London, Ontario 519-435-1600

Not All REALTORS* Are The Same

SELLING YOUR HOME?

“Thinking About Selling Your Home? I’ll Show You How To Get The Highest Dollar, Plus I’ll Give You Breakthrough Tips For Selling It Now!”

Absolutely FREE, No Strings Attached, And No Obligation Whatsoever…………

How would you like to learn how to sell your home for the absolute highest price the market will pay in London, Ontario? And sell it quickly!

I know it sounds “too good to be true,” but consider this….

National Statistics Show: Homes That Sell The Fastest, Also Sell For The Most Money!

The very same elements that make homes sell quickly also make homes sell for the most money. But few London home owners know about these essential elements. And as a consequence, unknowingly open themselves up to leaving money on the table at closing…. or wasting time selling their home. And we all know time is money when you need to move!

My name is Ty Lacroix and I am the Broker of Record and Owner of Envelope Real Estate Brokerage Inc. and I sell a lot of London houses and condos.

My experience in selling London area homes has enabled me to learn a few “secrets” on how to Sell Your Home Fast For The Highest Dollar.

That’s why I created a special program for people like you. I call it my “London Highest Dollar, Fast Sale Home Audit”

My audit is NOT like simple Market Statistics or CMA’S (Comparable Market Analysis) other REALTORS* will give you. It’s a complete audit of your home from top to bottom, side to side, end to end, (you get the picture, it’s thorough), revealing the elements that affect a full price, fast sale. Plus, my audit is FREE and there’s absolutely NO OBLIGATION to work with me or any other sales representative.

My audit will show you….

· How to get the absolute highest price the market will pay for your home

· The difference between Functional and Cosmetic issues with your home, and how easy-to-fix and inexpensive problems may be costing you thousands

· How to “dress” your home to make it look like it’s worth thousands more (the way you “live” in a home, and the way you “sell” a home are two very different things!)

· I’ll inspect your home from top to bottom to reveal true problems affecting its successful sale: from specific condition issues, thorough lot sighting, home sighting, construction quality, schools, and location

I’ll show you how to minimize the impact of negative home elements, and promote the positive features, so you can get the very most money for your home….And sell it FAST. How can I do this?

Because Selling Homes In London Is What I Do Best!

And unlike other sales representatives, who will tell you anything just to get your listing, I’ll show you EXACTLTY what your home is worth with a reliable, real world analysis. (As a messenger, I have not been shot yet!) No fancy figures. No hard sales pitches. “Just the facts, maam’.” Just the facts presented in a straight forward, easy-to-understand format for you.

PLUS THERE’S ONE MORE THING! In the process, I’ll also deliver a BONUS Special Report I created specifically for residents of London called “How To Sell Your Home Now For The Most Money The Market Will Pay.”

I know there’s a tendency to put this message aside, and “think about it later”. But every minute you spend “thinking” is COSTING YOU MONEY! For a limited time, you can take advantage of my FREE, no obligation Audit by simply calling me at 519-435-1600.

You have thousands of dollars and valuable time to gain….. and absolutely NOTHING TO LOSE by calling now. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely yours.

Ty Lacroix Broker of Record Envelope Real Estate Brokerage Inc

PS: Right now, you can learn the little-known “secrets” that will make your London home sell for the highest amount in the fastest time possible. It’s FREE and there’s absolutely NO OBLIGATION whatsoever. But you must call NOW, because your opportunity to use my exclusive London Highest Amount, Fast Sale Home Audit will expire soon. And if you call 519-435-1600 right now, I’ll also share with you a BONUS special report ”How To Sell Your Home Now For The Most Money The Market Will Pay.”

Don’t give your hard-earned money away by listening to your neighbours, Uncle Harry, a friend of a friend who used to sell real estate, your long lost relative, the person who sold you Nortel, the earth is flat mentality, it will never fly, or good intentioned folks.

I know real estate, which is all I do, I live it, I breathe it and most importantly “I love selling houses!

Hello Ty:

It has been nearly a month since we completed the sale of our home, and we couldn’t be more delighted with our new accommodations. We are beginning to win the battle of the boxes, and our new house is gradually feeling more and more like home.

I wanted to write you a note to express how happy Jen and I were with your services. The sale of your home can be a very stressful time in your life. You are full questions – what is our house worth? Will we be able to get our asking price? Will we sell in time to take possession of our new home? When should we list? With whom should we list? And the Realtor’s favourite – should we sell it on our own?! You took those anxieties away.

When choosing to conduct business with anyone, instincts and first impressions carry a lot of weight in the decision making process. When we first met, your calming presence allowed us to relax, and begin to understand the process that we were about to undertake. Your honest, professional, gentlemanly approach sets you apart from the stereotypical image of realtors. Shortly after listing our home with your brokerage, I was listening to another person in your industry speak, and I remembering thinking, thank goodness we were referred to Ty!

During the time between listing and closing, your regular contact with us provided us with the updates that we needed. Your e-services allowed us to have instant feedback on the process; allowing us to gauge the interest in our home, send you a message, and see the avenues you were marketing our home through. You kept us abreast of any developments that we needed to know about, and you were responsive to our needs. You turned a stressful process into a comfortable, enjoyable experience.

Thank you again, for your service. We will gladly refer you to others we know that are looking to sell their homes.

Reg & Jen Ash

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		How to Avoid 7 Costly Mistakes When Selling Your Home or Condo Here’s A Guide To Avoid Costly Problems And Sell Your Home For Every Bit Of Its Worth In The Least Amount Of Time The decision to place your home on the market can involve a number of stresses and strains. Many home sales are motivated by circumstances outside your control: Job relocation, family problems, financial issues, divorce, and more. Others are related to family issues: The need for a bigger home, a better neighborhood, schools, etc. That’s why I have created this report. Regardless of your reasons for selling, your goal is to sell your home for the most money, and in the shortest amount of time. And for the least amount of hassles and distractions.
		The Secret To Pricing Your Home To Sell Contrary to popular belief, when selling your home its value is determined by one thing and one thing only - what a qualified buyer is willing to pay for it. No more and no less. Sure, many sellers will argue that their home has an insurance replacement value, or an appraised value, or a tax assessed value, but unless your insurance agent, your banker, or your tax assessor is willing to write you a check for the home - guess what? None of that matters. A home without a buyer has no value in the market place. Sure it might have a value to you the seller, and it might have a value to your banker, and to your insurance agent, and to your appraiser. But none of these people are buyers. So here is the secret to pricing your home to sell - It's not what you think the home is worth that matters, it's what a reasonable buyer will think your home is worth that will ultimately determine if your home will sell.
		101 Quick & Easy Tips To Make Your House Show Like A Model Home It All Starts with Creating Curb Appeal The first impression people have of your house, is what it looks like from the outside. What are they going to say to themselves as they approach your home? Believe it or not, some buyers make a decision to keep on driving just by looking at the outside of the house. This 15 page report has room for notes, offers great tips on how to get more for your house
		Secrets For Selling Your Home For Top Dollar With or Without A Real Estate Agent How To Sell Your Home For The Most Money The Market Will Pay, AND On Your Terms And Time Frame… If You’re Trying To Sell Your Home Today …With Or Without A Real Estate Agent… You Could Lose Thousands Of Dollars, And Take An Enormous Amount Of Time If You Don’t Know What You’re Doing There are six important marketing steps in the home selling process YOU need to know about. We’re going to delve into each one right here, so you’ll know what you’re doing.
		Questions You Should Ask Before Working With Any Sales Representative If you’re in the market to sell your home, OR purchase a home, there’s something you should know. Real Estate Agents Are NOT All The Same! Your decision to place your home for sale involves more than simply running an ad, holding a few open houses, and waiting for the sales proceeds check. And your decision to buy a home clearly involves more than looking at two or three homes, making an offer, and moving in. Hiring the wrong agent can mean the difference between making or losing money, selling or buying quickly…or taking a long time, a trouble-free transaction, or a living nightmare. Unless you have experience interviewing people (and real estate agents in particular), you won’t always know what questions to ask. Further, you won’t always know what answer will best suit your needs for buying or selling. So here’s a list of 12 important and insightful questions you should ask ANY Real estate agent BEFORE you sign anything.


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Is Your Home Still For Sale Or Want More Money?

How to sell your home in just 14 days for $17,495 or more It’s very challenging to sell your home in today’s market. There are a lot of homes on the market and it’s harder and harder to get your home to stand out. Even worse, you have to compete with foreclosures, homes in poor condition and lots of listings which are driving home prices even lower. Sadly, if you’re actually able to sell your home, you’ll more than likely lose a lot of money. This is because buyers are now low-balling their offers and many sellers are forced to accept these low priced offers. I have a program which will show home sellers how to sell their homes in weeks and for $17,000 to $30,000 more in price. Carolyn Stinson had her home for sale for over 100 days without any offers. Two weeks after using this new approach, her home sold for $17,495 more than her list price. To download this new report immediately and learn how to sell your home quickly in any market,

How to Sell Your Home in Less Than 14 Days

Sometimes it’s very challenging to sell a home in today’s real estate market. The unemployment rate remains at high levels, lenders have tightened up their lending guidelines and homebuyers are nervous about buying a home. It’s not that easy to sell your home in today’s market. But you already know all of this. You’ve seen the news reports about our real estate market. You’ve read about the record number of listings, expireds and more. And you’ve probably even heard horror stories of homeowners who’ve tried to recently sell their homes. On top of all of this, some home values have dropped significantly over the last few years. The BIG problem is many homeowners are trying to sell their homes the the “old” school way and it’s costing them tens of thousands of dollars.


