The 3 Keys of Selling Your Home and why Flat Fee Brokers are better at it.

The 3 Keys of Selling Your Home and why Flat Fee Brokers are better at it.

why Flat Fee Brokers are better at it.">The 3 Keys of Selling Your Home and
why Flat Fee Brokers are better at it.

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

You have always heard the saying, “location, location, location”. They are often described as the three keys of selling a home and getting top dollar. However, while location, location, location are not the three keys of selling a home; they are the three keys of buying one.

The 3 keys to selling a home are:

#1 - Pricing your home

#2 – Staging your home

#3 – Listing your home on the MLS & Realtor.com

#1 – Your List Price

The most common mistake people make selling a home, is overpricing, and this occurs about 80% of the time … So why do people do this?

Here are the reasons why people come up with a list price and overprice their home.

• I need the money to buy a new home.

• I am not going to give it away .

• Other homes are listed for $$$$.

• I need to leave room for negotiating.

• The Realtor said to list it for $$$$.

• My neighbor/friend said they got $$$$.

• Homes go up in value.

• We got an appraisal.

• I need to get $$$$ to cover the agent’s 6% commission.

• My home is the best in the neighborhood.

• I am not going to loose money on this home.

• We are not in a hurry to sell.

So how do you come up with a true and honest list price?

You need to look at all the homes that have been listed in your area and analyze all the data. You need to look at: Active, Sold, Pending, Canceled, Expired, and Withdrawn listings. This is called a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). You are analyzing the total market conditions in your area, so you can make an educated decision on the list price. Only a very experienced broker knows how to do this properly, and has access to the data.

Some of the brokers you will find listed on the right hand side of this web site are able to do a CMA, give you an honest opinion (because there fee is not based on the price of the home), and explain how to sell your home. It takes a broker that has done a lot of listings to possess the experience necessary to give you an objective listing price.

#2 – Staging your home

Staging your home means getting it ready to sell. Click Here for is a great web site, from HGTV, that will explain staging in detail. Most homes that are on the market are not staged, so when you stage your home, you are placing your home well above most of the competition. This may be one of the best kept secrets in the home selling business.

#3 – Listing your home

You can do steps #1 and #2, but if you are not getting your message out to the home buying public, then your message is falling on deaf ears. Listing your home on the MLS (which is the data feed for Realtor.com® and many other great websites) is by far the best may to market your home. Many people know this, but do not want to pay 6% to get it and THEY DO NOT HAVE TO. We have compiled a list of highly recommended Flat Fee MLS Listing Brokerages (see right hand side of web site). Listing your home on the MLS for a Flat Fee may be the best way to market your home. Not only do you get the MLS, but you get the advice of an experienced and successful broker.

In closing, the staff at www.sharpMLS.com has done a lot of research on the art of selling homes. If you follow these 3 steps, you should not only sell your home for top dollar and fast; but you will net more money by lowering your selling expenses. Research has shown that selling your home with a Flat Fee MLS Listing Broker factoring marketing time, commission and price, nets you the most money for your home in the shortest period of time.

Most Flat Fee Brokers are also able to help with contracts and closings, and because of the sheer volume of properties they list, they are much more experienced than most traditional agents you would retain for a high 6% fee.