The Connecticut Real Estate Market is Not Entirely Out of Your Control.

True, you cannot change the local or national economy. You cannot change the fact that home prices have fallen over the last few years. And, as you know, you cannot change the location of your home.... but you can control  Four very important aspects of the sale of your home.

The Realtor You Choose: The Realtor that you hire makes ALL the difference. We are all in the same industry, however all agents do not treat their seller clients and listings in the same way. What is standard operating procedure for service from one agent is  not even offered by another. Each agent has their own marketing plan, and  you would be very surprised at the variations. We all have our own style of communication and negotiating, and  it is important that you choose the agent that you feel will work the best for you, given all of these factors. Experience and reputation is key, too.

The  Marketing of Your Home: Your home WILL sell faster if it is marketed correctly. Make sure you get a good feel for how your agent will market your home. There are NO if's, and's, or but's about it. I cannot tell you how many poorly presented homes are on our MLS and those listings are not doing the sellers any favors.  In fact, a poorly presented listing HURTS the homeowner financially. There are  many homes that go without  brochures, as well as additional  and/or enhanced internet marketing, ...and that includes social media, too. Make sure your home doesn't go without any of these very important pieces to the overall marketing plan.

Condition: You can control the condition of your home. If there is clutter, remove it. If something needs to be cleaned, clean it. And if something needs repair and its within reason and your budget, repair it.

Pricing: Only you can set the asking price of your home. The agent cannot. A Realtor can guide you to what they think is the best listing price for your home, but only YOU can set the asking price. In the end, it is You and Your Buyer that technically determine the sales price, because without a buyer, you have no sale.

Remember, you are the seller. You are the ultimate boss. After all, it is your home and your money at stake. Give it the attention it needs to effect a sale, and hire The Right Realtor  that knows how to price your home, market your home, negotiate the best sale price possible, and see you through to closing. That's me!

I am in the business of selling homes, and I'd like to be in business with you. Contact me today to get your home IN the Market, and I WILL get your home sold.

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Real Estate Agent, Realtor, Salesperson or Broker- which one to choose?

When you are looking to hire a professional to assist you in your home buying or home selling needs, there are a number of  options to choose from. Some terms are considered interchangeable in the public's eye, but actually, they're not.  Knowing the difference between the various terms, and choosing the best type of agent for you is very important to your transaction, and will most likely have a trickle-down effect into your wallet.

When it comes right down to it, the difference between these are education and  ethics. So having this knowledge, wouldn't you want the best of everything that is available to you?

REAL ESTATE AGENT-  The term  "real estate agent" is  a generic term for a professional who assists buyers and sellers with their homebuying or homeselling needs. A real estate agent MUST be licensed through the state of Connecticut through the Department of Consumer Protection. (CT.DCP)

REALTOR -A Realtor is either a licensed real estate salesperson, or licensed real estate broker who belongs to the National Association of Realtors. Not all real estate agents are Realtors- YOU HAVE TO ASK!!!!  A Realtor must abide by a strict code of ethics, and most realtors will proudly display their affiliation, either in text or with the "R" logo. There are annual dues for membership There are currently 1,017,362  nationwide members.

SALESPERSON - A Real Estate Salesperson must be  licensed through the state of Connecticut, and sponsored by a real estate Broker in order to legally sell real estate in Connecticut.. The pre-requisites are  60 hours of classroom education, and a mandatory score of 70% or higher on a two part state licensure test which consists of  general questions and specific state related questions. Failure to pass either of the two part test will require that portion of the test to be completed and passed. A licensed real estate salesperson also must attend  12 hours of continuing education every two years, with a mandatory three hour class "CT Real Estate Agent Fudiciary Duties and Law Update". .Licenses are valid for only one year, and expire every May 31, unless the requirements are met for renewal.  As of today, there are  15,338  licensed salespeople in Connecticut.

BROKER -A Real Estate Broker is licensed through the state of Connecticut. The pre-requisites are  being a licensed Real Estate Salesperson for a minimum of two years, 120 hours of classroom education, and a mandatory score of 70% or higher on a two part state Broker licensure test which consists of  general questions and specific state related questions.  A licensed real estateBroker also must attend  12 hours of continuing education every two years, with a mandatory three hour class "CT Real Estate Agent Fudiciary Duties and Law Update".A Real Estate Broker is the highest form of licensure avalable to real estate professionals in Connecticut. Licenses are valid for one year, and expire every March 31, unless the requirements are met for renewal. Brokers who sponsor Salespeople are responsible for all of their acts and omissions. As of today,  there are  6419  Brokers in Connecticut. That's just 29.5 percent of all the real estate professionals in the state.

