Sell Home Fast in Tampa Bay

Getting your home sold fast in today's ever changing market may or may not be tough – it will depend on a number of factors. We are not in the same market that we were in 1, 3 or 6 years ago. The real estate market goes through cycles, and we need to adapt to the changes. When Tampa real estate market was on fire in 2003 – 2005 it didn't take much to get a home sold. Many home owners sold their home “for sale by owner” or hired a limited service realty firm. Tampa real estate market has now shifted, and home owners are realizing that they may not be able to get their homes sold themselves. They also realize they will get better results with a full service real estate company.

So what does it take to sell your home fast? Tampa Bay real estate market is tougher than ever, but you can secure a buyer if you follow these steps:

1. Set realistic price (fair market or below)
2. Think from Buyer's perspective
3. Hire an aggressive marketer
4. Stage and condition the property

“We recommend Lance Mohr of Keller Williams Realty as the most effective and honest Realtor® (both of which are hard to find) in the Tampa Bay area. My wife and I were making plans to move to Virginia and were trying to sell our house through a flat rate realty company. After six months later with only two showings, we decided that we needed to find a realtor that was aggressive in their approach to real estate. After interviewing several different realtors we decided emphatically to use Lance Mohr. We felt that others did not have the right formula to get the job done in this very difficult buyers market.
One thing that really impressed us about Lance Mohr was his marketing plan. We found that most realtors do not have the marketing budget that Lance has. Most realtors rely only on MLS, and open houses to sell a home, both of which are very ineffective. We feel the reason our home sold in only three weeks (despite of it being a “buyers market”) was completely due to Lance's marketing plan combined with his professionalism and accessibility.
We recommend Lance Mohr enthusiastically to any home seller/buyer.
Sincerely,

Dean and Rebekah Fragasso” (Tampa Palms)

Realistic price

Statistically, the #1 reason a home does not sell is because asking price is too high. Price is always a common denominator when selling a home. Whether it's in good or poor condition, or whether you hire a great or not-so-great Realtor, it all comes down to price. When deciding on asking price, you will need to answer a few questions: 1. How soon do I need to get it sold? 2. How well does it show? 3. How good is my (or my agent's) marketing plan? (If you're selling it yourself you will need to have a very aggressive plan of action and a good amount of time and money to advertise the home.) You will not only need to look at what comparable homes have sold for, but also to pay close attention to pending sales, withdrawn and expired listings. Pricing of actively available homes for sale is important because this is your direct competition. But keep in mind that there is a good chance that other active homes may be overpriced. In order to come up with correct price, you and your agent will need to analyze not only active, but sold, expired and withdrawn listings as well. Too many times home owners don't do enough due diligence when determining the asking price of their home. When I do a comparative market analysis for a client, I take up to 4 hours comparing homes and driving around and looking at the comparable homes (including pending and sold). I take this step very seriously!

Warning: some agents will try to tell you whatever you want to hear. 1. When asked what the asking price should be, they will name a high, attractive price just to get your listing. Overpricing WILL prevent your home from selling in this sluggish market. 2. They will quote a very attractive (low) listing commission. What they fail to tell many times is that they are doing NO marketing of your home and discouraging other Realtors to show your property because they're reducing the selling commission.

Thinking from Buyer's perspective

This is easier said than done. When selling a home you can not be emotional about the sale, but you have to be rational about it. You need to stop thinking like a seller and start thinking like a buyer would think. Buyers don't care how much YOU think your home is worth, what YOU owe on the mortgage, how much YOU want or need to get from the sale… Buyers will purchase the home that represents the best home, in the best condition, for the best price. Period. If your home is the second best it will not sell. Put yourself in the buyers place – what would you do?
Remember: BUYERS DETERMINE VALUE!!!

Hiring an aggressive marketer

Now more than ever you need expertise of a professional real estate agent to sell your home fast. Tampa Bay real estate market has changed dramatically over the last 5 to 10 years yet many REALTORs failed to fine tune their marketing methods. They are still doing passive and hopeful selling. Their weak and ineffective marketing plan consist of putting it in the MLS, sitting open houses and having an office tour with other $5-a-hour-coffee-drinkers. You never hear from them because they have nothing to tell you. Needless to say, this will not get your home sold in today's market.

If you want to get your home sold you will need to hire a professional Realtor that has a game plan. Someone who uses pro-active and aggressive marketing. Someone who does:

• Have systems
• Advertise in newspapers
• Advertise in the magazines
• Advertise on internet
• Hire a showing company to set up showing appointments
• Employ call capture
• Employ call tracking
• Put together a team of professionals
• Constantly monitor the market
• Keep you constantly updated
• Make ethics and hard work his priority
• Have experience
• Have knowledge

Staging and conditioning

Staging and condiotioning is the most overlooked step of selling a home. Buyer will low-ball or even will not consider you home if s/he feels that the home has not be properly taken care of. Every buyer wants to buy a “cream-puff” (unless s/he is an investor buying with a large discount). You will need to condition and stage your home to sell. If you have any questions on how to do this please give me a call at 813-317-4009 or visit builders' model homes. Builders do much research and hire professionals to stage model homes.

When I work with home sellers, I give them a comprehensive 12 page booklet on how to condition and stage property for sale. In many cases I will also hire an interior decorator or a professional home stager for consultation.

If you want to get your home sold fast and for top dollar call Lance Mohr at 813-317-4009 and start packing.