Marketing Steps

Our goal is to help you get your property sold, To help you get to where you want to go on time, And to make it easier for you.

intitial consultation

At your first meeting Steve will walk through your home with you gathering the information needed to complete an accurate estimate of value. Any information about improvements you have made or problems you have had with the home would be helpful at this time. Expect this visit to last anywhere from thirty minutes to one full hour.

Over the next few days, Steve completes an in-depth market analysis. This analysis includes:

Comparing your home to similar homes that have sold recently. Reviewing your competition and the properties currently on the market. Identifying target demographics and the best avenues to market to them. Review current overall days on market for neighborhood homes/condos in your price range. Comparing final sales price vs. list price for neighborhood homes and condominiums in your price range.

listing consultation

After the in-depth market analysis, Steve will meet with you to go over the comparable properties, and share with you an estimate of your net proceeds based on the sale price range indicated by the comparables. If Steve foresees any lender required work orders, the cost estimate for these will be listed within the net proceeds worksheet.

At this time, Steve will present the proposed marketing plan, which we will fine-tune together so that it best suits your needs. Steve will come prepared with the listing paperwork so that we can start the marketing process immediately if you wish. However, it is usually best to wait until the home is spruced up and ready for “company”.

intitial Preparation

Pricing

I will assist you with pricing your home based on a competitive market analysis. This will help you to set the best price on your home so that it will sell within your time frame.

Pre Inspection

I will have the major systems in your house inspected to reduce your risk of any surprises when negotiating with a buyer and to make your transaction smoother. I will credit all your pre-inspection costs to you at closing.

Pre-Title Commitment

We will order (at my cost) a pre-title commitment to reduce your risk of any title problems at closing.

on-line marketing services

Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS)
We will enter your home’s information into the NWMLS, giving your home exposure to about 15,000 REALTORS® in all of the Greater Puget Sound area. Includes a two-page detailed report available to every real estate agent with up to fifteen color pictures of your home on-line.

Personalized Web Presence

Last year over 85% of home buyers used the Internet to search for their new home. With odds like that, your sale needs to have an impressive presence on the web or you could risk losing your perfect buyer to one that does. Steve will create an individual website address for your home. The site will provide 24 hour-a-day access to a virtual tour of your home’s features and works day and night to sell your home.

Windermere Listing

We will enter your home’s information on Windermere.com, a one-page detailed report available to potential buyers using any real estate search engine. Windermere.com is one of the region’s most visited real estate web site with over five million hits per month.

Windermere Photo Gallery

The Windermere Photo Gallery is a multi-picture virtual tour of your home with detailed text available to any real estate search engine. This site uses an almost unlimited amount of high-resolution photographs to showcase your home to a potential buyer so that they are emotionally invested in the home before they even visit. Additionally, we highlight the positive features of your home.

Windermere Marketing System

We will enter your home in the Windermere marketing/information system. Windermere represented almost 30% of all homes sellers in the Greater Puget Sound Area in 2008, almost 15% more than our closest competition.

traditional marketing services

Windermere Sign

We will place the Exclusively Windermere sign on your property.

Lock Box

We will place a lock box on your property to increase showings and provide you with the security of knowing who has shown your home.

Color Brochure

We will have your home professionally photographed and a full color brochure prepared. This single page, full-page color sheet with text and pictures is for potential buyers doing a neighborhood preview or visiting your home.

Brochure Box

We will place a brochure box on the Windermere sign post. We will provide you with extra brochures to refill the box.

Seattl-Times Advertising

Advertisement placed in the Sunday Seattle-Times advertising your home’s public open house. The ad includes the time and address of the open house.

Mail to Neighbors

We will mail your home’s brochure to the 200 neighbors closest to your home.

Relocation Program

Information on your property will be put into Windermere’s relocation packages that go into major employers. This will increase your exposure to relocating buyers.

Home Book

An elegant fabric or leatherette covered bound book with extensive information including maps, community information, relevant news releases, school information, community information and association and management information if applicable.

additional marketing services

Staging

I will assist you with preparing your home for sale. I will credit all your staging costs to you at closing.

Electronic Notification to top REALTORS®

As soon as your home is listed, we will e-mail your home’s information to at least 200 REALTORS® in your home’s immediate market area.

Automated Agent Feedback

With automated home feedback, we are able to view showing agent responses to a variety of questions regarding your home. Because it’s so easy for the showing agents, you can expect agent response rates to increase dramatically compared to typical showing requests. Our automated showing system boosts showing agent response rate up to 70 percent. Agent feedback will be automatically e-mailed to you.

face-to-face marketing services

Open House

We will hold your house open (with your permission). One week before the open house, I will place a sign in front of your home promoting the open house.

Personal Contact
We will personally contact the 25 neighbors closest to your home to get their ideas on prospects for your home.

Windermere Tour

We will host a private tour for our Windermere real estate agents… a sneak preview. (Agents have a reciprocal relationship to include the home in their ‘catalog’ for potential buyers.)

Broker’s Open

Special open house for agents’ only held during the week. Listing agents post special invitations on the NWMLS site where all agents can access the information. Listing agent provides snacks and beverages to encourage attendance and create a warm and inviting atmosphere.

communication

Transaction Management

Our full-time administrative staff will manage the details of your transaction to ensure that your contract closes on time – and you can move on time.

Bi-Weekly Contact

We will contact you every other week via e-mail or telephone (whatever you preference) to give you an update on the marketing of your home and answer any questions you may have.

a word about staging

Staging involves hiring a professional ‘stager’ to prepare your home to appear at its best for showings – similar to gift-wrapping a present. We have a unique stager who makes the process simple and inexpensive by rearranging your own furniture and accessories to give your home an Architectural Digest feel. A good stager increases the visual sense of space, highlights the home’s best features and provides a good energy flow for touring the home.

Benefits of Staging

Statistically, it usually increases your final sales price by anywhere from 6-10%. On a $750,000 home, that’s a minimum of $45k more in your pocket. (For more on this, visit www.theenhancedhome.com) Research also shows that staging decreases the time on the market – staging your home makes it sell faster.
In addition, it helps you start sorting and packing your possessions, and saying goodbye to your home.

What to Expect

Staging is almost always an emotional experience for the homeowner. Even though you understand the logical purpose of it, it still feels like a stranger is in your home rearranging your belongings. We try really hard to prepare you for this so you don’t take it personally, and you can always request that we be present during the process.

Your furniture will be positioned differently. You’ve arranged your furniture to make the home cozy for you and your loved ones. Often, staging a home means arranging furniture in a way that doesn’t make sense for daily living – but makes a lot of sense for traffic flow and making the home feel bigger. Your home will no longer feel like yours. A good stager makes your home feel cozy and attractive – in a generic way. You want a potential buyer to feel like they have entered their future home, not yours.