Tip 91: Can we talk about your price?

You can be 99% sure that buyers will negotiate to bring the price down; this is why houses are sold and bought as a result of negotiations, which could take days, if you’re lucky, or longer, if you meet buyers who really want your house but don’t want to pay the price you’re asking for.

It’s curious what kind of arguments buyers will come up with to convince you to lower your price. “But your backyard needs a lot of tending”; “The kitchen tiles are not in good shape and we’d have to replace them ourselves”; or “But your house is near a cemetery (or a prison or a quarry), who’d want to buy your house?”

Don’t let buyers run you and your house down. If you want to unburden yourself quickly of your property because you’ve got an important trip scheduled or you need to make a counteroffer on another property, then by all means lower your price.

However, if you’re convinced that your property is worth more (based on the offers you’ve received so far), then be firm with your price.

Buyers will always take advantage of those situations where you show a little hesitation about the price. Tell them your price is final and that you’re not prepared to negotiate.

Tip 90: Who’s that standing by the door?

Before buyers come, it’s good to have
to have a closer. The closer should be clearly visible to visible to buyers, and should be near the door so he/she can keep track of buyers who arrive and leave the property.
The closer can usually tell by your instincts who are the interested buyers. When the closer asks if they want to know how the bidding process works, those who are not interested will simply say no and leave.

Tip 89: Children OK, animals NO!

Get your pets out of the way. You won’t know in advance who is allergic who is allergic to dogs and cats. Plus the barking of dogs and the meowing of cats can be very distracting, and an annoyance for non-pet lovers.

Tip 88: I knew you’d ask that!

Putting up signs to answer frequenthref="http://totee.freehouse.hop.clickbank.net">questions can save you time. It’s also an efficient way to let you give the tour without being interrupted too many times.
Signs can include things like: condo fees are $150.00 per month, appliances, fixtures and draperies are included with the sale, garage and garden equipment are included, china not included, there are 8 phone jacks on the first floor and 3 on the second floor, there is a wireless connection, shelves are included, etc.

Tip 87: Surround yourself with beauty.

Of course be old-fashioned: good lights andflowers would be nice (not too much though – your buyer could be allergic to flower scents).

Tip 86: Dust collectors.

Buyers must feel that theseller has taste and class. Get rid of clutter before their visit. Dust collecting trophies and souvenir items bought during trips can make anugly sight especially if they’re too close to one another without any order and are thick with dust!

Tip 85: It bothers me…

When buyers come to visit, make sure there is nothing about your house that will distract them. Make sure the entrance door is clean, and if it’s winter time, make sure the snow has been cleared.

Ensure that the entranceway is well lit and doesn’t look in disarray. Remove coats and other clothing from their field of vision, no skis by the doorway, no ball or other play objects that may obstruct the path or cause them to trip over. A buyer whotrips in your house is a terrible way to start.

Tip 84: Let’s get serious here.

Here’s an important tip: if you get 25 calls
get 25 calls by the third day, your ad worked. Getting 25 calls means that 25 people read your ad and dialed your number.

Don’t expect 25 buyers though. Callers and buyers are two separate people.

Tip 83: Are you a (phone) grouch?

When you answer calls, come across as friendly. The impression you DON’T want to give is that of a tired, harassed seller who’s sick and tired of answering questions on the phone.

Practice basic courtesy.
Be professional. And sound like one!

Tip 82: Take it down

Have pen and paper ready. Take down each caller’s name and number. Jot down their questions. This will give you an idea of future questions, and you’ll know how to answer them properly the next time.

Tip 81: How do I sound?

So the ad has been placed. Brace yourself for calls! They will increase in number as people read your ad and then pass it off to friends and family.

Rehearse your lines. You’ll wantto give the impression that you’re a serious seller, so you expect the same from them as buyers.

Don’t panic if you’re getting too many calls or none at all on the first day. Take a deep breath and get ready for the avalanche. While having an answering machine is a good idea for the sake of filtering serious callers from the frivolous, it’s perfectly alright for you to take the call yourself if you feel like it.

Tip 80: Would you repeat that please?

Once your ad is published, buy the paper and read your ad a few times, ensuring that all details are correctly listed.

