Adding To The Mix- A Brand Story
The Key IngredientYou've heard it yourself. He's the life and soul of the place, a grand man altogether. She's the heart of the business, a formidable woman. Sometimes, it seems to me that the more successful hotels or restaurants are those that are closely identified with their larger-than-life owner or founder. In Ireland, the personalities of P.V. Doyle, Myrtle Allen and Paddy Fitzpatrick stand squarely out in front of the places they created. Elsewher

Background Checks: Are Reference Checks A Formality?
Are background checks a formality?In other words, once you've made it to the reference check stage, are you virtually guaranteed to get the job?No.As a recruiter, I've seen jobs lost at the reference check stage when the references don't speak as highly of the job searcher as the hiring manager would have liked.The reference check stage tends to be one that job searchers often don't take very seriously and I'm always amazed when this happens.An expired listing is a home that did not sell within the contractual term of a listing agreement. Many real estate agents set up an automated e-mail notification of expired listings on their local MLS. It’s a potential source of business since presumably these are homeowners that wanted to sell their home but were not successful for a variety of reasons. Well, just what are these reasons? Why do listings expire? Listings can expire for all sorts of reasons. However, there are three reasons that are particularly common: (1) price, (2) condition and (3) marketing.

Overpricing is probably the number one reason why homes don’t sell. As the owner of the property you’re allowed to ask for whatever price you want. But, buyers have the final word and get to decide if they will pay it. Your home is competing with other homes. When you overprice a home you simply make it easier for properly priced homes to sell because they look like a better value by comparison. Don’t ignore the market in setting or adjusting your price. Your asking price should be largely based on what other homes have been selling for and current market conditions, anything more and its probably wishful thinking. While on the market, your real estate agent should be soliciting feedback from everyone coming in to see the home, and periodically relaying that feedback to you. Listen to the collective feedback. Don’t ignore the market. If you do, the market will ignore you.

A good real estate agent will get buyers to walk through your home’s doorway. However, what these buyers see when they walk in is up to you. If your home doesn’t show well you’re probably wasting your time. What does it mean to “show well?” That topic deserves its own article. But in brief, the home should be clean, smell nice, and be clutter free. Freshly painted with neutral colors will also make it more attractive, and, don’t forget the home’s curb appeal. Does this sound like a lot of work? Well, it can be depending on your lifestyle and your home’s present condition. But, your efforts will be rewarded with a much faster sell.

Marketing is a critical component to getting a home sold for top dollar. Putting a sign on the yard and listing the home on a MLS may be enough to sell a home sometimes. But, it’s often not. Over 75% of buyers begin their home search on the Internet. How many web sites was your home advertised on? Besides the Internet, the marketing plan

asons that are particularly common: (1) price, (2) condition and (3) marketing.

Overpricing is probably the number one reason why homes don’t sell. As the owner of the property you’re allowed to ask for whatever price you want. But, buyers have the final word and get to decide if they will pay it. Your home is competing with other homes. When you overprice a home you simply make it easier for properly priced homes to sell because they look like a better value by comparison. Don’t ignore the market in setting or adjusting your price. Your asking price should be largely based on what other homes have been selling for and current market conditions, anything more and its probably wishful thinking. While on the market, your real estate agent should be soliciting feedback from everyone coming in to see the home, and periodically relaying that feedback to you. Listen to the collective feedback. Don’t ignore the market. If you do, the market will ignore you.

A good real estate agent will get buyers to walk through your home’s doorway. However, what these buyers see when they walk in is up to you. If your home doesn’t show well you’re probably wasting your time. What does it mean to “show well?” That topic deserves its own article. But in brief, the home should be clean, smell nice, and be clutter free. Freshly painted with neutral colors will also make it more attractive, and, don’t forget the home’s curb appeal. Does this sound like a lot of work? Well, it can be depending on your lifestyle and your home’s present condition. But, your efforts will be rewarded with a much faster sell.

Marketing is a critical component to getting a home sold for top dollar. Putting a sign on the yard and listing the home on a MLS may be enough to sell a home sometimes. But, it’s often not. Over 75% of buyers begin their home search on the Internet. How many web sites was your home advertised on? Besides the Internet, the marketing plan

ignore the market in setting or adjusting your price. Your asking price should be largely based on what other homes have been selling for and current market conditions, anything more and its probably wishful thinking. While on the market, your real estate agent should be soliciting feedback from everyone coming in to see the home, and periodically relaying that feedback to you. Listen to the collective feedback. Don’t ignore the market. If you do, the market will ignore you.

A good real estate agent will get buyers to walk through your home’s doorway. However, what these buyers see when they walk in is up to you. If your home doesn’t show well you’re probably wasting your time. What does it mean to “show well?” That topic deserves its own article. But in brief, the home should be clean, smell nice, and be clutter free. Freshly painted with neutral colors will also make it more attractive, and, don’t forget the home’s curb appeal. Does this sound like a lot of work? Well, it can be depending on your lifestyle and your home’s present condition. But, your efforts will be rewarded with a much faster sell.

Marketing is a critical component to getting a home sold for top dollar. Putting a sign on the yard and listing the home on a MLS may be enough to sell a home sometimes. But, it’s often not. Over 75% of buyers begin their home search on the Internet. How many web sites was your home advertised on? Besides the Internet, the marketing plan

d real estate agent will get buyers to walk through your home’s doorway. However, what these buyers see when they walk in is up to you. If your home doesn’t show well you’re probably wasting your time. What does it mean to “show well?” That topic deserves its own article. But in brief, the home should be clean, smell nice, and be clutter free. Freshly painted with neutral colors will also make it more attractive, and, don’t forget the home’s curb appeal. Does this sound like a lot of work? Well, it can be depending on your lifestyle and your home’s present condition. But, your efforts will be rewarded with a much faster sell.

Marketing is a critical component to getting a home sold for top dollar. Putting a sign on the yard and listing the home on a MLS may be enough to sell a home sometimes. But, it’s often not. Over 75% of buyers begin their home search on the Internet. How many web sites was your home advertised on? Besides the Internet, the marketing plan

ork? Well, it can be depending on your lifestyle and your home’s present condition. But, your efforts will be rewarded with a much faster sell.

Marketing is a critical component to getting a home sold for top dollar. Putting a sign on the yard and listing the home on a MLS may be enough to sell a home sometimes. But, it’s often not. Over 75% of buyers begin their home search on the Internet. How many web sites was your home advertised on? Besides the Internet, the marketing plan for your home should include other marketing channels like direct mail and newspapers.

A lot of sellers don’t realize this, but the commission is part of your marketing strategy. This is particularly true of the buyer agent split. This is the share of the commission that is offered to buyer agents in exchange for producing a buyer. It’s important to motivate the hundreds of agents in your community to work for you. If the commission split offered to buyer agents is too low your home has a much higher chance of just sitting there with little or no activity.

Don’t make it difficult for buyers to see your home. Remember, buyers have choices and you have competition. If a buyer can’t see, feel and experience your home they won’t buy it. I strongly recommend the use of lockboxes. If you have overly restrictive showing times or it takes more than one or two phone calls to confirm an appointment you’re gong to lose showing opportunities.

If you actually received a bona fide offer from a qualified buyer, chances are your real estate agent did a reasonable job marketing your home. If you didn’t get any offers, there’s a good chance it was due to one or more of the above reasons. The good news is that there’s at least one buyer for every home. Employing many of the aforementioned recommendations and strategies will permit you to meet your buyer.