Selling from “a-far”

I have a client who lived in another state and she is tinkering around with selling a home that she has inherited recently.  She is weighing the advantages of keeping it through this tough market against the benefits of selling it now… quickly, so she doesn’t incur the tax liabilities, insurance costs, and general liabilities that comes with becoming an “accidental landlord.”

Whatever she decides is fine with me… As I say to most of my clients… “I’m not a high pressure sales-person.”  I can only give her the tools to help decide what is right for her.  If she so chooses to sell… I’m confident that I’ll be the one she turns to!

I realized that not many people understand the role of a great real estate agent!  I have completed many transactions over the last 10 years where the buyer’s or seller’s are not in this state!  This discussion involves SELLER’s… I’ll discuss BUYER’S/INVESTORS in another post!  Here are a couple of tips to consider IF you have made the decision to sell and you live in another area – away from where the property your are selling is:

1- Find a Realtor who you trust!  You can find a Realtor from many sources that are trustworthy… a financial planner that you have used for a long time, an insurance agent you’ve used and trust, a family memeber, a good friend, accountant, lawyer… All of these professionals (and family and friends) usually have contacts with a great Realtor that they do business with.

2- Use a Realtor that is capable of communicating with you over the internet and who is technologically advanced!  By selecting a Realtor who is comfortable with the newest technologies… you will gain the added benefit of a Realtor who is MARKETING on the WEB… and ALL OVER IT TOO!

3- Relax… Let your Realtor handle all of it!  Realtors are allowed to order repairs (*Up to a limited amount legally!), cleaning people, lawn people, etc. They do this every day… and can do it for you.  It will take time… just like if you were living there… so ask your Realtor up front what time frame they expect it to sell in

4- Most of all… Make sure your Realtor knows that Communication is essential to you… Ask for weekly updates via email and a phone call every once in a while.  *Great Realtors will understand and know how to set up a special site that you can log into and it will have updates of showings, feedback, market changes, etc. on a regular basis!

Basically, Find a Realtor you Trust, Who is technologically advanced, who you trust, and who will communicate with you regularly!  This will ensure a smooth, less stressful transaction.  You won’t even have to come down to sign if you don’t want to… You should be able to do a “mail away” closing.  (*You’ll just need to sign your paperwork in the area you live in and have it notarized before sending it back!  Sometimes, this will need to be done at a lawyer’s office or title company… Your Realtor or a Title Company can let you know what the laws are!)

That’s it… so don’t delay selling that house if you really want to sell it!  (*Of course, here in Florida… most people just love any excuse to come down here… so they will want to make a trip anyway!  lol)

Have a great weekend!

Chris Thompson

Why I Sell Real Estate

Yesterday, Good Friday, was a weird day.  Most of the world decided that it was time to just stop moving!  I had a lot of work to catch up on, so I decided to go on in to the office.  My day went pretty good because I was able to catch up on a lot of work.  About 3:30pm, I decided to head on home.

Just after arriving home about 15 minutes later… I received a call from someone who was sitting in front of a house I have for sale.  “Unfortuntately, that particular house just went under contract about a week ago.” I explained.  As I did, I heard a quiet, sad pause.  The caller didn’t seem to know what to say.  Understanding this (I’ve had it happen Many times before), I quickly asked “What are you looking for in a house?”  This opened the door to a much happier tone from the caller and I was able to find out exactly what they are looking for!  “I will email you a list of properties today.  Take a look at them… and email or call me back with a list of properties that you’d like to look at.  We will make an appointment and take a look at them!”  That sounded great to him.  We hung up.

Usually, I would have put off doing that for a while… an hour or so… since I had just arrived home and wanted to grab a bite to eat, watch a little tv, and relax a little.  My wife and son were visiting a friend and wouldn’t be home for an hour or so (they were painting eggs for easter!)  But, I decided I’d just go ahead and take care of it, my computer was already on… so I logged into my mls system and performed the search and sent it out. 

It wasn’t 15 minutes later (as I was starting to relax) that my phone rang… It was the buyer.  “Do you think you could show us a couple of properties today?” Let me stop the story right here… 1- I rarely show properties to buyer’s without any sort of pre-qualifing. 2- It was around 4pm on Friday… Good Friday… and I had already put in my dues for the day… I spent most of it at the office doing work… and the office wasn’t even open! 3- I hadn’t seen my wife and son all day.

What else could I do?  “Uh, O…K…”  I said.  “I just need you to email me the MLS #’s of the properties you’d like to see… no more than about 4, since it is late, and we’ll go take a look at them.  I’ll call you back in about 20 minutes, after I’ve set the appointments up to let you know where we can meet… ok?” 

“That’s GREAT!” he said.

<boing> I had email… Wow, that was quick.  I sighed, pulled them up… made the appointments… headed out… in jeans, an old t-shirt, and dirty tennis shoes (it was raining yesterday and I didn’t want to get my shoes ruined… so I wore my “cleaning” shoes.”  I called him as I left and told him which property we’d meet at first (The suspense was probably exciting for him!)

I arrived before he did… I opened up the house… opened the blinds and turned on the lights.  The house was a wreck, since the seller’s didn’t have a clue we’d be there so fast.  A car drove by slow…. I watched it from inside the house as it made a u-turn and stopped just up the street.  I knew it had to be the buyer… but I guess he didn’t feel comfortable stopping in front of the house since it had cars parked in the driveway.  Maybe, he thought the owner’s were home?  So, I walked outside and motioned him up to the house.

It was at that moment… I re-affirmed… once again… WHY I love selling real estate… Why I got into this business in the first place.  A very young couple (18 & 19 years old) opened up the doors to their car.  They wore bright, cheery smiles.  They held hands… he opens the door for her every time they get back into their car.  I learned very quickly that they had been married for 8 months and that they wanted to buy a house!  (And yeah, I finally did qualify them a little…their parents were going to be helping them out… but they get to pick the house and they are very responsible.)  They don’t know a thing about buying a home, what to look for, that this journey is treacherous, that it is important to have good representation, that people aren’t always out to help them…

What a great feeling to know that on a gloomy, slow, Friday - in the middle of this real estate market that is in such turmoil; even though the media only tells stories of the “doom and gloom”; even though I’ve been selling real estate for 10 years and don’t work with buyer’s a lot anymore… There are still buyer’s who want & NEED a professional, honest, reputable Realtor.  There are still buyer’s who NEED a real estate agent…to help them start their lives together, to represent them and their needs & wants, to help them navigate the tumutulous journey of finding a home, securing financing, negotiating an offer, working out the kinks, and closing on the deal.

It feels really good to be a real estate agent again!  And for the best reasons!

This is why I started selling real estate 10 years ago… this is still why I sell real estate…