Seller Dialogue: Positioning Your Home Properly
What are the most important items to discuss with your seller when helping them price their home to sell for the highest sales price in their preferred timeframe?
SELLER MOTIVATION
Ask your seller why they are selling and what this move would mean to their family. These two questions may seem the same, but each elicits a very different response. They are key questions that are often missed in a seller interview.
SELLER’S PRICING IDEA
What does the seller think their home is worth? A sneaky way to ask them in your prelisting interview is to say, “I will be doing research on your property and have not had the opportunity to see it. What price range should I study?”
COMPARISON VERSUS COMPETITION
Help your sellers think like buyers. Sellers are often unclear about the difference between competition and comparison. What is the difference? A comparison is a house very similar to theirs — most likely in their neighborhood — but competition is much broader than that. While some specific buyers claim to only want a specific neighborhood or floorplan, most of the time they end up searching on price range and area only — especially in a seller’s market. If the house is in the right location and price range, buyers are willing to make changes to suit their needs. Show your sellers all of the homes available around them in their price range that buyers will have to choose from. Your search for competition can typically be based on radius around the home or school district.
MARKET VALUATION
Let the market set the value, not you. Your job is to analyze the market and report the results. Avoid saying, “I think your home is worth $__.” Give the owner a price range and then let them set the price. Explain that you set the marketing plan, and the market sets the price. Your job is to expose the home to the market and secure showings, but the market determines the value. Ask your sellers, “Analysis of the market indicates that your home should be positioned somewhere between $___ and $___. Where do you feel we should position it to get you moved in ___days?”
The tools that ReeceNichols provides access to in Cloud CMA, Trendgraphix, Showings.com reports, Buyside and Realtor Property Resource will give you a fantastic foundation for the discussion with your sellers. If you are prepared properly, you and the seller will be able to determine a positioning plan that makes sense for everyone.