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12 Step System to Get Your Home Sold Quickly

Regardless of the present housing market, to maximize your home's selling price there are steps you can take to ensure that your home sells fast, reduce the stress and maintain control.

1 Keep the reason you are selling to yourself and your REALTOR.

Do not reveal your motivation for selling to anyone else because they may use it against you at the negotiating table. When asked, just say that your housing needs have changed.

2 Different goals will dictate different strategies.

What is more important to you: the money you walk away with or the length of time your property is on the market or both?

3 Do your homework before setting a price.

The average buyer will look at 15-20 homes at the same time they are looking at yours. That buyer will now have a basis of comparison, and if your home does not compare favorably with others in the price range, you will not be taken serious by prospects or agents. The result can be that your home will sit on the market for a long time, knowing this; new buyers on the market will think there is something wrong with your home.

4 More Homework.

(A good Realtor should do this for you) Find out what homes in your neighbourhood have sold for in the last 6-12 months, and research what current homes are listed for. That is how a prospective buyers and their Realtor will assess the worth of your home.

5 Maximize your home's sales potential.

You may not be able to change your home's location or floor plan, but you can do a lot to improve its appearance. The look and feel of your home generates a greater emotional response than any other factor. Before showings, pick up, straighten up, unclutter, scrub, scour and dust. Present your home to get a "WOW" response from prospective buyers. Allow the buyers to imagine themselves living in your home. The decision to buy a home is based on emotion, not logic.

6 Deciding upon a REALTOR

You and your REALTOR are partners in marketing your home. Choose carefully and wisely. (Ask for my FREE report on how to select a REALTOR.)

7 Make it easy for prospects to get information on your home.

Prospects calling for information on your home value their time as much as you do. They also do not want to be hassled or frustrated because they cannot get a hold of the listing agent or some of the information in the listing is incorrect. Over 82% of homes sold have been previewed over the Internet!Make sure your Realtor has a proven feedback system to allow you to know the comments and opinions of prospective buyers.

8 Do not move before you sell.

Studies have shown that it is more difficult to sell a home that is vacant because it looks forlorn, forgotten and simply not appealing. As well, prospects may think because it is empty, you are motivated to sell fast and for a lower dollar.

9 Deadlines create a serious disadvantage.

Don't try to sell by a certain date. This adds unnecessary pressure and is a serious disadvantage in negotiations.

10 Keep emotions in check.Do not be offended by a low offer or certain demands from the buyer. A good Realtor can turn these negatives into a positive situation. You will have an advantage over others who get caught up emotionally.

11 Be a smart seller- disclose everything.

Be proactive, by disclosing any problems or defects you are giving the buyer confidence that you are not hiding anything. This also will prevent liability or legal issues to follow.

12 Make sure the contract is complete.

Ensure that all terms, conditions and responsibilities are spelled out in the offer and that you fully understand them. A good REALTOR will take the time to educate you on the conditions and terms and will insert clauses if required to further protect you.

When I decide to take on a client and their home, I take the time before we start to market the home to discuss and review the pros and cons of different strategies and walk you through the steps of the selling process so that you are comfortable and more knowledgeable. That way, I can exceed YOUR expectations.

Real Estate Myths and Other Uninformed Opinions

Real Estate Myth Busters

Something relatively new to real estate in the past ten years is the private home selling company. The proposition of saving thousands of dollars is enough to catch the attention of anyone. The idea of listing a home for anywhere from $700 for a sign on the lawn and an ad on a website, to a couple thousand dollars if you want some of the additional services that a REALTOR typically provides such as setting your price, getting your house ready to sell, to assisting you in closing the deal is tempting and awakens the entrepreneur inside some of us.

The burning question private sale companies use as their hook is why would you give profits from your home sale to a REALTOR if you didn't have to?

The saying "if it looks too good to be true it probably is" was something I first heard my father say to me as a boy, after ordering Sea Monkeys and X-ray specs out of the back of comic books with my paper route earnings. The magic and illusion those sage pitch men weaved into the ads was brilliance and had me checking the mail box for almost a month.

When they finally arrived I still remember my disappointment as I am sure millions of American and Canadian kids of the day do as well when they opened a cardboard mailing package containing a plastic cup and a little packet of brine shrimp eggs, or when the magical X-ray specs turned out to be nothing more than bendy plastic eyeglass frames with spiral patterned cardboard for lenses.

Even those hard learned boyhood lessons never kept me from falling for the occasional overly stated marketing promises in later years and no doubt there are more of them to come. Optimistic guys like me are a valuable component of commerce.

If you are trying to decide between giving that well spoken REALTOR thousands of your dollars or selling your home yourself because some do it yourself real estate company says its a snap then take a moment to learn some cold hard facts.

There are salient reasons why more than 90% of home owners in Canada choose to use a REALTOR when they sell. I'll share some facts and some myths with you but please don't just take my word here, do your own research and verify what I am telling you for yourself.

Myth number one: Realtors will charge you a standard 6% commission to sell your house.

Fact: Most for sale by owner companies base their selling pitch on the notion that REALTORs will charge you 6% to list and sell your home. In actual fact Real Estate sales is one of the most competitive industries there is. The choice of services and fee packages offered by REALTORs in your market is likely as varied as the number of REALTORs. The last word on commissions is set by you the seller and in my market if you can't come to an agreement on compensation with one REALTOR there are over 800 more you can approach. There is no such thing as a standard commission.

Myth number two: "Selling your house on your own isn't as difficult as most Joe Schmo agents make it out to be" (a direct quote from the website of the non licensed PropertyGuys.com)

Fact: Less than one in five homes listed privately actually sell privately. Whereas over 95% of homes listed with a REALTOR actually sell. Listing a home is as easy as banging a sign into the lawn but it is only a first step. Statistics show more than half of the people who choose to list private eventually end up using the resources of a licensed REALTOR to complete the task. If you have the time to, pick out 10 homes with for sale by owner signs in your area and watch them over the next year, at the end of the year you will see that more will have removed their sign or hired a REALTOR or are still trying to sell private than will have sold with the private company.

Myth number three: Selling privately will always save you money over using a REALTOR.

Fact: If you are listing privately in a sellers market and or have time to wait it out, eventually you should see offers coming your way. Every buyer that comes to you will also be looking at homes listed with Realtors or else they believe their is a financial advantage to be had in buying a private listing. Most buyers who hunt out private listings do so because they believe you are saving money in commissions and can discount their offers accordingly, they assume they are dealing with someone who is not a professional negotiator of real property and chances are they know the area market better than most private sellers do.

Private sellers become quite familiar with and often weakened over time by this breed of buyer. The longer it lists, the better the chance to take advantage. If you have listed privately in the past you know what I am talking about. A good percentage of successful private purchases are from these buyers and often the difference between the original list and eventual sell price is greater than the commission costs the buyer believed they would be saving themselves.

Myth number four: Any money you can save on Real Estate commissions = money in your pocket.

Fact: If the last myth bust wasn't convincing, then consider these facts: Advertising to the degree of most licensed REALTORs does not come cheap. Prepare to spend at least a bare minimum of $100 a week and resolve yourself to the fact that your advertising will be relegated to the classifieds along with the used bicycles and outdated computer equipment where few serious home buyers will ever look, especially when there is a real estate section of coloured ads detailing properties for sale in the same weekend papers.

Also be prepared for have to advertise your home for a much longer period of time than a REALTOR would need to. Your most effective selling tool is going to be the sign on your lawn and the open houses you do, but keep in mind that of all properties sold through licensed REALTORs, about one in every ten is the result of a sign call. The other 9 out of ten come through buyers introduced to the property by their Realtor and through professional marketing efforts.

All closings require legal documentation, search of title, and transfer of funds, closing of existing mortgages and assignment of new mortgages just for starters. Proper documentation and legally acceptable contracts safeguard both the buyer and seller and without a REALTOR, you are the one who will be personally sued should complications arise, and litigation, lawyers charge by the hour. That documentation a REALTORs typically handles for your sale will be left to you and your lawyer and comes at a price.

REALTORs carry Errors & Omissions Insurance to protect sellers and buyers in the event of a mistake, misrepresentation or unforeseen discrepancies and deficiencies relating to the property. Individual home owners do not. An error in the square footage of the property or some other detail or event often leads to being sued by the buyer. When represented by a REALTOR it is they who would be sued and their insurance generally would cover any loss. A single mistake could end up costing you far more than a Real Estate commission. A REALTOR is a valued insurance policy when one needs it.

You can bet there will be responses to this post by those who will say this is fear mongering and they have never had a problem in all of their private sales. The ones who have had problems likely wont give you the benefit of their experiences here.

Other advice & things you need to consider as you make your decision to list privately are:

Make yourself available for the next few months - Many showings are booked at the last minute and though often frustrating from my perspective as a REALTOR, we have to accommodate this. It’s kind of like being a fire fighter on call. Many will see you are listed private and just knock at your door expecting to be able to come in and view your house on the spot. With the number of listings available to see you want to be able to accommodate showing request or risk them crossing you off the list and moving on to the next home.
Good REALTORs screen buyers before taking them through a home. You may have to compromise precautions as your own agent but here is some valuable safety advice for private home sellers:

During open houses, take people’s names and phone numbers at the door before allowing them into your home. Write down their license number and type and color of vehicle.

Put away all pocket-able items of value before showing your home IE: jewellery, watches, and cash.

Check to see that all doors and windows are locked after each showing. Thieves are known to use open houses to scout out valuables in a home and possible points of entry then return when the home is empty.

Never do an open house or showing alone. Have your partner, a friend or neighbour at the house with you when strangers are coming to view the property.

Ask neighbours to keep an eye on your home while it is for sale and report any strangers on the property to you immediately. Otherwise neighbours might assume strangers on the property are there to view the home with your knowledge.

Take names and phone numbers when people call to book a viewing. Don't confirm a showing right away. Tell them you will call back to confirm. If they refuse to share name and number politely tell them they cannot view the home unless they do and end the conversation. Before calling back to confirm screen their name and phone number on the internet to verify legitimacy.

Always go with your gut feelings. If something seems odd don't book the showing and if they are at your door tell them it isn't a good time.

Always stay with potential buyers as they view the home and walk behind, not in front of them as you go through the house. Insist that they stay together as you show them through. If one person wanders off tell them you would like them to stay together.

Restrict all your showings to daylight hours. If someone calls or comes to the door during the evening get their information, check it out and call the back with appropriate times they can view the home.

If you have pets, have some one take them for a walk or at the very least put them in the back yard during showings. The incidence of allergies with buyer clients seems to go up every year and I have had many turn around and walk right back out if they sense there are dogs or cats in the home.

The same goes for smoking. If the home is smoked in you are eliminating a large portion of potential buyers before you start.

In the end the convenience, exposure, negotiating skills, legal protections, personal safety and yes ability to market your home to the highest degree to the greatest number of people are the reasons more than 90% of the public choose to hire a professional over experimenting with selling private.

Whatever choice you make, do your homework first and don't be taken in by anything offered by anyone you can't first verify for yourself.

Have a look at this story about a private sale I personally witnessed by a neighbour who hoped to save a few bucks and ended up with far more than he bargained for. Click here to read

Real Estate Agents Won't Like To Read This

This article was written by a very successful real estate salesperson who I happen to agree with and mirrors my experience and impression on why a home sells and how to get a home sold.

What Sells a Home and Why Most Agents Won't Like This Article

by Scott Friedman

Chances are you're not going to like this article.

What I am about to write flies in the face of the vast majority of real estate agents in North America today.

That is, the number one thing that contributes to the sale of a home, in any market, is the price of the property. That's it.

Location, features, benefits...all of those have a price tag. What that means is, if I had a dump of a house in a dump of a location, it would sell if the price was low enough.

That being said, what's low enough for a buyer to want to buy may not, in fact, be low enough for a seller to want to, or be able to sell. Yes, that was simple economics at it's best and it lends to explaining much of what has gone on the last few years...the price a seller would/could sell a house for far exceeded the price a buyer would (and sometimes could) pay for the house.

Now, let's get back to the reason you, and most agents, might not like this article.

Both when practicing real estate (May 1998-Dec 2006, top ten percent in my market 2001-2006), and more recently as a coach, I've heard the arguments against price being the number one reason homes sell. Most of those reasons center around an agent's ego and/or the huge misconception as to what their job actually entails, as well as some sort of misplaced loyalty to the seller and the price they say they want. (Before I go any further, I'm not in any way advocating that you shouldn't be loyal to your sellers. I'm saying defending a random price a seller tells you they want, ignoring comps and any sense of reality, is misplaced loyalty.)

Some of the arguments from agents:

"If price is the only thing that matters, then we real estate agents aren't needed." - Guess what? That's actually kind of true. If you've ever heard of a FSBO selling on their own, then you automatically realize selling a house can be done without a real estate agent. The good news is that the vast majority of FSBO's do not sell without the help of an agent (even if only on the buyer side - but most end up listing). And, unfortunately for the FSBO seller, they get a very low list to sale price ratio as compared with when listed by an agent (both stats are published by NAR). So, on some level, my fine fellow agent, you are definitely needed...so breathe a little easier.

"All you want to do is lower the price as far as you can, darn the seller, and take your quick commissions!" - A buyer will not buy something they don't feel is priced correctly; plain and simple. I'll explain more about that later in this article. In the meantime, I can only go on statistics/facts. My personal statistics in my former real estate practice showed my listings selling for an average of 4-9% more and up to twice as fast my market's average, depending on the year. Simply put, I was getting my sellers more money, and selling their homes much faster than the market average. So how was I harming the seller? I don't know many sellers that want their home to sit on the market for a long time, do you? Do you know of any seller's who want LESS money for their home? I sure don't.

And where does this false sense of loyalty to the seller's price come from? I'm sorry, but it's so misplaced. I always wanted to get as much money as possible for my sellers, and did my absolute best to make that happen. But just because a seller WANTS a certain price doesn't mean they'll get it, or, in most cases, that it's even realistic. I'm sorry if the seller paid $400,000 and owes $350,000. If the comps say it's worth $275,000 then that's what it's worth. Listing it at $400,000 so the seller can feel like they broke even does NOT mean the home is WORTH $400,000. Nor does it mean they will get anywhere near that. In fact, in my example, with it being so far overpriced, if there isn't a significant price reduction, the house likely won't sell at all. How is that protecting the seller?

I don't want to digress too much, however in a previous article I wrote on negotiating, I discussed the issue of many listing agents being egotistical about the price they set on their listings. If a buyer comes in low, the listing agent scoffs and postures to the buyers agent about how the home is worth every penny of what it was listed for, etc. Please. The only true test of what a home is worth is what a ready, willing, and ABLE buyer is willing to pay...not what the listing agent or the seller thinks its worth.

"It's not price, it's marketing. Staging, open houses, broker opens and advertising are all where it's at." - This is the reason for the big chasm between the average agent (selling between 2-5 houses a year, on average, according to NAR) and the higher producers (over 25 homes a year). Agents who sell a lot of homes know how to SELL, and know that their job is to SELL the home for the most money possible. Agents who don't sell a lot of homes typically aren't good salespeople, don't actively prospect for buyers and sellers and think their job is not as a real estate SALES person, but rather a real estate MARKETING person.

Simply put, you can market a house to the hilt, but it will NOT sell if the buying public thinks it's overpriced. In fact, today's shrewd buyer who combs the internet and does their homework, won't even look at home that they feel is overpriced; unless they think they can get a tremendous low-ball deal. And, if you want to take a notorious low-ball buyer around so he/she can throw offers up on a wall and see what sticks, have at it. You'll end up doing a lot more work and probably be very frustrated.

So, let's investigate some of these marketing ideas:

Staging - I'm always amazed at how someone comes up with something for agents that doesn't sell homes, yet agents buy into it in droves. Text "MOVE" to 12345 and receive no obligation information on this listing. That worked for about a minute until buyers realized they would get called back from agents they didn't want to talk to. Now, it's no better than a regular sign with a regular phone number or website. Or, how about the private radio station that drive-by buyers can tune into and hear all about the house? Way to go! You just bought something that assures you of never hearing from your buyer leads! They won't need to call you to find out information because you gave it to them on their car stereo.

Staging is one of those tools that doesn't sell a house. Yes, the house should always look its best. And, yes, if you stage a house, it will look better than the competition. BUT...staging only works better to sell your house versus the competition if the home is priced competitively. Let's say you're in a development, and two identical houses on the same street are for sale. One is for $350,000 and NOT staged. The other is for $425,000 and is staged. The seller or agent who paid for staging of the $425,000 house doesn't know anything about sales or economics and wasted their money. No amount of staging in the world can trick a buyer into grossly overpaying for a house.

Open houses - This is the biggest real estate scam ever perpetuated on sellers. And the funny thing is, many sellers will fight tooth and nail for the right to leave their house for multiple weekends in a row so that you can park yourself there for 4-6 hours at a time and put balloons out front.

NAR itself puts out a report every year that shows a very small percentage of buyers buy the home they saw open. It's usually around 1%. That is an astonishingly low rate of return on your marketing efforts.

Open houses do provide buyer leads for the AGENT, not the seller. All listing agreements should come with a disclaimer showing the past year's NAR percentage of homes actually bought due to the open house.

Low producing agents love open houses because they haven't been taught, or are too afraid, to prospect for business. So, the idea of sitting in a home and having potential buyers come to them seems good. Never mind that most people are just looking, and the percentage of leads converted to actual buyers (and the time it takes to convert them) is no better than a call in on a sign or website. And let's not mention the fact that you may sit all day at a house and have NO traffic. God forbid if it's a rainy weekend.