The best educated and most ethical real estate agent you can possibly hire to assist you would be a Realtor / Broker.  (and I just happen to know someone who fits the bill)

Resources
Department of Consumer Protection (State of Connecticut)

National Association of REALTORS

2011 REALTOR Code of Ethics

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What are the three most important factors when selling a home?

When you decide it's time to sell your home, pay special attention to three very important factors. These weigh heavily in any type of market and  can make or break the sale of your home.

• PRICE: The first  and foremost prerequisite to selling your home is pricing it correctly.  That doesn't mean adding extra room for negotiations. That only puts you into a price category that you can't easily compete with other homes. Remember, buying a home is truly an emotional purchase for a buyer. They always seem to come up to your price if they really want your home. In our area, The sales price to list price ratio is around 95% and that is already factored into the list price. Your agent (that would be me!) will conduct thorough market analyses to ensure that you know what the proper list price for your home should be. If you are thinking of selling your home now, contact me for your detailed market analyses.

•  CONDITION: Second, go through the house  with your agent and fix any obvious issues. I will conduct a walk -through with you when we place yourhome n the market, not only to see all of its features, but to consult with you about any problems that you may be aware of, and  make suggestions to if I find any areas of concern. Cosmetics and interior neutralization to enable your home to appeal to the most buyers is  of the utmost importance. This is one of the first step of staging your home for sale. Utilize my 26+ years in the industry to advise you as to what makes the most sense before you make any changes.

• EXPOSURE:  Exposure is important, but at the same time, it is also important that your agent does not over-expose your home. Your home should be advertised in the places that make the best sense. Make sure that your home is getting the proper exposure it deserves through appropriate advertising, broker and public open houses, Marketing materials for your home that are placed at your home, and an accurate listing on the local multiple listing service or online listings providers.

When you are ready to sell your home, contact me. I will make sure that youunderstand  all of these very important components of selling your home, and more importantly, I will implement them on your behalf.

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How to steer clear of costly seller mistakes.

Everyone wants to get the most money out of the sale of their home, but sometimes in an effort to do just that, you can sabotage yourself without even knowing it.  Here are a few common mistakes that sellers make, so you'll  know what NOT to do when selling your home.

• 1. Basing your asking price solely on the listing price of other properties.  If you see one, or any number of homes on the market for a particular price, don't assume that your home is worth that price as well, even if your home has more to offer. If those homes are on the market, then they haven't sold- and anyone can list their home for sale at any price if an agent is willing to list it for that price. It does not necessarily mean that the home is worth it. See my post on "Street Phenomena"

• 2. Overestimating the value of  upgrades or improvements, and adding the full value on to the asking price.  You may have just remodeled your bathroom and /or kitchen or refinished your basement . Unfortunately, you do not recoup all of the costs in these improvements, and if your home is over-improved for yoru area, you will recoup even less. See my prior post on Home Improvement Return On Investment.

• 3. Listing your home to the agent that gives you the highest price. Some agents deliberately over-value your  home just to get you to sign a 6 month listing agreement. This is truly frowned uponin our industry by professionals, and we have a term for it- it's called "buying the listing"-. Agents that practice  this deceptive tactic assume that once you are under contract, they can always reduce the price to get your home sold. If they come in with a higher price than other agents do, they are more likely to obtain the listing- so the agent that tells you your home is worth the most may be trying to do ust that, or they may be too inexperienced to know better. Either way, you lose.

• 4. Overpricing your home to leave room for negotiating. We all know most people want to try and negotiate. So that being the case, we should a cushion to the asking price so we will get more, right? WRONG. Typically homes in our area are selling for about 95% of the asking price. When you get your market analysis from yoru agent, this infrmation should be included. Adding more to your asking price only puts your home in the next price bracket, where your home will not be able to compete with the other that are fairly priced. Your home just appears overpriced, and you lose valuable market time, and the ability to get even market price for your home by doing this. Even if a buyer does come to see your overpriced home, they   will not place an offer on a home that is priced too high, because contrary to what you might think , they really don't want to submit a lowball offer.

• 5. Basing your asking price on what you need out of the sale in order to purchase your next home. Buyers determine market value. Just because you need "X" amount to putchase your next home, or to walk away from your home without owing the bank anything unfortunately  has no bearing on the price that a buyer will pay for it.  

