We often have homeowners ask us what their property is worth. They usually expect a Realtor® to answer this question right away because they don't have a real understanding of the lengthy process we use to arrive at their home’s most realistic market value. It actually takes a great deal of research and a preview visit to your home to do the best job for you.

Here's what to expect in our listing process:

Home Preview

We will first make a quick preview visit that allows us to meet you and to assess your home’s features and condition, make any necessary measurements, etc. We will also provide you with a copy of our personally prepared Homeseller's Guide that will help acquaint you with our company, the many services that we offer, and an overview of the homeselling process.

We'll also explain the procedures for putting your home on the market and our workbook contains the various forms that Realtors® use in addition to the listing contract. In it you will also find a list of helpful documents for you to locate before our return visit.

We will also review the agency relationship between a selling homeowner and a brokerage firm.

In addition to the workbook we leave with you, we provide a VHS tape or DVD with tips on how to arrive at the best price for your home.

If you thoroughly review the information in this guide before our next visit, you'll find that it saves a great deal of time when we make our actual presentation.

Property Research

We next use the data we’ve gathered about your home to help select comparable properties that are currently on the market or that have recently sold. We may need to visit some of the properties or conduct research at the town or county offices. We then prepare a written analysis evaluating the current market conditions, homes currently on the market, expireds and solds, plus any other outcomes from my research. Armed with all of this, we make our second visit to your home to present our marketing plans for your home.


Marketing Presentation

During this second visit we discuss a number of factors that influence the sale of your particular home. Two of the most important are our marketing plan and the outcome of our comparative market analysis for your property.

Marketing Plan: Our marketing plan is specifically tailored for your home. In addition to pointing out your home’s best features, we may also need to make note of some areas for improvement.

How a Realtor® intends to market your home should be one of the key factors in your listing decision. Don't expect every agent in a particular company to follow the same marketing plan, and don't expect the marketing plan for every home to be the same. While we have a general marketing plan that serves as a starting point, we tailor each plan specifically to what we think is best for each individual home. If you are interviewing other agents, be suspicious of any who don't take the time to thoroughly discuss their marketing plan with you.

Market Analysis: We'll thoroughly go over the information in our market analysis to arrive at a potential listing price for your home. You need to understand current market conditions and know what similar properties have been selling for before you can set a realistic price for your home.

You may find during this part of our presentation that our figures and recommendations are different from what you believe your property is worth or what your neighbors have told you.

This is the time to remove emotion from your decision so that you can evaluate the prices that homes like yours have actually been selling for and the prices of similar homes they will be competing with on the market.

Even though some agents will offer to list your home at an inflated market price, we'll explain why it's to your advantage to list your home within five percent of what similar homes are currently selling for.

If we come to a satisfactory agreement on our services and the market price of your home, we can complete the paperwork for the listing agreement during this visit and get you started on your way to selling your home. It would be helpful if you have a copy of your key available for us when you sign the listing agreement.

We’ll also leave you a VHS tape or DVD with tips on how to Dress Your House for Success plus a number of homeseller guides and checklists that provide handy tips on how to sell your home faster and for more money.

Follow-up Visit

If needed, we can follow-up the presentation appointment with a brief visit in which we refine the marketing plan and go over specific strategies for showcasing your home most effectively. We also decide what areas, if any, need additional improvements. This is a good time for us to answer any additional questions that you might have.

Ongoing Communication

Many homesellers complain that once they have listed their home, they seldom see or hear from their agent or the broker again. You'll find that we stay in touch with our clients at least once a week, and more often whenever necessary.

If you have questions about any part of the process or need additional information, please give us a call.