Selling Your Home In Olympia

For most families, their home is their largest financial asset, and deciding to sell it is a big decision that involves a lot of preparation and work. When you're ready to sell it's important to have an experienced real estate professional handle the details involved in the successful sale of a home for top dollar.

 

As an experienced professional who has helped many Olympia and Thurston County Wa residents sell their homes, I know how to handle every aspect of the sales process - from strategically marketing and showcasing your home to making sure everything's signed, sealed and delivered by the closing date.  My Transaction Coordinator, Stephanie, and I manage the entire process for you.  After our initial meeting, at which I will present a draft marketing plan, Stephanie and I will prepare a detailed plan to sell your home based on your needs and requirements.  At the same time we will prepare print and internet based marketing materials for your review, order a title report (So that there are no surprises), and put everything else into place so that your home will recieve the widest coverage possible.  There are many considerations involved in selling a home; one of the most important is to get the home in front of as many potential buyers as possible.


Gain exposure to the largest pool of local home buyers...the Military. I am recently retired from the Army at Fort Lewis, and I specialize in marketing homes, not only to the local community, but to incoming soldiers and airmen. For a plan to market your home to the right audience, contact me and Get to Know Your Realtor®!

By Completing the red form to the left, you will be directed to a page that will allow you to request a free MLS Market Snapshot , emailed to you and tailored to your neighborhood. The Market Snapshot is created from real time MLS data, not tax records, and provides clear information with mapping and a comparison chart that allows you to instantly compare your home against others in the neighborhood. Use the report to determine per square foot cost, cost differences based on age, time on market, and much more.

 

The following articles are a great place to start if you're looking for information about the sales process and how you can get more for your home when you decide to sell.

The Basics of Marketing Your Home How to Set a List Price for Your Home
Get Your House Ready to Show Buyers Why Use a Realtor when Selling a Home

 

Realtor.com Featured Listing Program:

When you’re looking online for real estate, where do you go? Did you know that more home buyers and sellers go to REALTOR.com® than any other real estate site? As a real estate professional, I am committed to leveraging recent trends in online consumer behavior to help my clients’ homes sell for more. So even if you are not looking to sell your home soon, I am committed to helping increase the value of your home by helping increase the value of other homes in your neighborhood that I sell.

 

One of the key ways I work to help increase home values is by expertly marketing them online to reach a large targeted audience of interested buyers for your home. I provide home buyers with what they want most online… multiple photos and detailed property descriptions. All my clients benefit from these enhancements on the #1 real estate site, REALTOR.com®1. Listings on REALTOR.com® with six photos are viewed 299% more often, on average2.

 

These powerful enhancements allow your property to stand out to 6.6 million individuals each month3 who, on average, spend 82% of the time they search for a home online on REALTOR.com®.1 Additionally, your home will receive the same high impact placement on popular Web portals, such as AOL® and MSN®. Because these powerful enhancements allow me to give buyers what they want most, on the most popular real estate sites, all of the clients I serve benefit.

 

When you do decide to sell your home, you’ll want your home to stand out as prominently as possible. To learn more about my commitment to real estate marketing and how I employ REALTOR.com® to reach more buyers for your home visit my Web site at www.OlympiaPropertySales.com, or if you prefer, you can call me at360-970-9977. I’d be delighted to meet with you in person to demonstrate how I am able to create greater potential demand and, thus, possibly sell your home for more.

 

Olympia Featured Community Program:

Before a potential buyer falls in love with your home, they must first fall in love with your community. I have a special integrated marketing system to attract buyers to the homes I market in the Olympia Area which leverages the #1 real estate site1, REALTOR.com®. The investment I have made in one of a limited number of Featured Community™ positions on REALTOR.com® is an example of my commitment to your community. This powerful exposure which includes AOL and MSN is more important than ever since 68% of buyers rank the neighborhood as one of the most important factors influencing their home purchase.2

 

By using the Featured Community Marketing System, I am able to leverage my position to generate greater awareness and interest for Olympia from the one place that we know over 6.6 consumers are searching for homes each month1 – REALTOR.com®. And when I market your community through the powerful Featured Community position I am able to attract more potential buyers for your home.

I invite you to visit Olympia on REALTOR.com® and my Web site at PhilSharpHomes.com to learn more about my commitment to marketing our community and your home to help sell your home for more. If you prefer, please call me at 360-970-9977, I’d be delighted to meet with you in person to demonstrate how I use the REALTOR.com® Featured Community Marketing System and Abbey Real Estate’s powerful marketing resources to help generate greater interest in your community and your home.

1 Media Metrix – reporting the average number of unique visitors to the site each month of 2005.

2 2005 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

 

Your Realtor?  Check out the Network

Finding the right realtor is not just about calling the agent with the best looking website or advertising; it is about finding someone whose personality is compatible with yours, and someone who will help you buy, or market and sell your home in a manner that suits you. Then you get to the nuts and bolts; when you hire a realtor, you are not just entering into a contract with him or her, you are engaging the services of that agents’ entire network. If your agent gives a funny look when you ask about affiliations, you should look elsewhere.

