Here is the story of how I got my seller clients an extra $100,000 in less than two weeks…

My favorite thing to do in real estate is negotiate. Besides the prepping to sell or mapping out a strategy to purchase a home, I feel like this is where I stand out from other agents.

In the following, I map out my listing process and strategy as well as show you my marketing methods. I hope this helps you feel more comfortable with the process as you learn from a real-life scenario.

My clients reached out to me in April 2023 and said they were interested in downsizing. During our initial call I went over certain details about their wants and needs and some details about their current home. They told me they met me at one of my open houses, and were impressed by how I presented myself and the property.

My clients were in no rush to find their new home, but wanted to prep their home to sell. In May 2023, we met for our listing appointment. Prior to the listing appointment, I had sent over my disclosure forms, resume, seller guide, “tips for getting your home to sell”, and homeowner information sheet via email for their review.

I always come prepared to my listing appointments, and I came ready with the following:

• Focus 1st data (thanks Ninja Selling)
• Smart Chart data
• Recent comparable home sales, pending sales, active homes, and expired listings
• Folder filled with “getting your home ready for pictures”, homeowner information sheet, “getting ready to move guide”, tax record, partner information, resume.
• Estimated net sheet
• Tax record, any previous listings (this home had never been on the market before)

During our listing consultation, I started with a home tour, where my clients took me around their home, and I wrote down some notes about things I noticed. After the tour, we sat at the kitchen table and discussed the items I brought, the price, my professional fee, and the listing agreement. My clients were very clear that they wanted the agent to accompany every buying agent and they did not want an open house. We agreed to those terms because I want my clients to feel comfortable and safe during this process.

After the initial consultation, I send over my “Pre-listing kit” with magic erasers, a guide to sell your home, paint color recommendations, and a few little “extras.”

How do we price a home?

Although your home is filled with precious memories, pricing should not be emotional, it should be driven by data. This is why I bring multiple sources of data to my appointments.

I communicated with my clients that there are tiers of pricing your home:

• the price for the home’s condition in its current state
• the price if we do some of the things on my checklist
• the price if we complete everything on the checklist

At the meeting, I come prepared with data from Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com to see what their AI models are estimating your home is worth. Because they have never been inside your home, I have to make sure that our price is an accurate representation of the recent home sales and currently active homes on the market. Too high and your home will stay on the market for weeks OR months, too low and we could be undervaluing your home. I make sure you are happy with the price, and I always give you an estimate of what your take home pay will be after realtor fees, taxes, and loan payoffs (if any).

Typically, after a listing consultation, I send you a summary email of everything you could do to maximize your take home pay. The more you complete on the checklist, the more money you take home.

I am very honest with my clients and say, “this is what your home is worth at this current moment, depending on how long your prep takes this number could go up or down, but I will conduct another price analysis 2 weeks prior to listing to make sure we are priced competitively with the other homes on the market, and to reflect recent sales.”

Getting your home ready for pictures…

This is the time to remove items from the home that will NOT be coming with you to your next home. Once we receive an offer, you may only have 30 days to get the house empty and clean, so keep that in mind as you are decluttering and staging your belongings.

We will do a walk through together to determine what needs to be done to prepare your home for pictures, but here are some general rules that were put together by the top Realtors in the state plus my professional photographer.

Let’s start outside…

• Minimal clean landscaping photographs best.
• Landscaping should not be blocking your windows and doors.
• Trim bushes away from the home exterior, remove weeds and add fresh dark mulch.
• Power wash porches, driveways, sidewalks and patios.
• Clean windows.
• Your front door needs to be cleaned and freshly painted or stained.
• Clean or replace old and worn patio furniture and cushions.

Garage

• Good news! Your garage can be used for storage. Have items packed neatly and stacked against the wall to maximize floor space. The garage will not be photographed.
• Sweep out built up debris.
• When you move out, your garage and storage sheds will have to be totally emptied.

Once Inside….

• The lockbox will go on the front door, so the front entrance is important. We need to be aware of odors and lighting.
• Clear off surface areas: kitchen and bathroom countertops, dresser tops, window sills, and nothing on the refrigerator.
• Hide all power cords and cables.
• Hide trash cans.
• Personal photos should be removed where possible.
• Remove diplomas and personalized certificates.
• Declutter the shelves of built-ins.
• Buyers will look inside of closets. Be sure to let them see the floor of your pantry and closets.
• Floral and small patterns do not photograph well. We recommend removing all fake floral inside of the home and also any heavy floral or patterned drapes or blankets.
• If you have drapes or bedding that is themed (kid) or patterned, we recommend buying some affordable white drapes / white quilts to replace your drapes and place over your bedding.
• Have all light bulbs matching and in working order – we recommend – Warm white (3,000 to 4,000 Kelvin)
• Clean all ceiling fans.
• Remove decor from above refrigerator and cabinets.
• Do a final clean touching up appliances / baseboards / window sills.
• Replace HVAC filter with a new one

**In a vacant home there is nowhere to hide, so condition requirements are even more important. Take notice and address any issues with flooring, baseboards, walls, dusty light fixtures and blinds, cabinet condition, and any apparent needed maintenance.**

I also recommend Habitat for Humanity Restore because they typically take heavy items that you want to get rid of for a lost cost or for free.

What do you provide in terms of marketing?

We say we give our clients a “luxury experience at every price point.” We not only educate our clients during the process, but we hold their hand every step of the way to lessen the stress of moving. Most of our clients are haven’t moved in recent years, and the process has changed significantly from the last time they embarked on their home sale or home purchase journey.