Look at your phone number and make sureit was listed correctly. Do not forget to list your area code.

The same city may have two different area codes – one for the east end district and another for the west end side of town. You couldlose hundreds of potential buyers with this omission.

Tip 79: It’s my favorite day of the week!

Only you will pick the days youwant your adto appear. The approach is to reach as many readers as possible. In the United States, Sundays are when the ads run in the hundreds, and in Canada, Saturday has the highest number of readers.
Wednesday is also ad day in Canada but to a lesserextent than Saturday. Don’t let the ad taker convince you to put your ad on certain days of the week. Go with what you know and what common practice is.

Bear in mind that unless people are really looking for something particular in the paper, they don’t look at the paper during the week.

They are more relaxed during weekends and are likely to pick up the paper from the kitchen table. For anxious buyers however, they deliberately read the papers every morning with the hope that they find the “house of their dreams”.

Tip 78: Add “Or best reasonable offer”

A famous real estate writer saysthat it’s not so much the description of the property that will get you a sufficient number of callers; it is the stated price on your ad.

If it is within theirprice range, they will call. If not, they’ll go on to the next ad. So make sure you don’t omitthis detailbut add, “or best reasonable offer.”

Tip 77: Screen calls.

If you’re a busy person with a full time job, you maywant to filter your calls. Before you call the paper to have your ad put, make sure you set yourself up with an answering machine or an answering service.

You don’t want to be called in the middle of the night or at meal times to answer questions about your house and be forced to make a visit appointment. With an answering machine, you decide who you want to call back.

You will also be able to tell who the serious buyers are versus the frivolous ones. People who leave their names and numbers and arebrief in their message make a good impression.

You want to avoid receiving callers who talk incessantly or ask questions the answers of which are already in the ad.

Be wary of people who also try to negotiate the price down over the phone without even asking to see the property.
This should raise your antennas tothe fact that one, they probably can’t afford the price to begin with, or second, they can’t get their bank to finance that amount.

Tip 76: This is EXACTLY how I want it

Bill Effros recommends that your adshould be positioned as follows: location, upper top left and “BY OWNER” right hand side top.

Type of house (condo, duplex, cottage, etc) on the next line.

Brief description of major feature on the following line.

Then your starting price, e.g. “$150,000 or best reasonable offer” on the next line, to be followed by inspection times (e.g. Sat-Sun 10-5).
Last line on low bottom left, the words: “HIGHEST BIDDER”, and your telephone number beside it.
Note: your ad is meant to give you asmany callers as
possible. Details about the property can be provided to them on the phone if they request them.

And to play safe, email or fax the copy of the ad exactly as you want it to appear in the paper. You could be dealingwith an ad taker who is taking ads for the first time and may not understand what “flush left” or “flush left” mean.

Tip 75: What should I say?

Word your ad so that it answers the questions that buyerswould wantto know: location, the fact that you’re selling it yourself (no brokers or agents please), brief description of house, a starting reasonable price.
Mention that you’ll take the best reasonable offer, and put your area code and telephone number. These are the only points that buyers are initially interested in.Other detailslike amenities and extras and true value can be discussed face to face or during a follow-up telephone call.

Tip 74: Do you want to write a house story? Try the home section, not the classified ads

Think twice, even three times beforeyou get that pencil or word processor moving. Avoid flowery words. Avoid expressions like “it will capture your heart”, or “a house of your dreams”, or “here’s a house where you can have many memorable days”.

People are not really looking forsomething to captivate their hearts or memories. They’re looking for a real house to live in, for a roof over their heads. The dreams and memories cancome later, but at this point, buyers are only interested in a physical structure that they claim ownership of.

Tip 73: Cyberspace? Do I really want Martians buying my house?

What about placing my ad on the Internet, you ask? If our guess of the human tendency is right, people may look
at the Internet for houses for sale, but may not necessarily be serious buyers.

So the Internet for now would be an alternative to traditional newspaper advertising.Just watch people
in cafes who are reading the classified ads. They usually mark the paper, circling those ads that they’re interested in.

On the Internet, the buyer would either copy contact details by hand or print the ad – this can be cumbersome. At least with the
newspaper at hand, people can just toss it in the seat of their cars as they drive off to visit the property, and can look at the ad again, if needed.

