The Corrigan Group by Sandra Corrigan: Colorado: Highlands Ranch: Highlands Ranch

Sellers, Price Your Home Right the First Time and Get It Sold Fast!

Even in the midst of short sales and foreclosures, your home can be the next one under contract.

The four legs to the effective home sale chair are: 4. Marketing 3. Condition 2. Location and 1. Price. 

Marketing. Real estate is local. The Internet has made "local" a larger market. 50% of The Corrigan Group online leads are coming from outside Colorado. We track where leads are coming from. Listings must be able to be found everywhere. Your agent must "launch" your property with as many color photos as possible. Many sites will take 50 or more photos. A virtual tour is standard no matter the price point. That "picture is worth 1000 words" means more than ever as buyers won't give your home a second look without photos. You have a few seconds to get them to include your home in their "I want to see this one" list.

Condition of the house CAN be seen in your photos and virtual tour. Professional photography influences a buyer's decision to view your home. Hire a professional stager who will look at your from a buyer's perspective, shoot your home in the best light of the day and give you tips to attractively arrange furniture and personal belongings.

Location. The way your agent writes about your home in their marketing can help or hurt your sale. If you have a small backyard then "feature" it. Pointing out the things that make your property different helps you attract the right buyer and helps to screen out uninterested ones. Tell the truth about the property and you have a better chance of having the future buyer find your home.

Price is the most vital piece of your marketing. To stay in a competitive position you must price your home in the leading 10% of those similar homes in your neighborhood. If you do this in the beginning, you will also get more for your house in the long run. Not pricing your home correctly means you will be "chasing the market" and some homes never catch up. Extended days on market also give your home a "shop worn" impression, meaning that buyers make up that there is something wrong or the house would be sold by now.

Tips for staying ahead of the market are; looking realistically at the comparables in the first place, reviewing solds and under contracts regularly, taking regular and systematic price reductions to keep showing activity high, making improvement or price adjustments based on feedback given.

Selling your home is not luck. Selling today means hiring a real estate professional that works full time in the market. Your agent should analyze and understand what the market is doing in your neighborhood and local area and communicate with you honestly. Doing anything other than this wastes your time, your agent's and the buying community's time, too.