and they will already have a standardized form of advertisement techniques which increases your properties degree of exposure.

You can begin by asking people you know who have recently sold or purchased a home to refer you. Also try looking around your local area for any advertisements of agents who cover your area. After you’ve generated a list of names, interview each of these agents and take some time to decide who is most suitable for you. It is important that your agent has a good reputation and that their area of expertise is the one you are interested in. An agent who has actively concentrated in one area will typically know specific details of that area and be aware of every little change that occurs. Hiring an agent with that type of knowledge and experience provides you with the greatest opportunity to complete a satisfying transaction.

Hiring different agents will get you different outcomes. This is not only referring to the purchase price of your home but also your degree of satisfaction, the effectiveness of the transaction process, and many other factors. Every agent has their own way of doing things. One agent might have a vast number of advertisement techniques such as posting your house in various magazines, newspapers, and web sites while another agent might think that posting your property on MLS is adequate. Your property’s exposure will differ significantly depending on which one of these agents you choose. Some agents are also more experienced or familiar with the transaction process than others. An inexperienced agent could end up making a mistake that results in failed escrow. This would not only waste your time but would affect you greatly if the sale of your house was urgent. Closing a deal does not depend on your abilities or just your property’s, the agent you choose is extremely important.

A common misconception that seller’s have is that they should choose the agent that estimates their property to the highest value. This happens because a seller is often overcome by greed and will choose an agent who gives their property a high value in the hopes of making the most money, however, if the estimate was inaccurate, hiring that specific agent would be pointless. You should find a trustworthy, experienced agent first, after you find one you can ask them to estimate your property knowing that his answer will be trustable and fairly accurate. A few important factors you should definitely take into consideration when interviewing an agent are:

-How long they have been working in real estate.

-How many successful transactions they have conducted each year and where was their primary focus.

-Whether or not they have a standardized sales plan that they conduct systematically.

-If they can provide you with the sales plan and explain it in detail.

-What forms of advertisement do they plan on using to promote your property? (Ask for examples)

 Finding out that information is essential to finding a good agent. Being organized, systematic, focused in a specific region, and consistently closing deals are traits of a trustworthy, experienced agent.?

If it states in the contract that you can cancel if you are not satisfied then you can. Otherwise your normally cannot unless you can prove an agent’s breach of duty. This means that the agent is now doing the necessary standardized steps required to sell your home. Most established companies, however, give their clients the right to back out of a contract if they have a fairly reasonable basis for doing so.

No it does not. Just because an agent is charging a high commission rate doesn’t mean that he or she will provide you with high quality service. Just because an agent is charging a low commission rate doesn’t mean that his or her service will be lacking in quality. Some of the factors that affect quality of service include an agent’s experience, organization, and dedication. If an agent can offer to show you documents containing a step by step process of how they plan on selling your property and the details of each step, you will know what kind of service you’ll be getting beforehand and you’ll also know that they are prepared and organized.

Disclosure can protect you from facing a lawsuit. It is required in most states for sellers to fill out a form disclosing material facts about their homes. Material facts are details about a property’s condition, legal status, and various other components. A few examples of material facts are mold or mildew in the home, damages in the wood from insects such as termites, leaks in the roof, etc. If the necessary material facts are not disclosed, an agent can also be held accountable especially if they had prior knowledge of it.

By law, real estate commissions are negotiable. Often times, the pricing of real estate service will vary by the level of service and the consumer needs. The standard full-service commission rates of agents are in the range of 4 to 6 percent. Some agents also offer the option of paying a fee for an individual service.

It depends on the type of furnishings. Any fixtures or personal property that is permanently attached to a property such as built-in furnishings usually stay with the property unless specified otherwise in the sales contract. Anything that is not permanently attached is negotiable. Example of such items would include appliances such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc.

One easy way to obtain information and statistics for the market is to just consult with your agent. Being a professional, they will probably be up to date with the latest information and statistics. If you want to search for the information yourself, I recommend that you go to www.imrmls.com or www.realtor.com. Both of those sites include various statistics and reports and are also updated the fastest.

Your current asking price given the property’s conditions places your property at an average to a bit above average standing in terms of value, however, in the current real estate market only the sellers with the top one or two valued properties will actually sell their property. Even though your property’s home value is at an average standing, it still won’t sell. It is possible that after all the highest valued properties sell, your property will have a chance but that is highly unlikely because new properties are constantly entering the real estate market. Because people are aware of our declining real estate market, they might put an even lower asking price on their property then your previous competition. In order to sell your property you must beat almost all your competition at any given point in time. If you are unable to sell your property now and new listings enter the real estate market, your situation won’t get any better, you still have to beat out your competition and if you are planning to sell at the same price as before, it can put your property in an even worse position since the new listings will most likely have greater values than the top properties from before. You will end having to price your property at an even lower price then the asking price I recommended in the beginning.

The seller’s planner is a schedule of all the steps I take to help market your property. The planner includes details and dates of all the advertising methods I have planned for your property such as newspapers, website listings, magazines, open house, virtual tours, etc.

The purpose of the seller’s planner is to not only inform my clients of what they can expect from me as their agent but also to show them that I am a professional and very serious about representing them. I want my clients to know that I have a systematic approach to selling their property that involves many tasks and that I know exactly when I will complete each task

The reason I am able to complete each task on this planner in a timely fashion is because I have an extremely diligent support team that helps me through the process. Each member of my team is a specialist in a different field and I watch over and manage them so that we can complete each task in at timely and efficient manner.