Tip 72: One is enough.

Buyers often don’t really want to buy 4-5 newspapers to look for houses for sale. They’d much rather concentrate on one paper and encircle the ads that could lead to potential visits. They usually go
for the paper which is the most popular with the highest number of readers. That’s the paper where your ad must also go.

Tip 71: Where should I publish?

Put it in two sure places where it will get read. Again, pretend you’re the buyer looking for a house. Where would you most likely look? That’s the section where you should place your ad.

Your local paper with a small circulation and your regional paper with a much larger circulation should be your target destinations for your ad.

Tip 70: Wait and see.

Be careful about how long you want your ad to run. An ad that’s been around too long will give readers the impression that your house is not selling because of major problems.It will also tell them that maybe buyers are coming to see the house only to walk away disappointed.

Some experts say a five-day ad is sufficient. If you don’t get a sufficient number of serious callers, pull out the ad, wait a few weeks, and start all over again. Review the ad’s wording.Perhaps there’s something in the ad that doesn’t sound right that you didn’t notice the first time.

Tip 69: Do your thinking before picking up that phone

Don’t do what many people do.They call the classified ads department of their local and regional papers and craft the ad with the person in the other line.

Don’t waste time by providing information only while you’re on the phone. Instead, figure everything out in advance.

And when we say everything,we mean that by the time you call the classified ads person, you know ahead of time what your ad will look like, what it will say, where to put it, what abbreviations to use and whether or not it should have a border (experts say you don’t need a fancy border for your ad to catch the readers’ attention).

Bill Effros who sold his house in five days said that you don’t need a double column or a fancy border for your ad.

Tip 68: Can you just state the bottom line please?

When you’re ready to write out an ad,clarity and brevity must be your parameters. If your price is reasonable and realistic and you put the ad in the right strategic places, you’ll get at least 20 calls.

Tip 67: Umm, how will I word this ad?

If you aren’t good with words, that is, it’s taking you painstakingly long to draft an ad, go with ads placed in the local and regional papers that you FEEL works for you.

This means putting yourself in the buyer’s shoes: you read the ad, it makes you curious, and you take down the number. If an ad pleases you or strikes you as effective and persuasive, copy the style and content of the ad.

Another alternative would be to refer back to some of the books you read on successful real estate sales and mull over the model ads.

Tip 66: The truth will come out…

So keep those five ingredients uppermost in your mind at all times. Now you’re ready to word that ad.

Be honest.

Don’t say you have a house in excellent condition when your inspection report has a long list of deficiencies and repairs your house will require.
Don’t say you have 3 full bathrooms when you really have only two bathrooms and one powder room.If you mention
, as we all know, does not qualify as a full bathroom.

Also, don’t say that you live in a quiet neighborhood when in fact your house is located near a university campus where you hear students partying all night.If you mention
that your house has an alarm system, it better work.

Tip 65:Is this a good time to sell?

Fifth ingredient: Market. Market conditions

are influenced by key factors such as interest rates, supply and demand of houses in your area, competition and the general state of the economy.

Real estate is a cyclical phenomenon.The beginning of 2000
witnessed a surge in home building. All of a sudden homes were being sold faster than contractors could build them When there’s a real estate boom, this is an excellent opportunity to make a killing!

Tip 64: Will the buyer ask for flexibility?

Fourth ingredient: Terms. The more terms you have on the property, the more potential purchasers you reach.Again, the price of your house must reflect the kinds of terms available to purchase it.

Tip 63: How much do I want?

Third ingredient: Price. This is the # 1 deciding factor in the sale or no sale of a house.There’s a belief
among real estate circles that a house is really only worth what a buyer is willing to pay a seller to gain ownership of that house.

Price must have a direct correlation to all the other ingredients for a successful sale. Never mind what the listings or other people say.If your house is overpriced, you won’t have any offers, or else it may take a long time to receive offers.

Tip 62: Have you been negligent?

Second ingredient for a successful sale: Condition. Remember that

this is where a professional inspector and a thorough personal inspection by you can make a lot of sense.Schwarz said that
the upkeep of the property is a crucial factor in obtaining the highest possible price for a home. Price, like location , must reflect a house’s condition.