• Network with other REALTORs in the area to see if there’s a chance of selling your home off-market, this also builds up buzz for your listing before it is active on the Multiple Listing Service
• Professional video & photography, including aerial & drone
• Creation of an interactive floor plan
• Creation of property website
• Professional home staging consultation
• Creation and distribution of a marketing brochure to other brokerages and agents
• For sale sign in yard & electronic lockbox placed near the front door
• Posting your home on Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
• Adding your home to the globally accessible sothebysrealty.com, Luxuryrealestate.com and duPontregistry.com that will include a two-paragraph description of the property and the community.
• Launching your listing to dozens of luxury websites and partners worldwide, including Juwai.com
• Introducing your home to our agents digitally on a large screen in sales meetings
• Advertising your home online on social media sites including, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube. Most of our marketing yields more than 100,000 views. We have over 5.52% engagement on our posts, which is higher than average (between 1.22% and 4.59% is average).
• Announcing that your home is active on MRIS to over 25,000 agents locally.
• Listing binder/amenities packet placed in your home with information about your home, your hoa, and the area around your home.
• Informing you of responses and inquires relating to your home
• Weekly email with current data from Zillow, Realtor.com, redfin, focus 1st, showingtime, and smart charts to see how your home compares to the competition.
• Gifts along the way during stressful time periods
• Introductions to our partners that we use in the industry for moving, contract work, buying real estate in another state, etc.
• Just listed postcard mailed to your neighbors
• Expert negotiation through years of sales experience as a behavioral research consultant and Global Sales Trainer. I am also certified with the Real Estate Expert Negotiation and Pricing Strategist Negotiator designations

So how did they get an extra $100,000?

Remember this home was listed for $1,850,000. The first week we were on the market, my clients received a low offer of $1,700,000 with no contingencies. The terms were good, but price was very important for my clients, and it was my job to get them there.

I reached out to the agent to ask his reasoning behind this offer, and he said their buyer said there was at lease $150,000 worth of “work” to make it the home they wanted (e.g. making it more modern for their taste). I just want to stop here and tell the reader, that this is not how buying a home works. As realtors, we have to educate our clients and show them how houses are priced.

The price is based off of the recent sales of homes that are in the same condition as the subject property or listing. It is NOT based off of what a buyer thinks how much cosmetic work is going to cost.

Back again to the story at hand…Based on the data, the current market had an average days on market of 17 days, so I knew that we had more time to receive a legitimate offer. We had just come on the market and received an offer, so the likelihood that we would receive another one was high. However, I called the agent to see if they would be willing to go higher, and they requested we sign a formal counter offer. So we did. And they declined.

It was a risk to tell my clients to hold off. Typically, the first offer IS the best offer. But my clients were willing to be patient and wait it out.

But this agent kept calling and texting me daily for updates, which showed that they were still interested. He wanted his clients to go higher.

A week later we received another offer of $1,775,000 with amazing terms.

So now we had two offers…

So I reached out to agent #1 and told him that we had received another offer. He told me his clients were still interested.

I asked if he could increase his offer purchase price significantly, and he said his clients didn’t want to miss out on this home. They were writing up another offer…

When you start receiving offers, you as the seller need to decide who will get you to the finish line. Will the buyers drop out even though they have no contingencies? Will they nickel and dime you over the inspection items? Is their heart really set on your home? It can become difficult when the offers are very similar.

Now remember the first agent was a little wishy-washy. They were first in the game, but they gave a lowball offer, but they showed signs that they were still interested. However, they weren’t willing to give everything until there was another offer on the table. At the last minute, they wrote another offer to compete with the 2nd buyer’s offer.

But sometimes your intuition also plays a huge part in selecting the buyer. Which buyer and agent pair will be the least stressful people to work with?

I talked with this agent with the second offer and formally countered at $1,800,000 with a closing date and post occupancy agreement that worked with the sellers’ timeline, and they accepted. These buyers were willing to do what it took to move forward, and cancel all other showings, and it was a smooth closing! Everyone ended up happy which is what we want in a negotiation process.

My clients were happy. Selling a luxury property in today’s market is NOT easy. You can’t just put a sign in the yard and expect offers to come in. You need a solid strategy.

Professional video

For all of our listings we do a professional vertical and horizontal video. We post these on our Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and Youtube channels. Most of our listings get more than 100,000 views with our omnichannel marketing methods. More eyeballs on your listings means that your home will sell quicker and for more money than cell phone pictures and outdated marketing techniques.

Professional Photos

We include professional photos with every listing. We work closely with our photographer and attend our photoshoots to make sure that every detail is accounted for. The MLS is first place that most buyers are looking and we want to make sure our pictures are presentable. Check out the gallery below.

Why not work with the best for the same price?

We pride ourselves on exceptional service. At our seller consultation, we go through the price, professional fees, and any other questions you may have. Selling your home is difficult, especially if you’ve lived in your home for a number of years. We want to help you get all of the tools you need to sell your home quickly and for the most money possible. We know our strategy works and our clients are very satisfied with our services.

Buying or selling a home is such a personal process, and I would be honored to be considered as a partner in your unique journey.

My Welcome Guide is linked below, which outlines our signature holistic approach to the real estate process, details on how and why we do things differently, and more.

See link here.

If you’ve reviewed my Guide and now feel ready to move forward? I am strategic about the clients we work with from month to month, to keep the experience personal and inspired, where every client receives the one-on-one attention they deserve.

If you’d like to work with us, please reach out to the following information:

Chloe Powell

Hunt Country Sotheby’s International Realty

571-379-0199

chloe.powell@huntcountrysir.com

thechloepowell.com