• 6. Choosing the wrong agent to sell your home. There are many reasons that your agent could not be the best agent to sell your home.  First and foremost, make sure you hire a Realtor and not just a real estate agent. A Realtor subscribes to a strict code of ethics. There are plenty to choose from, so that make that a requirement right from the get-go. You should have the authority to approve the marketing materials that your agent creates on your behalf. If you are not happy with something, it should be addressed with your agent so that it can be fixed. I cannot tell you how many times that I have been to a sellers home after theior listing expired and they never saw what theit actal MLS printout looked like, much less given the ability to okay it. That includes pictures, too. One of these days, agent siwll realize that photgraphng the corner of a room, is just really a picture of the cornetr of a room. Also focusing on the furnishing rather than the house itself is a no- no. Taking the time to move items as necessary for a photo shoot on teh house, and returning the items to where they were shoudl not ever be a big deal to anyone. When I see a picture of a kitchen that has too much on the counter, or magnets and papers all over the fridge, it spells laziness on the agent's part. The internet is powerful, the pictures must be as photogenic of your home as possible, to put it in the best light.

• 7. "Hard selling" to your buyer as they are looking at your home. When an agent is showing your home to their buyer, resist "helping" that agent, and/or following them around your home. When you, as a seller,  point out all of your home improvements, and all of the features of your home, it makes you look desperate to sell. It's a majotr turn-off to buyers, and agents for that matter.  Buying a home can be very emotional for a buyer. They really need the time alone without you breathing down their neck at every move- whether you think you are doing that or not. Everyone has their own privacy limits. It's really best for you to be out of the house, or out of the way during home showings.

Every dollar counts when selling your home. Make your decisions wisely- the right agent make sall the difference for each of these common seller mistakes. and I just happen to know someone :)

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What you should expect from your Real Estate Agent, and how important is it to you?

I came across a survey  a few days ago that resonated with me, and I wanted to share it with you. It's what home buyers and sellers expect from their agent, by level of importance.  I nearly fell off my chair when I read some of the numbers. EXPECT MORE FROM YOUR AGENT, PERIOD! I'll tell you a story...

Just yesterday, I received a call from a past seller client who moved out of state,  and she called me to get a referral for an agent in her area to sell her home. So I looked on the internet for  local real estate sites, I checked realtor.com to see which company was listing what, and what that company's  average listing prices were until I had found a few  that could be in the running.

As you know, I am affiliated with RE/MAX, and there was a RE/MAX office in her area, but I didn't see that to be a good match for her needs. That's rare, but it happens.  After reviewing the company websites, I found one firm that stood out to me, so I called, spoke with the Office manager, and described the type of agent that  I was looking for to assist my past client.  Well she gave me somebody alright, WHOA! The agent called me up, Ms. Gum-chomper, and a baby was crying in the background. That agent bragged about how wonderful she was, and all I could think of is that the only person she's trying to convince of how good she is, is HERSELF!

That was a BIG no-no in my book. So I called the manager and said, (in a very pleasant manner) that the agent did not seem like a good fit for my client, and could she please have someone else call me. The manager did ask why I felt that way, and I was frank- I told her that the agent sounded a bit brash, there was a baby crying in the background, and it just didn't seem professional to me.  The agent called me back to tell me that the child wasn't hers, but in fact, it was her clients, and she was out showing a client around when she called me. THREE wrong things with that picture. Out with a client and not giving full attention to that client, calling someone else in front of that client, and driving and talking with a BABY in the car. Ok, fast forward...

I got another agent that was just perfect! and for that I am happy. Now, after that long story (sorry) it leads me to this survey taken by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). NAR recently published their annual Profile of Buyers and Sellers. In it, there was a survey about what buyers and sellers deemed important skills that their agent ought to have. The results may surprise you, depending on how you look at that figures compiled. If you look at the chart below, it represents the percentage of importance placed by the  respondents on a particular aspect of real estate.  Just to be clear, this is an excerpt, and not the entire poll, which was broken down further by marriage status and gender, although the numbers are still similar.

The numbers that surprised me most were negotiation skills, people skills, and technology skills, because as a Realtor I think that these skills are also very important.

That agent had poor people skills, evidenced  by her disrespect to her client, and for me, for that matter. She didn't have a personal website, either. That doesn't cut the mustard with me,  and it shouldn't with a buyer or seller either. I think that a lot of these skillsets mentioned should rate a lot higher, and buyers and sellers hould expect more from their agent. When  I put my name on something, it BETTER be good, period, and all agents  should set the highest standard for themselves and their clients as possible.