Because of my high rate of successful sale, a lot of expired listing sellers come to find me. They come to me with a question; “Why can’t I sell my home?” When asked this question I don’t’ usually have an answer (don’t like answering) but what I can tell you is why I can sell my listings. When selling a home whether or not it will be able to sell depends on three main factors. One: Price. Two: Condition. Three: Agent. The most commonly (easily) made mistake by the seller is that they see selling their property as selling their home. This is understandable because everyone will most likely value their home. Every detail in the home is adjust to their liking. They will feel like their own home is the most relaxing beautiful property in the world so they will feel like their home is priceless. This is where the problem lies. It is very important to see it as a product as opposed to selling a home. A property as opposed to their home. Only this way will you be able to evaluate your home’s value in comparison to the market. When I see someone else’s property, I will evaluate their community’s market. The conditions and the price of the homes that are pending or already sold. Equally important is comparing to the other similar homes that are on the market because they are all your competition. Especially in a buyer’s market where the market is flooded in listing. Out of 10 listed properties it is possible that only one home will sell. If you are only concerned with how much you want for your property as opposed to comparing to other property prices and conditions then you will never be able to sell your home. Why? Because if out of 10 properties you can only sell one. (10 percent) It means out of 10 houses only 1 will sell, if your price and the condition of your property combined is already pretty good and probably 3rd or 4th out of 10 homes, I don’t believe you will have a chance. You have to make sure that out of 10 homes your property is one of the most valuable ones. So if there is only one buyer who desired to purchase a home in your community, you will be the top pick for this buyer.

This is definitely not a good idea. In this market, within statistical data, we have a very important rule. The most well priced properties are the ones that sell with in the first 2 weeks of going in escrow. If an agent is looking for a property in a specific period and they can’t find one, then they will always go look at the recently listed listings. Your chances of selling will decline significantly if you wait. The ones who will see your property are not as serious. Not ready to buy. Golden period, Highest potential, selling for full price. There are usually 2 different reasons why a selling prices their property higher. The first is because they don’t’ believe the agent priced it at market price. The second reason is because even if I put the price a bit higher, there might be a buyer who especially likes my home and will sell it for more. It is very important for you to find an experienced agent who is familiar with your area. When I’m asked to estimate an area that I am not familiar with, I am not willing to make an estimate because when I do this I know that I am not doing it better than other people. For example, there are different models in one community with different views. Not every home should be priced the same. I already know the floor plan and if it is better than other models the original builder, and I also know the details of each sale for similar homes and I also know the pros and cons of the properties. The importance of having a well priced home is to not lose money in terms of price and not lose money in terms of not selling your home fast enough.

There are many sellers that believe that it isn’t important to not sell their home immediately and take their time. They don’t’ think it’s a big deal because they aren’t losing anything. From my perspective I don’t’ believe that is the case. For example, if you sell your home you will get your money, until you’ve sold your home you still have to pay property taxes, home owner association fees, etc. Especially for homeowners who have an empty house. $500,000 dollar house can rent for up to $2300 dollars. Every month’s property tax is between $600 and $700 dollars. In a current market, where the price is dropping for a $500,000 dollar homes every month your property could be losing $3000-6000 dollars in value. Adding on utilities, and other fees and expenses at about $200-$500 dollars. That means that you are losing over 7000 dollars every month. So if you haven’t sold your property for 3 months then you are losing about 20,000 dollars. Typically a seller will want to sell his home by $10000 or 30000 more. When they do this instead of getting 20000 dollars more they lose about 20000 dollars. If they wanted to make that money, they should have just sold it fast in the first place. Opportunity cost. When we say your property is decreasing by $3000-6000 dollars i don’t mean that you are losing $4000-6000 dollars from your asking price of 530000 but from the market price at the time. So don’t think you can sell it for $500000 dollars because then you will be in the same situation. It’s like a vicious cycle.

If you are dissatisfied with my service you have the right to terminate the contract and discontinue working with me at any time without penalty. From my perspective, I believe ensuring my quality of service is more important than anything else and I would never have any objections to clients wishing to terminate the contract. In fact, this is a power that I want my clients to have.

There are pros and cons of having a dual agency. There are many dishonest agents who would take advantage of their clients in this type of situation by making it their own pocket listing. This means that they will reserve the listing for their personal buyers in order to maximize their commission and will either not accept higher offers or leak information about others’ offers to their personal client giving them the advantage in purchasing the property. If your agent has good work ethics, there can be many benefits to having a dual agency. First off your agent will most likely work a lot harder with the open house process and make large efforts to market to walk in buyers or any other potential buyers because they have the chance of making commission from both sides. An agent will usually also provide the seller with a discount in some form in this situation. This is because as an agent representing both sides, you are supposed to sell for the best price (highest) for the seller and buy for the best price (lowest) for the buyer, obviously the agent will have a difficult time due to the clashing interests of both his clients. Many agents have a hard time handling this type of situation and trying to make things fair for everyone. If you plan on hiring your agent as a dual agent you should make sure that your agent is trustworthy, familiar with working for both sides, and have a standardized method for doing so. If I work as a dual agent, then I request that my clients discuss my selling method with me and make sure they are ok with the way I’m doing things. If the seller is comfortable with my method, I will be happy to work as a dual agent, if that is not the case then I will not.