Home For Sale: Your First Business

Many of you have never owned your own business. Maybe you have no business training whatsoever. You might not even realize that when you are selling your home you are basically turning your home into a business. You are transforming your front yard into a store front and the product is your home! The moment you realize this is the moment you have gained a competitive advantage over your competition. YES you have competition! And lots of it! The trick is recognizing this and taking a marketing approach. Make sure that your agent sees selling your home in this way as well because it is a proven approach.

So now you have a product and there are a lot of stores with similar products for sale in your area. What can you do to ensure that yours is the one customers see and want to buy? Well that is the million dollar question. Ask any business owner and I am sure they would love to know as well. I have the answer and it has never been a secret! Many business owners are already doing it and they don’t even know it! It’s a simple approach really and it’s why they haven’t gone out of business. Here are some parts of it:

1. Have long hours. Stay open on weekends. Stay open nights. Translation to home owner? Make your home available so that no matter what time of day it is (within reason) your home is clean and ready to show. If an agent has potential buyers and they are only in town for the weekend and want to buy a home in 2 days (YES this happens and happens OFTEN) if you say "no I can't show it today we are busy this weekend" then you know where to point the finger when your house takes longer to sell.

2. Make your business inviting. Translation? Clean, Clean, and Clean. It’s the 3 C's. I can never stress this enough. Ever been turned off by a store with dirty bathrooms? It’s the same with selling your house!

3. Market your business. Translation? We probably can't afford TV ads specifically designed for your home, few business owners can. We don’t have the marketing budget of those big name, stick on the tip of your tongue companies. Sure it is your agent's job to market the sale of your home but that doesn’t mean you can’t! Tell everyone you know you are selling your home. Think of the organizations you are a part of. Make everyone you know aware of this fact. You probably know hundreds of people and they know hundreds of people! The 6 degrees rule can be true and before long everyone knows about your home. It should be the start of every conversation you have and the more you talk about it the more others will talk about it. You probably know someone who would buy your house you just don’t know it!

This list is by no means finished. More to come of course!

Buyer's Market Dare Not Beware

We have all heard it. Everyone’s talking about it here in Eau Claire. "It’s a buyer’s market." But what does it all mean for us here in the CV and what can we do to about? First of all let's focus on what this really means. Sure there is an inventory of houses for sale in our area. But houses are selling and some are selling fast. This does not mean you won't be able to sell your home or that it has to languish in the hot summer sun and then freeze all winter long with no traffic. No one wants this and it doesn’t help anyone. We don’t want to give your house away and we don’t want your house to sit on the market month after month collecting proverbial dust. What we do want is to get your house to stick out (in a good way) from the rest of the homes in your price range. How can we do that? Drop the price of course! No, no that’s too simple. Of course that can work and in many cases after all else has failed and you must sell your home quickly then this can be the best solution. If this isn’t an option I suggest doing things differently. Think differently. Take an active role in selling your home. You have a lot of power in selling your home. Your agent can do a lot but we can’t paint that fence no matter how many times you ask us! That’s your job. So stop putting it off and pointing fingers. Just go do it!

You can sway potential buyers to your home. Spruce it up. "Curb appeal" is another one of those catch phrases you can't help but to hear. But truisms are what they are and no matter how many times you hear it many people are just not doing it! Take a drive around your block. Is your home the nicest home? (I don’t mean the most expensive or the most expensively landscaped.) Would you buy your home? What would you do differently? Asking these questions can lead you on the "Active Seller" path. Sitting back with the cruise control set watching the days on market tick higher and higher doesn’t help. We can’t "roll back" the days.

Dare to make your home stick out. Make it attractive and appealing to potential buyers. From the moment they pull up to your home to the moment they first turn that handle to open the front door, make your home their home and they won't want to leave. Have them fall in love with your home just like you did when you first bought it.

"Cheap" Tricks

Many people are aware that there are things you can do to your house to increase equity in your home with little or no money. "Sweat equity" as it has become known involves sweat and lots of it. It also involves great risks in many of the projects that are suggested. Without the consultation of a professional you could become involved in a project that quickly gets out of control. If the project is not done in a professional looking manner not only are you out the cost of materials but time and energy as well. Plus not only have you not increased the value of your home you may have actually hurt the salability.

What can you do to avoid this dilemma?

Get help! Assess your own abilities first. Don't start a project that you think is too hard. If you think it's hard it probably is. Some things look easy when professionals do them. They have had years of practice. Ever heard the saying you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs? You don't want your house to be full of broken eggs. Consult a professional.

Presentation is the key. Imagine you are buying your own home. Step out of your own shoes and try on a different pair. Walk through your front door for the first time as someone else and really take a good look around. Bring a notepad with you and take notes. Are your windows dirty? Cobwebs? Bring a white glove (white hand towel will do) and rub it on all the surfaces in your house. If you see any dirt you know where to start. This isn't going to raise the selling price of your home but it can increase the potential to sell your home. Appearance is everything and a dirty home can’t be covered up. Just because it doesn't bother you doesn't mean it won’t matter to someone else. If two homes are identical in price, design, etc this could be the deciding factor. Someone who is motivated enough to clean their house to this degree is a nod in the direction of potential buyers signaling that you are probably motivated in other ways.

Best part of a clean house is you get to enjoy it as well. You will thank yourself after its done and your agent will thank you as well.

P.S.

Don't be afraid to get your kids involved!

Chippewa Valley Real Estate and Beyond

The intent of this blog is to create a simple environment so that I can share my real estate experiences and expertise with the people closest to me here in Eau Claire and the entire Chippewa Valley. After spending some time looking around I see there is a huge void between real estate professionals and the clients and customers they rely on. I think it is time we give back to the community which has provided for our growth. I want this to be the place where we can share our common experiences and grow together. I will use this blog to share valuable information that relates to everyone in the area.



I have done extensive research on real estate matters and it is my conclusion that most sources provide information about market areas that have little to do with Wisconsin or the Chippewa Valley in particular. The national media has done an excellent job in finding as much doom and gloom in relation to the recent housing market "collapse", but how is this affecting us? I intend to use this blog to answer this question and others as they arise.



To show my sincerity I wish to make a pledge to the people of the Chippewa Valley.

I pledge:



1. To make this blog a place where everyone has a voice.

2. To keep this blog local and stick to local content.

3. To keep an open ear to the community so that I may hear your concerns.

4. To continue my own education with real estate matters so that you will consider me the premier source for real estate in the Chippewa Valley.

5. To talk about a variety of topics so that we cover every aspect of perhaps the greatest investment you will make in your lifetime; your home.

6. To interview other professionals familiar with real estate matters in the area to get their opinions on local topics.

7. To keep this blog up to date with fresh content and quick responses from me.

8. To continually update my pledge to you so that I am always meeting your needs.

Thank you and welcome to my blog.