In my seventeen years in Real Estate, I've learned a few things...One thing I've noticed is the only homes that sell are the ones that are AAA. What constitutes AAA, you ask? It is this, the home must be:

1.      Appropriate Asking Price

2.      Appealing and Attractive

3.      Accessible

Let me expand on these three important qualities:

1.      Appropriate Asking Price: Pricing a home includes many factors (location, condition, landscaping, view, blah blah blah.), but before you get caught up in the details...The most important factor in pricing is that your home should shine in comparison to your competition. The price you ask determines your competition. I'll give you an example. Say you have a lovely home about 1500 square feet in a nice neighborhood and that you remodeled tastefully. If your competition are homes in the 1500 s.f. range in a similarly nice neighborhood, people will look at your remodeling and find your home attractive. However, if your competition includes homes in the 2000 s.f. range in equally nice neighborhoods, people will complain how small your home is and pay no attention to your tasteful remodel. Putting a home on the market is like going to the King's Ball...you want to be the Cinderella at your ball, not one of her ugly stepsisters. 

2.      Appealing and Attractive: This is the area most people think they know all about. I've seen people spend thousands of unnecessary dollars in areas that made no difference to their bottom line. I've also seen homes sit on the market because they had a vague musty odor. All you need to know is the home must appeal to ALL the senses. People make decisions emotionally and justify them logically. Your home must not only be squeaky clean and look good, it must smell good, feel good, sound good...even taste good. We can talk more about that later one on one.

3.      Accessible: You'll be surprised how many miss this one. I've seen homes in wonderful fast sellers markets just sit. Why? Because nobody could get in to see them!! Maybe it was appointment only, or only to be shown between certain times or there was no lock box and the agent had to meet you. Whatever the reason, you couldn't just go in and see what you were to buy. Not having easy access puts a damper on the buying process. Imagine going to a clothing store and not being allowed to try on the clothes or going to a car dealership and not being allowed to test drive the car. If a home is to sell, people need to be able to access it.

 

Questions? Send me a message on my Facebook or text me at (650) 533-0998.