What does it really take to sell a house?
by Dave Higgins
At
Carriage Realty, we believes that home owners frequently do not fully understand all that
is entailed in selling a home. Eleven out of twelve (92% ) of homeowners that try to
"Sell by Owner" are not successful and never understand why. Most believe that
putting a sign on the property and running an ad in the newspaper is all that it takes.
Therefore, they hesitate to pay a huge commission for someone else to run an ad and put a
sign in the yard and I don't blame them. In other cases, they feel they can do a better
job at marketing the property because selling their home is their single focus and they
won't get lost among all the other listings a large company might have. Others may have
had a bad experience with Realtors that conducted themselves in an unprofessional manner
or didn't do an adequate job.
We have broken down the entire sales process to help sellers understand the dynamics of
selling a house. After a review of the process, we give the seller a choice of services
for each segment. Lets take a minute to review the process by which a buyer finds the
unique property that they want to buy.
There are two distinct functions associated with selling a home. First, the home needs a
Marketer. People need to know the features of the home and that it is available. Second,
the home needs the Facilitator. The service or person that puts a buyer in direct contact
with the property. It is important to remember that sellers do not typically sell their
property. Buyers make a decision to buy the house. Please don't misunderstand. Surely
there must be a marketing program that lets the buyer know that a house is for sale and
there might be some salesmanship involved in converting a "looker" into a
"buyer" but beyond that the buyer will buy the house; the seller will not sell
it. Let me explain.
The Good Humor man can drive through a neighborhood and sells his ice cream but the seller
of a house can not take the home to the buyer and sell it. Somehow the seller must entice
the buyer to the house. In Lake County alone, there are over 4800 homes for sale. The
typical methods used by sellers are signs and newspaper ads. Lets look at it from the
buyers point of view.
The buyer that wants lumber goes to a lumber company; the buyer who wants groceries goes
to Jewel or Dominick's. People who want homes go to Realtors or developers because they
have 99% of the homes that are for sale. Realtors also have a systems that gets the buyer
directly to the house they are looking for. The system is the Multiple Listing Service
(MLS). Northern Illinois has the largest list (database) in the nation. (For that reason,
even developers list their properties with a real estate company.) In a matter of minutes,
the buyer can see a picture and the details of all the homes that match their needs, wants
and price range. This is the facilitating service referred to above.
This service typically does not cost anything for the buyer so why would any buyer bypass
such an efficient method? Needless to say, as a rule, they don't. There is only one reason
for a buyer to look for a "For Sale by Owner". They want a deal. The seller has
already reduced the price by the amount of the commission to attract buyers and the
"Deal Shopper" will come along and want an even lower price. If the seller
didn't lower his price initially, and strikes a deal with "Mr. Deal Shopper",
the bottom line will not be any better than if he had listed with a Realtor in the first
place and in the meantime the seller has greatly reduced his exposure to the market. That
is why statistically," For Sale by Owners" net less when they sell a home than
they would have if they listed it and had adequate representation.
So as we can see, the sellers view is totally different than buyers. Understanding the sellers dilemma, Carriage Realty wants to make a difference and offers programs to bridge the gap for the seller. We offer plans that provide the seller with services on both sides, marketing and facilitating. All plans however are structured so that the sellers only pays for the portion of service that they receives and in all cases gives the sellers the opportunity to sell the home through their own efforts.
Plan #2 The Buyer Agency Program provides full service but does not pay a commission to the other real estate companies or their agents. Through this program Carriage Realty is the only facilitator. The changes in real estate laws in late 1994 provided for agents to work for the buyer and therefore the buyer should pay the compensation. ( It should be noted that the concept of a buyer paying the Buyer's Agent a commission, has not caught on in Illinois as of yet.) Therefore through this program the advertising emphasis is designed to bring the buyer directly to Carriage Realty and by doing so the seller experiences an economic advantage. Even though this program lists the property on the M.L.S., it does not pay the selling agent a commission thereby forces the agent to be compensated by the buyer.
Plan #3 The Seller Sells Program is designed for the "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO). However, the home is listed on the MLS and the seller receives the assistance of a real estate professional to be sure all the bases are covered. We explain the process and help the seller understand the benefits associated with encouraging Realtors with a buyer to show the home. The sellers determine how much commission they are willing to pay for that service. We collect the information necessary for the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). A flat fee of one percent (1%) is paid by the seller upon execution of the contract. If the seller chooses to compensate a Realtor with a buyer (Facilitator), that percentage is determined by the seller and paid at closing. If the seller finds a buyer, we will still assists, in preparing a "Contract to Purchase" if our help is needed. The seller determines and pays for the preparation and cost to market the property.
Plan #4 the Flexible Full Service program provides all the services to do a first class marketing and facilitating job for the seller. At no up-front expense to the seller Carriage Realty markets the home through the most popular magazine in the nation (Harmon Homes), runs news paper ads, promotes the home on the Internet and with the real estate community in general through "Broker Open Houses" and etc. Carriage Realty stands head and shoulders above the part timers that work for most of the national franchise companies but gives the seller control over the cost and passes the savings along to the seller.
More could be said to explain the details of our programs but I'm sure you would still have questions and need help to narrow down the best program. In a nut shell Carriage Realty wants to help sellers understand and choose what needs to be done to sell their property. We are a local, independent company with highly professional agents and low overhead which equates to savings for you. We are not on the David Letterman or Jay Leno shows. We only focus on the activities that sell homes. We are not trying to build an empire or gain national recognition. We only want to help you sell your home and save you money doing it.
We have included a comparison chart that compares Carriage Realty to other real estate companies. If you want to take advantage of all the systems that bring buyers to your home at the lowest possible cost to you, call Carriage Realty today. There is no reason to deprive yourself from a professional and experienced real estate service. With one of our programs, you will save money, time and the inconvenience of being a "For Sale by Owner".
© Carriage Realty 1996, All Rights Reserved