Broker opens - These have a small chance of helping you sell the home because it can get you exposure to agents who missed it in the myriad of listings on the MLS. However, it's usually not worth doing a broker open until well into the listing term, and is most effective to get a price reduction for the seller by having the agents write their pricing opinions on a survey card (darn, there's that pricing thing again). And here's the fundamental flaw - top agents, you know the one's doing 90% of the business, are typically too busy to stop at broker opens. So you're exposing the property to a handful of agents who have nothing better to do than to eat your free lunch. Look, I know I'm sounding harsh, but my big concern is that many agents think their job duties entail hosting and going to things like broker open houses and working on making a pretty brochure...things that DON'T help sell a home.

Advertising - Here's another scam on the seller. NAR reports a very small percentage of homes are sold as a result of being advertised. I will admit they also report a slightly higher percentage of homes are sold as a result of the buyer calling in on a different home, so advertising can help (but the home still has to be priced right). For the sake of this article however, I want to stick to the specific house you have listed, and I'm talking about advertising over and above the norm. I mean the type of advertising where the agent thinks it's the solution to why the home hasn't sold in the last 90 days. We all know that every agent does some form of advertising, whether it's the MLS itself, the various websites that agents/companies have, the websites that pick up listings from the MLS, or the newspaper ads your company provides.

Here's the flaw: If your local grocery store paid for circular ads in your town's Sunday paper, and advertised premium, no-filler, turkey lunchmeat at $50 a pound, how many people would buy it? The answer is nobody. Two things would happen. People might still visit that store, but they would buy another brand of turkey lunchmeat (congratulations, you're overpriced turkey ad sold the competition), or people will go to another store all together to buy that brand at its normal price. In any case, the store could have spent millions of dollars on ads all over the place and it wouldn't matter a lick in regards to the sale of that brand of turkey.

Yet sellers and agents all think that more advertising will equal a sold home.

The bottom line is that your job as agent is to educate the seller and list the house at a price that will cause the home to sell. Stop kowtowing to the seller who wants to overprice the home. Stop with the false sense of loyalty to a pie-in-the-sky price, against all reasonable economic sense as evidenced by the comps. Stick to your guns, be professional and price it right. Or, horrors, be willing to say “no” to the seller, and walk away from listing the home if they insist on overpricing it.

You’ll be doing yourself a huge favor, I promise you. Even if another agent lists the property, don’t worry. It’s not going to sell. Look at your market. Look at any market. Overpriced listings don’t sell. Why do you think there are so many expireds? Oh, right, I forgot. The agents all must not have staged those homes. Yeah, that’s it.

How To Motivate a Home to Sell Fast

The elements that motivate a fast home sale: are the same elements that sell homes for the most money!Each year thousands of homeowners needlessly lose thousands of dollars when selling their home. But they don’t lose the money for reasons you might think. They lose money because they unknowingly left it on the table …. For the buyer to pocket … by failing to recognize the hidden profit potential of their home.

Those hidden profits exist in two areas.

Ø Most homeowners never discover that certain small, even inexpensive repairs to their existing home could generate many times their cost in additional home value. But on the other hand, other repairs and improvements can cost you dearly.

It is critical to know what repairs and improvements to spend money on … and which ones to leave alone.

Ø When many savvy homeowners decide to make profitable repairs before selling, they expose themselves to the ruthless world of contractors and their potentially deceptive schemes that drive up the costs of home repairs.

Between not knowing what to repair for maximum profit, and dealing with the world of contractor schemes, it is easy to understand how you might become overwhelmed with the whole process. But do not despair!

I have prepared a terrific report called “ HOMESELLER’S GUIDE TO MONEYMAKING FIX-UPS”, a free and informative guide to help you realize the most profit from your home, and avoid costly repair rip-offs.

Just give me a call at 519-435-1600 and I will be all too happy to see that you receive this report.

How Not To Sell Your Home In London Ontario

How not to price your home:

Take your mortgage balance.
Add your credit cards.
Throw in your cars.
Add a generous portion of all the money you borrowed from relatives.
Pile on your down payment for that other house you have your eye on.
Last but not least, give yourself an extra 50 grand just for being you.
Get a blank look on your face when you are told that the buying public doesn't care what you owe.
Wait.
Wait some more.
Decide you'll stay after all.

Here's a better plan:

Find out what homes like your have sold for in the past 90 days
Price the house at that number or 5% less.
As an old teacher said "you get what you get and you don't get upset."
Pack your bags.

