Blog
Home Seller Goals – The Big Picture
If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. – Yogi Berra
What motivates you to start a new chapter in your life? The first step in our Home Selling System asks the right questions to understand your specific objectives. Asking and listening are the foundation of a successful relationship. The result should be a set of clear and measurable goals to improve your circumstances and reduce uncertainty. Your goals will drive the home preparation plan, the marketing strategy and the negotiation platform.
Regardless if you are trying to maximize profit, avoid loss, or reduce a short sale deficiency, you deserve to sell for top dollar. Fancy tools and training would be useless without a real understanding of our client’s expectations. Focusing on a core set of clients at any given time allows us to have a deeper understanding of what really matters to you.
We need to know about your financial goals. How important is the timing of the sale? Do you plan to improve the condition of the home prior to selling? What significance would this sale have in your life? What expectations do you have of your Tampa Realtor? What would you have changed about your past home-selling experiences?
Once your priorities are understood, a marketing plan and advertising tactics can be implemented to meet your goals. Once your motivations are clear, a negotiating strategy can be executed to put you in the best possible position.
This is all about you. Our role is to help achieve your goals. We rely on listening, experience and systems to anticipate your needs. All the details matter! We seek to become your trusted advocate by proving what we can do for you and your family. By achieving your desired results, we can build a relationship based on a solid foundation. As management guru Peter Drucker said “The purpose of business is not to make a sale, the purpose of business is to make and keep a customer.”
Price to Market – Anchoring
If only we did not buy at the peak, or if we sold a few years ago! While many of us understand that local real estate values have declined 30% – 50% in abstract terms, doing the math on our own home often results in shock and disbelief.
Homeowners have a tendency anchor their estimate of their home’s worth to the price they paid. While the price you paid maybe very vivid in your mind, you may be better off disregarding that number. As Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational notes, “the danger of anchoring is that it can cause regret, which usually isn’t very useful in decision-making…With investing, focusing on what’s already happened is generally a bad strategy. The decision at any point should be only about looking forward.”
When discussing the “High Price of Ownership”, Ariely’s experiments on behavioral economics show that ownership changes our perspective on the value of an asset. “The more work you put into something, the more ownership you begin to feel for it (think of assembling a piece of Ikea furniture). Once we take ownership of an idea, we probably fall in love with the idea more than we should. We value it for more than it’s worth. And quite often, we have trouble letting go of it because we can’t stand the idea of a loss.”
It is only natural to regret the loss of equity and unfortunate timing of the current market, but taking action today can protect your financial security and prevent the additional losses that are expected over the next few years. The main question should be: given the current state of the market, how can we maximize your outcome?
How can we improve the odds of selling your home for top dollar? To learn about our repeatable plan and home selling system, contact Team Bohannon at Coldwell Banker today (813) 979-4963.
Closing Costs Clarified
How much closing costs should a home buyer expect to pay? Closing costs average 5% of a home’s purchase price.
Closing Cost Estimates
Looking for the exact amount? Lenders are required to disclose all closing costs within three days of when a buyer applies for a mortgage. The forms used to list closing costs have been standardized and simplified. The new Good Faith Estimate (GFE), circa January 2010, helps buyers shop and compare costs from different lenders. Lenders are held accountable to ensure that all costs, even title fees, on the Good Faith Estate match the final numbers on the Settlement Statement (HUD-1).
Who Pays What
While Tampa area home sellers pay for the owner’s title policy, commissions and state doc stamps on the deed, buyers are responsible for: lender fees, the lender’s title policy, doc stamps on the note, home insurance, pre-paid taxes, and prorated CDD / HOA fees. See this RIS Media report on new HUD & RESPA regulations.
Buyer Costs Will Increase
If the amount of cash required to close is an issue, potential home buyers may want to act now. Tampa home sellers can still pay up to 6% of a buyer’s closing costs, but those days are numbered. New FHA guidelines will be phased in over the coming months that will reduce seller contributions to 3% most likely, and will increase the financed Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) by a half percent. We expect to see loan costs increase in the coming months as: lenders require larger down-payments (6% up from 3.5%), tax credits expire, credit requirements tighten, and interest rates increase from historic lows.
To take advantage of this historic buying opportunity, contact Team Bohannon at Coldwell Banker today at (813) 979-4963.
“I am Not a Lead” – The Privilege of Serving
Ran across this manifesto last year and was impressed. Spoke to Marc Davison of 1000 Watt Consulting and enjoyed his thoughts on the real estate business and the mindset that traditional agents have about ”leads”. Rather than relying on technologies that de-personalize or attempt to automate “lead response”, Realtors should focus on listening, absorbing and responding with accurate information. This is not about us, it is about the client. The fundamental approach should be to provide high-value, relevant information that is aligned with a client’s goals. One can only build a lasting relationship by treating individuals with respect. Realtors seeking to create “raving fans” and a durable competitive advantage must connect at a deeper level over an extended period of time to earn the privilege.
Social Media Presentation
We are witnessing the birth of social media. Why do we care? Team Bohannon’s goal is to maintain and strengthen our client relationships by delivering high-value, relevant content more quickly. Most people buy a home once every seven years, but most Realtors do not stay in touch with past clients for seven years. We use social media to meet clients where they are online. We want to understand our clients online behavior, what and whom they value, and how they might use social media in the context of real estate.
In researching the use of social media in real estate, I came upon this general presentation that offers a helpful look at “Understanding You Customer’s Social Behavior” posted by the Altimiter Group from the other bay area:
