Text Box: THE FOUR CRITERIA FOR SELLING A HOUSE The four variables in marketing a home are condition, price, terms, and exposure. These four variables are interdependent; for example, the better the condition of the home, the higher the price, the lower the price, the greater the exposure (number of qualified buyers looking at the home). The seller controls three out of four of these variables. The only one the real estate agent controls is the exposure. The real estate agent is an advisor on the other three but ultimately the condition, price and terms are decided by the seller. The condition of the property refers to how well maintained it is. For example: painting, flooring, trim, window treatments, upgrades (kitchen, baths, etc.), the lawn (weeds or lush thick grass), the landscaping, etc. I think you get the idea.  The real estate agent should advise you on where you need to improve, and which of these areas will have the most profitable impact on your net sale price of the house. Or, which of these areas should not be done because you will not recover your investment in the sale price. The price of the home depends on the condition of the house but not entirely. The real estate agent should provide the data for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to help you set a price for your home. HOWEVER, your agent needs to be able to interpret the data, the real estate market conditions, and how your house compares to the competition currently for sale. Using an agent without that knowledge, intuition, and insight, could cost you dearly. Why? In a declining market, a house will not sell for as much as it will appraise for. In an appreciating market your house will sell for more than it will appraise for. The terms of the deal are related to price, AND related to the existing real estate market conditions. Does your agent know the market? Eddie Velie Does. The terms of the deal should match the market conditions. For example, A seller should be willing to contribute towards closing costs in a declining market. Why? The house (for example) will appraise at $100K but because there is so many other houses for sale, the market price is only $90K. If the seller pays $10K of the closing costs, the home becomes more attractive as purchase because the buyer can move in with less money down. The lenders are OK with this all else being equal. The exposure of the property is the quantity and quality of the pool potential buyers a Realtor can get your property in front of. When selling your home, you should select a real estate agent who can expose your property to the most pre-qualified buyers in the market to ensure the fastest sale at the best possible price. In today’s market, With so many properties to choose from, your property needs to stand out from the crowd. We do just that! When you list with us, you get your home exposed to the widest possible pool of buyers in the world. No one can beat it! Velie Real Estate Services, LLC extensively uses the Internet to expose your property to buyers because about 80% of buyers look online first, then look for a Realtor, and neighborhood. Further, most of the households with incomes to buy their homes also have a computer. You will get 24/7 exposure on Sun-Sentinel.com. Sun-Sentinel is Broward Counties premier newspaper with nearly 1 million readers per week and an award winning Web Site. You get enhanced exposure with headlines, borders, and scrolling banners on Realtor.com. Realtor.com is where the world shops for real estate with about an 80% market share. Velie Real Estate Services enters the back door after your listing is uploaded from the MLS to add photos and descriptions, banners, headlines, and borders. This makes your property stand out among the millions of others! You get listed on the cover of my bi-monthly newsletter, At Home In Coral Bay, that is emailed to hundreds, and delivered to more than a thousand homes. You get on listed three times on my Web Site. That is rotated on the home page, listed on the Featured Properties page, and our Best Listings Page, & more — You get custom photography. We take all our own photos with an 8 megapixel digital camera and wide angle lens. With an expert eye, we go through them for just the right angle, lighting, and scenery, choosing from at least three shots of each room and view. We have custom movie capability, and virtual tour productions. We have FREE NO OBLIGATION CONSULTATIONS! It’s simple, NO ONE WORKS HARDER TO FIND YOU A BUYER THAN EDDIE VELIE REAL ESTATE SERVICES, LLC! CALL ME NOW — (954) 263-6287 EDDIE VELIE, Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM EMAIL ME NOW — Eddie@VelieRealEstate.com Copyright, 2008: Velie Real Estate Services, LLC Four Criteria For Selling a HomeRounded Rectangular Callout: Don’t fall into the “Three P’s” trap of other agents! Why? Their marketing plan is very simple — “Put” up a sign, “Put” it on the MLS, and “Pray” for a buyer! When you sign the listing contract, that could be the last you see of them. They are probably off working at their real job unrelated to real estate.