The first step toward selling real estate listings is finding the right price. There’s a sweet spot in price that maximizes the benefits to the buyer, the seller and the agent. Research can help you find the best price for your market, and from there, you can earn agreement from your seller by utilizing the proven techniques and pre-listing package guidelines discussed by agents Ron Wexler, Martin Bouma, Jodi Boxer, Lucy Thompson and Mark Hite at Family Reunion 2015.
“I tell sellers that if you price a house right, you’ll sell it closer to the list price,” Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Hite says. “I’ll also sell it 10 days faster than any other agent.”
Hite’s strategy kicks off with a one-page questionnaire sent out when the listing appointment is made that includes questions about how much is owed on the house and the reason for selling. Boxer, who is based in the New York City commuter area of Stamford, Conn., also uses a pre-appointment questionnaire that includes a DISC analysis.
“I want to try to figure out what their DISC is because that might determine how I speak with them,” she says. “I would speak to a 'High I' differently than a 'High C' because I find with a 'High C' that as long as I’m delivering the information in a clean manner they can understand, pricing is a breeze.”
Thompson, who is based in Summit, N.J., 25 miles west of Manhattan, employs a two-step listing process. “The first time we meet, I go to research what I’m looking at and go in with a comprehensive pre-listing package,” she says. “It includes a professional profile so I don’t have to talk about myself. I leave it with them at the end of the first appointment.”
In the second appointment, Thompson brings a brag-book, a listings book and up-to-date market charts.