For most people, selling their home is a BIG decision, financially and emotionally. You have questions and the whole process feels overwhelming . . . but selling your home doesn't have to be stressful, and choosing the right REALTOR® can make all the difference.

We will market your property to other real estate agents and the public. Often, we can recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of your property. We market your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets, over 50% of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer. We act as the marketing coordinator, disbursing information about your property to other real estate agents through our local Multiple Listing Service, MRIS, and other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics requires us to utilize these cooperative relationships when they benefit their clients

We know the market and understand when, where and how to advertise your property. There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts. When a property is marketed with our help, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. We will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

We can help you objectively evaluate every buyer's proposal without compromising your marketing position. This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing -- a lot of possible pitfalls. We will help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.

We will help close the sale of your home. Between the initial sales agreement and closing (or settlement), questions may arise. For example, unexpected repairs are required to obtain financing or a cloud in the title is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. We are the best people to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing (or settlement).

If you know why you are selling, it is easier for you and your agent to determine a plan of action to get exactly what you want.  For instance:  if you need to close a sale as quickly as possible, then you should know that getting the highest price is not your highest priority.  This does not mean that you won’t or can’t get the highest price, but there may be tradeoffs as you decide between an offer with a lower list price and quick close versus a buyer with a full price offer requesting a 60 day settlement.
So, identify your "bottom line" price upfront (i.e. the lowest price you will accept from a buyer). Although this figure should never be disclosed externally, it is important information that we will use to determine an optimal pricing strategy and negotiating position. Even though you should consider all offers and take into consideration the total terms of each (i.e. price, settlement date, financial qualifications, contingencies, etc.) knowing your bottom line saves time by eliminating low-ball offers and enables us to determine the proper tactic to get what is important to you in the negotiation.

You are paying a listing agent commission to ensure that your home is professionally marketed.  Properties that are not marketed aggressively within the first few weeks of listing, tend to stay on the market longer, become stale and garner lower price offers.  Marketing is our background and one of our FAVORITE parts of the job.  We develop a comprehensive marketing plan for each property, tailored to the type of buyer that will most likely purchase the property.  This plan gives us a road map – so that we are on the same page with regard to activities and expectations – and will likely may include the following advertising mediums:

Why stage a house?   Buyers can only imagine what they see, not what it's going to be.   Whether you want to spruce up your home for your own pleasure or boost its bottom line, stagers' advice can give your house an amazing new look. Here's how:

"Curb appeal" isn't just a fancy phrase created to boost landscapers' income. It's a crucial first impression that can make buyers either wary of stopping to look or eager to step inside. Be sure your lawn and gardens look great, trash cans and bikes are put away, house numbers are attractive and easy to see, the front door is spectacular (because you have replaced it or painted it and perhaps updated the hardware), and that you have some attractive potted plants by the door.

The second first impression comes the minute a potential buyer steps inside your home. Coats on a rack, shoes underneath and keys and other doodads in a dish on a console table may mean you're a fabulous organizer, but it is not the way to sell a home. Put the coats and shoes in a closet, the keys in your purse and a vase of flowers on the table.

While a few homes out there have too little furniture and too few accessories, the vast majority have way too much. You don't just want to straighten up your clutter, you want to remove it. Consider putting at least one-quarter of your furniture in storage, one-third of your books in boxes and at least one-half of your knickknacks away. Use the same rule with cabinets, closets and counters. If they are stuffed full, buyers will think they're too small. Keep them tidy and one-third to one-half empty (place just a few things on each shelf). Don't forget to pare down your outside furnishings and accessories, too.

Or hire a cleaning crew to come regularly while your home is on the market, or at least for a one-time super-cleaning. Don't skip windows (inside and out), behind the toilet, bathroom grout, under sinks. Actually move your furniture to vacuum behind and under it.

Take advantage of views and fireplaces. Spruce them up by framing or highlighting them, not covering them up or weighing them down. Put tall objects (furniture, vases, paintings or plants) against tall walls. Highlight, don't block, the traffic flow. Grab a couple of sturdy friends and play with different ways to arrange your furniture. Again, pay special attention to your friends' opinions.

Take the exercise equipment out of the guest room and put a bed back in. Put a table and chairs in an eat-in kitchen. Get the home office equipment and filing cabinets out of your little-used dining room and set the table for company (or just put a nice vase of flowers on top).

Buyers look for flaws to help lower the sales price in negotiations. That wobbly stair rail may still support you and the crack in the ceiling plaster may not be structural, but it'll leave buyers wondering what else is not quite right. No matter how minor the problem, take your toolbox around and start fixing.

Tired home is often thanks to tired paint or furnishings. A new coat of neutral-toned paint is a buyer-pleasing backdrop. Remove outdated furniture; trade sofas with a friend or relative while your house is on the market, ditch yours and buy new, or store yours and rent or borrow a more contemporary style. Tired area rugs (or too many of them) detract from nice wood floors. Shag or other old-fashioned carpeting will turn buyers off. Replace it if you can; clean it if you can't. Update a tired kitchen with an inexpensive new countertop, new cabinet doors, or even just new cabinet hardware.

Love Hummels? Bummer. Collect fishing lures? Too bad. Think that colorful painting is quirky and fun? At least half the people who see it won't. Box up your collections, your personal photos, and anything you wouldn't expect to see on the floor of a furniture showroom. (Nondescript art is fine; art with attitude is not.) And put away blow dryers, makeup and toothbrushes. Buyers need to imagine themselves in your home, not wonder what its current inhabitants are like.

Ask two or three of your most forthright friends to look through your house with the eye of a home buyer: What needs changing? The smell of pets? A cracked window? Not-so-clean appliances? What's acceptable for daily living isn't likely to impress a buyer.

It is tempting to shove all the boxes of extras into the basement or garage, but buyers will be looking there — judging how big they are. Make them as empty as possible by renting a storage space or borrowing a neighbor's or relative's garage for a while. (For last-minute things — a stack of papers, a handful of dirty clothes — you need to put away before a showing, stash them in the washer or dryer or under beds; most buyers never look there.)