Tips for Sellers on Listing Your Property

Click here for important information you should know before signing a listing agreement

As a buyer agent, I don't list property. But I work with a lot of listing agents and see a lot of property. I talk with a lot of sellers who call me and ask my opinion on how to sell their property or why their property isn't selling. And most important, I see the reactions of hundreds of buyers to different properties.

A few years ago we were in a frenzied sellers market. You didn't have to lift a finger or even mow the grass, and if your property was in halfway decent shape, it would sell. You could list your property with almost any agent, as long as they were breathing, and get an offer.

Not anymore. While inventory is still tight in some segments, buyers are very choosy and definitely looking for value. If they don't find what they want at the price they want to pay, they're willing to wait and keep looking. In this market, sellers have to really sell buyers on their house — and not give them any reason to move on to another house. That means 'right pricing' for your target buyer, and making your house stand out from your competition. It also means choosing the right agent to list and market your property.

Choose the right listing agent for your property.
There are great agents, good agents, and well, not-so-good agents. As a professional in this business, I can spot the difference in the wink of an eye. But as a layperson, you may not be so astute. So I'm going to give you some tips because, after all, you'll be entrusting this person with the sale of one of your most valuable assets.

Geographic Proximity
Narrow you search to brokers with an office relatively close to your property, within, say 15 miles. I'm always amazed when someone lists a property in Callicoon, for example, with an agent in Rock Hill or even Middletown down in Orange County, or a property in Glen Spey is listed by an agent in Roscoe. With some exceptions, real estate is local!

The one exception to this is if you have a very specialized property, or commercial/multi-family/investment property. There is an agent in the SW part of the county, for example, that's very good at marketing upper end renovated farmhouses, no matter where they're located in the county. Likewise, there are some brokers that have a fishing or hunting niche.

Work with a Multiple Listing Service Participant
The Sullivan County Board of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service is the #1 tool to gain the widest exposure for your property. Rather than only having a few agents in a single office selling your property, the MLS makes your property available for sale by every other MLS-participating agent in the county, which is about 300 agents. When your house is listed through the MLS, it also shows up on Realtor.com, the largest listing database in the country, as well as on the computers of every MLS participant in the county. Listing with an MLS-participant costs your no more than listing with a non-MLS participant, so I'd be hard pressed to recommend going non-MLS.

Get the Full Potential of the MLS A lot of agents do not exploit the full potential of the MLS, and its tie in with Realtor.com, to give you the widest exposure and biggest marketing bang for your buck. The Sullivan MLS permits 9 photos to be included per listing. Your agent should fill every one of those slots, unless you have a dog property with few attractive features. BUT while there may be 9 photos for local agents to view in their system, only one will be available to the public on Realtor.com — unless your agent subscribes to a premium listing package on Realtor.com! So, without a premium listing on Realtor.com, a consumer searching that site will only see your main photo, and not all those great photos of your beautiful kitchen, mountain view, or pond. Ask any prospective listing agent whether they have a premium or Showcase listing membership on Realtor.com. Or, better yet, search Realtor.com yourself. Premium listings will be surrounded by a "Showcase" frame or include a link to "More Photos". Premium Realtor.Com Listing Standard Realtor.com Listing A prospective listing agent may play up the fact that they'll feature your property with multiple photos on their own website or on a local, non-MLS site like sullivancountyrealestate.com. That's great. But Realtor.com is the big kahuna, and you want to make sure your property exposure is maximized there!

There are a couple of other tips when selecting an MLS participating agent. Make sure they are members of the Sullivan County MLS. There are some agents in neighboring counties that belong to their local MLS (Ulster County MLS for Ulster County, or the Greater Hudson Valley MLS for Orange County). They'll tell you they'll put you in the MLS, but it may be their local MLS that doesn't have wide coverage in Sullivan. So make sure when you're talking about the MLS, you're talking about the Sullivan MLS. Also, ask your agent if yoiur listing with show up on the IDX displays (Internet Data Exchange) of cooperating brokers. IDX is a policy of the Sullivan County MLS that permits brokers to display each other's listings on their websites, and can tremendously increase your exposure.

Maximum Contact Accessibility
When there's a potential buyer, you want to make sure they can see your property! When I'm out with clients showing property, I see their reaction to houses and often change gears in the middle — and want to show a property I hadn't previously considered or arranged to show. On weekends (which is the busiest showing time) many offices aren't staffed, and I end up leaving messages for an agent which often isn't returned until much later, when the buyers are already on their way back to New York City. With a staffed office, I can call the staff person on duty to try to make arrangements. There may be a broker who works on their own or in a very small, unstaffed office, who may be just perfect to list your property. If that's the case, ask them about their accessibility and arrangements for last minute showings.

Make Your House Easy To Show
Sometimes I wonder how motivated a seller is when they make it so difficult to show their property. Every hurdle to showing your property reduces the chance that it will be sold. If I have to make a 50 mile round-trip to pick up the key to your house, and then another 50 mile round-trip to return it, you can bet your house will be at the bottom of my show list. That's exactly what happens if your house is in Jeffersonville, but a west county agent has to go to Monticello to pick up a key. Other hurdles are requiring lengthy pre-notification for showings, requiring your agent to be present for all showings, or requiring that buyers show a mortgage pre-qualification before scheduling a showing.

You Get What You Pay For
It always amazes me when a seller chooses a listing agent based purely on commission, not on how effective they'll be at selling your house. The best brokers are very unlikely to be the cheapest. Marketing, advertising, 7 day accessibility and an effective internet presence all cost money. And the best agents don't work for nothing. You can always find someone who will list your property for less, but if they don't get your property sold, it doesn't matter much, does it?

Make Your House Stand Out
Buyers have choices in many property categories. And even if they don't have many choices, if your house doesn't fit what they want, or comes accross as dated or shabby, they'll just wait.. When we were in a frenzied sellers' market, it seemed like sellers didn't even have to mow the lawn to get their property sold. Today, though, your house needs to stand out from the crowd. You don't need to do any major renovations, but a fresh coat of paint can do wonders. Do some landscaping and get your gravel driveway smoothed out. Ask most Realtors, and they'll tell you that most buyers make their decision before they even step in the house. And in the winter keep your house plowed out! (A side benefit of a plowed house is that its tougher to tell if the house has been shown a lot or not at all. No foorprints in the snow is a dead giveaway that a house isn't getting any action.)

Buyers right now are skittish. On one side, they want to buy a house. On the other, they're looking for reasons not to. As a seller, you need to work to minimize buyer concerns. I think every seller should get a home inspection before putting your property on the market. Even if there are problems, buyers feel comfortable knowing about them going in, and don't think you're trying to hide anything. A home inspection also allows you to correct repair items, or if there are substantial issues, you can get contractor estimates on the cost of repairs. If you have a well, get your water tested. If you have a septic, get it pumped.

And most importantly ...

Price Your House Right!

Many sellers make the mistake of overpricing their houses, harboring the illusion that their property is somehow so unique and special that it will defy market economics and sell for a ridiculous premium. Overpricing is the kiss of death, especially in a buyers market! Listing brokers don't have much enthusiasm for their overpriced listings, few agents will waste the time trekking buyers to your overpriced house, when there are other more realistically priced houses to show that will more likely result in a sale.

A good listing broker should be able to zero in on a target price range to list and sell your house. They don't pull the number out of thin air, but its based on experience and data. Ask the listing agent to show you comparable sales to justify a price, as well as current listings for other similar properties on the market. If a similar listing has been on the market for longer than 90 days, ask them why. Price? Condition? Difficult to show? Location?

Some agents will suggest a high listing price to get your business. They know the market, and know it won't sell anywhere near that. But the strategy is to get you into a listing agreement, and then when there's no action on your property in 30 days or so, will start working the price down. Don't fall for it. You'll lose valuable market time. Ask every listing agent you interview two questions. What price would they recommend to have a deal in 30 days? What would be the price to have a deal in 90 days? Ask them to justify their price with comps and data. Don't be surprised is an agent hesitates to give you a price on the spot. Good agents often want to research recent sales and current listings after seeing your house before putting a price on the table.

And don't tell your agent, "Let's list high, but bring me an offer, I'm flexible" if you're not. Nothing will sour an agent faster on showing your house than a few unsuccessful tries to make a deal.

 

 

David Knudsen
845-468-5710
email: davidk@beechwoods.net