Real Estate Marketing Advice: Showing your property is really not that hard. The R/E Maven

 

 

“Do you have, and will you devote the necessary time for the marketing and showings?”

 

“Will you be available for showings at the convenience of the buyer instead of only at your convenience?”

 

These are two questions that a Realtor recently addressed to For Sale by Owners (FSBO’s) in a recent article.

 

I don’t get it!  You see most sellers already do devote the time, lots of time in the showing process. Who does this Realtor thinks puts in all the time necessary to keep the property clean and presentable? With or without a real estate agent it is and has always been the seller and not the Realtor that puts in countless hours to keep the property in showing condition.

 

Will the seller be available for showings at the convenience of the buyers? Again the seller already performs this duty. Unless the property is vacant and on a lockbox, the seller is and always has been included in the scheduling process for a showing and is inconvenienced at the agent’s direction.

Furthermore if you want to sell your property it is a quality problem to have that is created when a buyer wants to come and see the real estate. Show and sell.

 

The time it takes to self-market a property is mostly upfront. Placing the property information and pictures online does require some time and effort but after the first one is completed most people will find that it is just a simple case of repetition. What’s an evening or two in front of the computer if the effort is well rewarded with better control, better market coverage and the savings of thousands of dollars in commissions?

 

 

Realtors like to pretend that showing are complicated and can create more of a hassle than they are worth for the seller to perform themselves. The simple truth is that sellers are already involved in the showing process, heavily involved. Who puts in all the time and effort to keep the property clean and presentable? I assure you it is not the Realtor.

Real estate marketing advice: Reason number 6 why sellers need to perform property inspections before marketing.

 

 

Before a seller places a property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

 

The reasons that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:

1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price renegotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations

 

Reason #6 is designed to maintain distance in between the seller and buyer.

 

There is an old saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Well, when it comes to a real estate transaction familiarity breeds altered negotiations.

Anything a seller does or says will most often be used against them in the arena of negotiations. The more a seller keeps his or her distance from a buyer or a buyer’s agent the less chance they will have to figure out what make a seller tick. What their motivation are for selling. What their negotiating strategy or lack of one is.

 

If a seller performs the inspection reports and gives a copy to an interested buyer before they negotiate they in effect create some very useful and necessary distance between them so negotiations will not be based from a point of familiarity.

  

If a seller is not careful they will usually tip their hand and show the buyers the real motivation behind their contemplated sale. These reasons vary greatly but this information can be used by the buyer to negotiate a better deal for themselves if they are made aware of the true reasons a seller is selling.

 The less time a seller is in the company or direct verbal communications with a buyer the better off the seller will be. Let the inspection reports do the talking.

 

At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.

It is entirely in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. In the long run it will always save the seller time, aggravation and money.

 

 

By maintaining a safe communication policy with the buyers a seller will insulate themselves from the possibility of sharing too much information with the buyers. Performing the home inspections in advance enables the seller to keep the proper distance needed to protect this policy.  The seller should let the inspection reports do the talking for them.

 

 

 

Real estate marketing advice: Reason number 5 why sellers need to perform property inspections before marketing.

 

Before a seller places a property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

 

The reasons that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:

1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price renegotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations

 

Reason #5 is entirely for the Sellers self-protection.

 

The inspection companies (and every professional) that the seller hires, must possess and show proof of proper error and omissions insurance or general liability insurance coverage. These insurance certificates are to be requested and obtained by the seller before any work is paid for.

The property inspection company is providing the seller with a fairly in-depth report concerning the exact nature about the property condition. This report will become the basis by which several different groups will form some very important decisions upon. The sellers shall base the worth of the property on the condition of how the property does or does not compared to other properties. Buyers will use to it formulate what they believe the property will need for repairs or improvements in the immediate future.

If the analysis of the inspection company should contain any incorrect information the sellers must have the security in knowing that they reiterated information that came from a reliable and fortified entity and that they are protected not just by the inspection company themselves but also by the insurance company that insures the inspection work.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, part of the largest real estate sales companies in the country has customers sign a “Disclaimer regarding service providers” which states the following “Coldwell Banker has not conducted an investigation into the qualifications or financial status of these service providers. So if the largest sales company feels the need to use this disclaimer the seller should demand that the service provider has adequate insurance coverage.

”It is nice to believe that the firm that is hired will stand up and cover their work by making good on any errors or oversights. However a seller needs to be guaranteed that this is actually the case? Sellers do not know the financial shape or ability of the inspection company as to whether they are able or not to make the seller whole after an unexpected issue arises. The seller is on a completely different footing if they know, in advance, who the actual insurance provider of the inspection company is.

 

 

 

 

At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.

It is entirely in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. In the long run it will always save the seller time, aggravation and money.

 

By demanding that the home inspection company a seller chooses to use has proper insurance coverage, a seller is in the position where the work will be guaranteed by two companies, the inspection company and their insurance company. Sellers cannot afford to risk their home sale to inadequate risks and hoping an inspector has insurance is just not good enough, they need proof.

 

 

 

Real estate marketing advice: Reason number 4 why sellers need to perform property inspections before marketing.

Real estate marketing advice: Reason number 4 why sellers need to perform property inspections before marketing.

 

Before a seller places a property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

 

The reasons that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:

1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price renegotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations

 

Reason #4 is perhaps the most important reason of them all.

 

Typical Realtor involved real estate transactions are handled in just the complete opposite way of what I am instructing the seller to now do. The way Realtors usually handle the inspection issue is to negotiate the terms of the transaction first and included the home inspection as a contingency that is performed by the buyers after the sales agreements are signed. This is a worry about the offer first and the inspections second mentality.

What is so wrong and dangerous with this format is that the seller’s realtor has now given the buyer the perfect opportunity to have a second bite at the price apple. The seller has been mislead into a comfort zone by believing that the transaction was completely negotiated when in fact it remains only partially negotiated. After the buyers have performed the inspections it now becomes a perfect time for the buyer to renegotiate the price based on this new information generated by the inspection. This leaves the door wide open for a second round of negotiations. The price a buyer is willing to pay will never go up after inspections.

Why Realtors choose to place their sellers in this no win predicament is completely unfathomable.

The best and only way inspections should be performed is well before the property is placed on the market. The few hundred dollars it will cost the seller is money well spent in order to insulate the seller from further price reductions.

 

At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.

It is entirely in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. In the long run it will always save the seller time, aggravation and money.

 

By performing home inspection before a property in placed up for sale, sellers avoid falling into the price renegotiation trap. Informing a buyer as to the exact condition of a property before they make an offer remove one of the two most frequent sales contingencies and can save a seller quite a substantial amount of money.

 

 

 

Real estate marketing advice: Reason number 3 why sellers need to perform property inspections before marketing.

 

Before a seller places their property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

 

The reasons that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:

1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price renegotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations
7.  

Reason #3 concerns misrepresentations or more accurately how to avoid making misrepresentations.

When a truly interested buyer looks at the property they will most likely have questions about the property. Since the Realtors cannot be relied upon to provide the answers, a seller needs to be able to turn to someone or something else for the appropriate answers. The buyer’s real estate agent will not be familiar with the property so they cannot be expected to know and if the seller is unlucky enough to have a listing agent, these agents and their own forms make it perfectly clear that all their information comes from the seller anyway.

So what a seller needs to do in order to have correct answers available is to have a professional property inspector perform the necessary inspections before the property is put up for sale.

 

There are four ways in which a seller can handle property specific questions:

1. From the information on the inspection reports
2. Information that the sellers definitely knows the answer to (NO GUESSING)
3. It is perfectly acceptable to respond that the seller simply does not know the answer
4. Provide the buyer with the opportunity to obtain the answers elsewhere.

 

Remember that incorrect answers can later be interpreted as decieptful or misleading answers.

At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.

It is entirely in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. It will always save the seller time, aggravation and money.

 

Sellers need to be cautious in order to avoid any claims of misrepresentation. Although this can be done innocently enough it is easy to avoid by simply having a property inspection performed before they market their property.

 

Real estate marketing advise: Reasons 1 & 2 thet seller needs to perform property inspections before they go to market. The R/E Maven

Before a seller places their property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

The reason that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:
1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price re-negotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations

Reasons 1 and 2 both deal with pricing. Before a property value can be absolutely determined the owner/seller must know what he or she is actually selling. In order to learn the exact nature about your property you need to have an unbiased professional take a good look at everything about the property. Through an experienced inspector a property owner will learn the present status of the property that they may not have been aware of. This information can then be used to establish a firm basis to build a solid price upon.
Most owners tend to look at their property through rose-colored glasses. After many years or shared history and experiences sellers become emotionally attached. Who can blame them? So many of their fond memories may have occurred at this location. But what they seek to do now is to start the process of emotionally involving buyers. And one of the best ways to build trust in the property for a buyer is to educate them about the entire property. Avoid any surprises that might effect the buyers confidence at a later date.
An accurate disclosure of conditions up front is much better than surprises later on in the transaction process.
At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.
It is entirely in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. It will always save the seller time aggravation and money.

 

Real estate marketing advice: 6 reasons sellers need to perform property inspections before marketing.

 

 

Before a seller places their property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

 

Why Realtors do not suggest this is beyond all logic because in the long run it will always save the seller money. This short term, up front, small expense has the potential to save huge money before the transaction is complete.

Types of inspection that may be needed (NOT ALWAYS!) include general property inspection, septic inspection, well inspection, pest (bugs) inspection, radon inspection and lead paint inspection. A good general inspection company will perform most of these types of inspection under one visit and the charge is usually several hundred dollars.

 

The reason that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:

1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price renegotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations

 

This is not to suggest that the seller needs to repair and remedy anything that the inspection highlights as needed. The seller can make as many or as few repairs as they see fit or simply price the property accordingly. I shall explain the individual reasons in more detail in subsequent articles.

 

At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.

It is entirely in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. It will always save the seller money.

 

Most listing Realtors allow their Sellers to fall prey to the renegotiations the take place after home inspections are performed. Seller need to take away this advantage and perform all property inspection themselves before they go to market with their property. This is in the SELLER’S BEST INTEREST and will always save the seller time and aggravation.