The buying public is utterly ambivalent about what you owe to whom as it relates to pricing your property. They only care about their own needs. What you need isn't on their radar, and if you aren't priced in line with the current perception of value, your listing will get stale and sit unsold for months as you chase the market.

Chasing the market is always being one price point behind what the public is willing to pay. You enter the market at $599,000 when you really ought to be at $549,900. You lower to $575 when the market for the house is $525,000. By the time you hit $499,000, it could be a year later and the public isn't willing to pay more than $450,000. Each price drop seems harsh, but your real enemy was starting out too high.

Sellers are in a war of attrition with buyers who lurk before they call, call before they look, and look at everything before they buy. You won't get a call, look or offer until your price conforms to what the public deems fair. The only offers overpriced homes get is low ball offers from bold types who wouldn't pay as much as fair minded people would on a fairly priced home. The only way to win the battle is to price as aggressively as possible and not allow your ego or personal preferences to cloud your objectivity.

Easier said than done!

How Much Of Your Personal Net Worth Is Sitting In Your Home?

You might be shocked to learn how much your net worth has automatically increased and is sitting idle in your home. Or you may even be more shocked to find out that your home has decreased in value or has not kept up with inflation.

Are you guessing what your home is worth? Are you making plans without knowing the real numbers? What about if you are going to end up with an Orphan Mortgage over the next year?

Don't leave your financial well-being and especially the value of your home up to just anyone. I read that people will spend hours and hours planning a vacation but have little or no time to spend in planning their financial future.

If you want to know the value of your home today or 12 months down the road and want a qualified opinion, you now know who to call.

So Your Home Did Not Sell!

If your home has just come off the market and hasn't sold, don't be discouraged. The reason it didn't sell may have nothing to do with your home or the market. In reality, your home may have been one of the the more desirable properties for sale!

If YOUR LISTING HAS EXPIRED AND YOU STILL WANT RESULTS, before you put your home back on the market, take a step back and review your situation.

Q Where should you begin? A. Start by making a commitment to do what it takes to market your home to get it sold. With the right system, the home sale you want is still well within reach.
Q Why didn't your home sell? A. Review your previous selling plan and you'll discover that an expired listing usually reflects a problem in one or more of these four major areas:
1 Teamwork
2 Pricing
3 Condition of your home
4 Marketing

To get the best results when selling your home,you need to team up with your sales representative to develop a powerful marketing plan that exposes your property to the widest possible pool of prospective buyers.
And Remember....
Not all REALTORS* are the same. The relationship between you and your Brokerage can make the difference between selling your home fast, or not selling it at all.

So..... what have you got to lose? Why not give us a call today at 519-435-1600 or drop us an email at info@enveloperealestate.com and see the difference! We will send to you a free report that will help you to take the next step.

The Way You Live In a Home & Sell A Home are TWO Different Things

The Way You Live In A Home And The Way You Sell A Home Are TWO Very Different Things!Even seasoned homeowners lose thousands of dollars because they didn't know about the important factors that influence the value of their homes.

If you desire to sell your home for top dollar, and in your time frame, you need to consider three things

1) Get control of your personal emotions about your home.

2) Place yourself in the shoes of potential buyers. Look at your home the way they would, and make it appealing in the right areas.

3) When selling your home, not only must you sell to a buyer, but to real estate people as well. Does your representative return calls in a timely matter, is co-operative and work diligenty to ensure your home gets shown?

Not all REALTORS® are the same! Can you tell the difference?

How Is The Asking Price Determined When Selling Your House?

Are you getting ready to sell your home, but don't fully understand how the asking price is determined?

There are a number of ways to determine a home's value. The first item is to disregard your view of your home's worth and start considering what it is worth to a prospective buyer. Chances are you have invested a lot of time and money into fixing up your house to be the perfect home. A buyer doesn't share your memories or care about your financial situation. A buyer cares about the value of the home in their lives.

The second item to consider is the comparative market analysis (CMA). This tool allows you to see what other similar homes have sold for in your area. Be sure to ask why certain homes were included on the CMA while others were not. The CMA is often a good tool to use to determine your beginning asking price.

Consider going to open houses in your area to learn how other homes compare to yours. Remember to look at other homes with the impartial eye of a buyer, not from the view of a current homeowner looking to sell.

Using the price per square foot formula is a good way to compare your home to others. This should not be the only determinant, but it can be helpful in setting a fair asking price.

Is it a seller's market? A buyer's market? Do you have to sell? I have a 60 point valuation chart that addresses these questions and in turn will enable you to value your home and obtain a price that could exceed your expectations.