Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Selling our Home and "Online Seller Advantage"....

For the last couple of years we have been looking for a place where we could keep the motor home right at the house.

In the course of 2 years we looked at well over 50 homes. What an adventure…… home hunting. The house would have to be just right and in the right location for us to act on it. We looked at many wonderful homes, but none of them fit all of our needs.

We finally found a perfect location, and decided to build a home to our exact needs. Our new home should be ready this fall, so it is time to sell our present home.

In my career I have talked with dozens of people about selling their homes. I carefully inspect the home and then give the Sellers advice on how to make their home more marketable. I point out that they do not have the only home on the market and they will be competing against every other listing in their price range and in their geographic area. I might suggest painting or repairs or lawn clean up and landscaping. After all, a Buyer’s first impression is the strongest.

Now comes the tough part, wearing two hats and following my own advice.


Irene and I have live here for 21 years and over the years we have updated the home and kept it in good repair. With a critical eye, I try to look at our home as a Buyer would. All of a sudden, the look of our home changes. I see little things that we have been overlooking but things that the critical eye of a new Buyer would likely see. We make a list of projects and headed for Menards. The finished basement gets a fresh coat of paint along with one of the bedrooms. The winter has taken a toll on the deck and front porch so they were pressure washed and painted. Here is the shaded deck - sure is great on a warm summer evening.

Gee….. by the time we got done with all the painting and organizing, it looks so nice we don’t want to move.

Last week Irene had a load of red mulch delivered and now the flower beds in front lawn are looking pretty fancy. She spread more fertilizer and it is starting to green up real good. It’s going to look great after a couple of weeks when all the flowers bloom.

Before I put our home on the Multiple Listing Service, I wanted to price it just right. To do this I used a Prudential Exclusive program called "Online Seller Advantage."

I was able to enter a description of our home and the address into the computer. When I entered a price, the "Online Seller Advantage" program generated a report showing how many people are presently searching online for a home like mine. By entering different prices, I got a different report, so I could easily see the best price to attract the greatest number of home buyers. This helps to take the guesswork out of listing a home, and is an exclusive to Prudential Real Estate.

"Online Seller Advantage" also generates a daily report and emails it to the home seller. This report shows the number of times the home has been viewed on line along with similar homes on the market in my area. It also shows any new homes that come on the market and any price changes in the homes that are presently on the market.

By using this technology, I am able to keep up to ever changing conditions in my very own neighborhood and react quickly to these changes.

Our home is now on the Multiple Listing Service. So now the adventure begins. Stay tuned for exciting updates. Click this link to see the listing.

http://scwmls.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=c6498d12-340b-44ee-8e7a-787b0882b29c&Report=Yes

In the box just below this post is a link to “Comments”. Climb aboard “Life in the Slow Lane……..” Click this link and share your life and thoughts with me, or just drop a note and say “Hi.”

0 comments: