10 P's of Successful Selling

Preparing your home for sale is vital, and a primary focus of our team. We bring in the Home and Pest inspectors early. Depending on their findings, we may also inspect the roof, HVAC, drainage, and pool, if applicable. These findings provide the details for our next step, the Project Planning, but more on that later.

The early inspections tell us exactly what needs to be addressed to get the home ready for its best presentation to the market. Most buyers want a “move-in ready” home, and taking care of repairs and improvements is an investment for the seller. It also reduces another round of negotiations later in the sale if issues are discovered in the due diligence phase. We can document gains in the sale price by spending a few dollars to get it right before going to market.

We also bring in our Stager/Designer to review the home, and determine what needs to be decluttered and what staging pieces need to be brought in for the right look for selling the home. The stager often recommends painting with more current colors and styles, improving the lighting, cleaning the windows, and sometimes carpeting or flooring needs to be updated. Even the landscaping is addressed for the best overall look for the home.

Another we way get your home ready for the market is by bringing in professional photography. This is our last step in Preparation. When the house is properly staged and ready, and looking its best, the pictures are taken. These pictures become the basis for our literature, and all online presentations. All buyers are using online resources to review homes, and the pictures are extremely important. We make sure to get it right.

Pre-Marketing is one of our strongest assets — where our experience and connection to the real estate community really helps you. We put together an extensive pre-marketing campaign to excite people about the upcoming home which includes the internet, print, and mailers to name a few avenues.

In addition we are part of “Top Agent Network”, which is an online network of all of the top agents in the area; and the Artisan Group, which is an affiliation of top brokerage firms from Marin through the South Bay and reaching out to Tahoe. We share our “coming soon” homes with these groups so they can start talking with their buyers. We also put your home on Brokers Tour before bringing it to the general public market. This combination of events gets your home exposed to the market before the first Open House which is why our average days from putting the house on the market to getting a contract is 7 days!

We work with the best professional stagers to prepare your home for market. The investment is proven to gain a better price for your home, and it enables the buyer to see the home in its absolute best form. Homes go through fashion cycles, much like clothing and cars. Bringing in the newest styles and colors, while also removing clutter and personal touches, lets the buyer see the home in a more neutral setting and allows them to “move in” emotionally.

Pricing is somewhat of an art. Determining the right price to take to the market is affected by multiple factors, recent comparable sales in the area, and timing. We work closely with our clients through the process, from initial evaluation, to inspections and repairs, to staging & photography, to come up with the best price. Another step we take is to invite our fellow agents into the home when all the preparation is done, and right before we advertise your home to the market. We ask them to provide a Brokers Price Opinion, based on what they see in the market, compared with your home. They often make suggestions about details that are very helpful. We share our thoughts on pricing, and listen to their comments closely. Bringing in these experienced agents is a great benefit because we can gain their perspective from the broader market. This also brings in top producing agents that have buying clients, which can be very beneficial.

Presentation is the culmination of all the hard work; Preparation, Project Planning, Pre-Marketing, Prospecting, Prepping, Photography, Pricing, and Publicity. When the Pat Burgess Team brings a home to market, we have the reputation of getting it right, and we have earned the respect of the other agents in our area. We have one of the shortest Days on Market statistics, and that is the result of our formula for success. The benefit to the seller is a clean transaction, short timeframes, and a premium price for your home. We value the trust of our clients, and strive to deliver on the promise.