 

An accomplished realtor should have a network of associates who can assist in all aspects of your transaction. Starting with the Title company used by your agent to produce a title report (necessary to insure that there are not surprises at closing) to a contractor to repair items identified by the buyers inspector, your agent should have these people in a back pocket ready to resolve the inevitable issues that arise in the course of buying or selling a home.

 

You should expect, as a matter of routine, for your agent to bring up his or her network at your first meeting. I have made it a practice to discuss the following with all clients, buying or selling:

  • Title costs and procedures
  • Inspections/inspectors
  • Reputable lenders (things to consider when finding the right lender)
  • Contractors (plumbing, electric, landscape, paint, minor to major repair, etc.)

Your Realtor should also have the following “on tap” if needed:

  • Land use planner/engineer (especially if you are looking to build)
  • Septic designers and well drillers
  • Architect or draftsman (many folks plan to add additions etc. after purchase, do you know if the people that issue the permits will?)
  • Wetland/environmental experts (for all of the reasons mentioned above)
  • Many others!!!

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear about people entering into contracts with no idea of the potential outcomes. Just because you buy a vacant lot doesn’t mean that the local jurisdiction will allow you to build on it. Nor does what the neighbor did have any bearing on your property. The rules are changing so fast that what was OK six months ago might be impossible today. If your network of experts is out of touch, it could hurt.

As realtors, we represent ourselves as experts in the field of real estate. The term “real estate” is very broad, it includes not only our homes, but the roads that serve them, the water, the sewer, community impacts, and everything else we take for granted until it affects our purchase or sale. No one person will have all of the answers; but you should insist that your expert know what questions need to be asked, and of whom.

 

Phils Article About Selling Your Home in a Difficult Market 

Coffee house chat has it that the real estate market has somehow changed for the worse, but can't put a finger on it. I disagree; people are listing homes, they are selling homes; they are happy, and they are making money. The psychological effect of down markets in other parts of the country, record new construction numbers in Thurston County, and unreasonable expectations from some sellers has definitely had an impact on our collective perception of the market. The facts, however, are that we are buying and selling homes at a brisk pace, interest rates are great, and our geographic location and projected growth bode well for the future.

 

If you are thinking of selling your home, think of it just as you would selling yourself, your business, or anything else of value. You must stand out among the masses, you must not be distressed, and you must not be too expensive. Many sellers, who really are anxious to sell, are acting like unmotivated sellers; the highest price in the neighborhood, thinking the buyers will have "vision" when it comes to the yard devoid of grass, the little hole from the doorknob behind the front door....these things tell your buyers that they can keep looking, this home isn't going anywhere.

 

I don't mean to say that you should make your home like new before putting it on the market, but it is in your best interest to make it "Show" in its best light. Your agent should make suggestions regarding clean-ups, repairs, and weather or not you will get a return on the investment. Remember though, the return may not come in dollars; it may come in the form of a contract, resulting in a quick and hassle free sale. I have personally patched the hole behind the door, seeded the yard, and cleaned the windows in order to make a property show well and sell, the goal being to close the tranaction and make all concerned happy.

 

A number of techniques to help a home "show well" have come (back) into style. Not very long ago, there were so few homes on the market that price was the only consideration. Buyers were willing to seed the yard and patch the hole. Not anymore; an increase in inventory has created competition, and competition has become our collective "speed bump" in Thurston County. If you want to overcome the "bump", curb appeal is the name of the game, and it applies to the entire property, from the attic to the crawl space to the price. Clean it up, pretty it up and paint it if needed. Don't give YOUR buyer a "negative" to compare with the house up the street.

 

In addition to the obvious, staging is something else that can be very helpful. Demonstrate the use of space (as well as spaciousness) with small items of furniture, decorative curtains, vases with plants and flowers, and tasteful wall hangings; all help your buyers get a personal feel and ideas for what they will do upon moving in. Your realtor should be willing to help with some staging, and can also refer you to companies that provide this service for a fee.

 

There are several key elements to making a sale, not the least of which are the item which is for sale, and the needs of the buyer and seller. Two of the previous three are within your control. The third, the buyers, are out there; just look at the stats in the Sunday Olympian. The buyers that make up those stats bought the home that appeared to be the best deal for them, both in terms of price and desirability. Those buyers were looking for the same things you were when you bought; a solid home without questionable issues at a fair and reasonable price. People don't come back for a second look if the home doesn't meet those criteria. Not if you repeatedly drop the price, not if you fill the hole, and not if you seed the yard; get it right the first time or YOUR buyers just won't come back for a second look.


 

Phil Sharp is a Realtor with Abbey Real estate Inc. in Lacey, Phil has helped his clients buy, sell and invest in Thurston County real estate for over 6 years, and his investment company, Sharp and Sharp Holdings LLC, has invested successfully in Real Estate in the Olympia area for the past ten years. Phil can be reached at 360-970-9977, or see other comments by Phil at PhilSharpOnline.com

 

Whether you say REALTOR®, "Realator" or "Realter", realty, "realety" or "reality", real estate or "realestate", our agents speak your language.