Selling Information and Tips for Las Cruces Real Estate
Professionally Represented by Chris Harrison
Excellence in Buyer and Seller Representation. I am a marketing professional and spend thousands of dollars a month advertising my clients Las Cruces homes. I employ My Personal Digital Marketing Strategy to effectively advertise your home. Proper and Professional Representation is about marketing and marketing costs alot of money. See the picture below and the seller’s mistakes page under the free reports tab for excellent information.
You can search this site for excellent information and tips on Home selling in Las Cruces or go to NAR’s houselogic site for more great ideas on selling your home in Las Cruces.
If you are seller serious about picking the right Listing Broker you must watch these 2 videos, Marketing and Listing.
Looking for an excellent Realtor in Las Cruces. Let me Google One for you.
Selling a house can be a roller coaster ride for any homeowner, but, with the right preparation, it can be a very rewarding – and profitable – experience. This special report lists five common mistakes sellers often make. Avoid these pitfalls, and you’ll be ahead of the game.
Choosing the wrong Realtor
This is the time for you to shop around. You’ll spend a lot of time with the Las Cruces Realtor you choose, so make sure he or she is someone you enjoy being around and can trust.
Ask lots of questions. Are your communication styles similar? Do your schedules mesh? Is there an easy way to contact the broker? Is he someone others have recommended? Does he know the local area and the housing market? What are the associate brokers marketing strategies?
Read More: Smart Improvements for Las Cruces Homes
Free check List of Questions to ask a potential Listing Broker:
1. How will you market my home?
Will you pay for a Virtual Tour to market. Will this Virtual tour be posted online. Where?
1a. What is your personal website to market my home.
Over 85% of buyers start on the internet. If they dont have their own website, ie. one that is not a group or company website, look for someone else. Go online and get on Google. Type in Las Cruces homes or Las Cruces property, if you cant find their site neither can anyone else. A site with no search engine is like an unlisted phone number. No one can find it.
1b. Ask how many homes they have sold this year, last year .
You need a Las Cruces Realtor with recent experience. Years with a license is not necessarily a indication past or future positive results. Top Producers will often sell over 40 homes a year not 40 in 10 years. I can’t tell you how many associate brokers are pleased to tell you they have been licensed for 15 years and have lots of experience only to find they have participated in fewer transactions than top producers do in one year. There is a reason we are called Top Producers, we produce.
1c. Ask about their education.
Are they a college graduate? What type of license do they have. Qualifying Brokers hold the highest Broker designation in New Mexico, associate brokers are now the entry level designation. What other designations do they have, CRS– Certified Residential Specialist, only the top 4% of Realtors nationwide have the experience, education and transactional history to become a CRS. ABR-Accredited Buyers Representative, remember many listings are sold by buyer/brokers which is why you need an ABR working for you. While most brokers showing homes to buyers have never taken the training or met the requirements to be accredited by the council, ABRs know what buyers brokers should be doing so they can represent their sellers better. e-PRO- Electronic professionals understand internet marketing and are specifically trained to excel in marketing your home. GRI– Graduate Realtors Institute, graduates have passed all the tests and have taken extensive course loads to be the best trained agents in all areas of Real Estate and Representation.
1d. Take your time and find a Realtor you enjoy and trust.
Not all licensees are Realtors and not all Las Cruces Realtors are the same. Choosing a person to market your home based on the rate of their commission is a huge mistake. New brokers or ones that think little of their service will often let you talk them into any reduced rate. Low service, Low experience and low price on the offers, if any offers come at all. This is one of the most important things to remember, your home not only competes with other similar homes in the area on whats inside, it competes with the other commissions.
1eThink you want a low commission agent working for you?
If you choose a budget service Realtor that will List your home for 4% or 5% they will offer to split the commission with Buyer’s broker who bring a buyer. Now, do you think a Realtor will bring a buyer for a 2% split when there are Savy sellers paying 3% or more? Low commissions could mean fewer buyers because associate brokers are less motivated to bring buyers by.
Think your Listing broker can sell your home themselves? Don’t count on it, most listings are sold by brokers other than the listing broker. There are over 400 Realtors in Las Cruces you need to help sell your home and they may not be able to help if the commission is too low. Paying the extra commission to sell your home faster is better than a low commission where it takes longer to sell your home and you have to reduce the price anyway. This is the truth, and the truth is hard to come by. Call me, you will be glad you did. If you want to list your home with a discount broker I can refer you to someone else.
2. Rushing on the price
Take your time when you’re setting the asking price of your home. This is a crucial step that shouldn’t be rushed when selling Las Cruces real estate. It’s a tricky thing, and pricing too high is just as dangerous as pricing too low. Pricing a home too high to start with is bad. There is a flurry of activity normally associated with a new listing and you don’t want to miss potential buyers because your home is overpriced. You can lower the price later but the home is now seasoned and not new on the market. It is likely this new price will not be noticed by buyers. They already saw it, decided it was over priced and have moved on. Price it right the first time. Experienced brokers can assist you in setting the proper price. Ask for the saturation rates for homes like yours.
The average buyer often looks at more than two dozen homes before making a decision. That means buyers have the advantage of comparison shopping. If your house isn’t reasonably priced, you may lose that perfect sale. Work with your agent to set the very best asking price. Most important to know about pricing is that your home’s value has nothing to do with what you bought it for, what you owe on it, what you want out of it, or where you are going.
3. Thinking first impressions don’t matter
First impressions count in a big way! If a seller hasn’t taken time to declutter and clean his house, he may lose the sale before a walk-through even begins.
Buyers can’t help but respond to your home emotionally. It the house is messy or there’s a strange smell coming from behind a closed door, they’ll likely make a quick exit and look for another home.
It may take some elbow grease on your part, but any effort you invest into preparing your home will pay off in the long run. These quick and simple steps will help you spruce up in no time.
On the outside:
- Cut and edge your grass
- Remove any clutter from your yard
- Trim hedges
- Weed gardens
- Wash steps, windows, railings, doors, etc
- Paint if needed
- Remove unnecessary clutter from garages
And inside:
- Keep the home clean
- Shampoo carpets
- Clean tubs, toilets and showers and hang fresh towels
- Oil squeaky doors
- Turn on inside and outside lights
- Have soft music playing
- Make sure the house smells good
- Keep pets in separate area
- Open shades and draperies
- Open all doors inside home.
When buyers preview your home, they’re more comfortable and will spend more time when you’re not around. This would be a good time to run those errands or walk the dog. This is very important, do not be present when the buyers and other agents are in your home. No one needs a tour, we can do that ourselves. It is a good idea to type out a list of 10 or 15 things that you think a buyer should know that you feel they may not notice. Leave it on the table for them to see.
4. Keeping a low profile
It’s a competitive market out there, and this isn’t the time for you – or your real eastate broker – to become a shrinking violet. You want someone who will shout your home’s praises from the rooftops (figuratively, of course)! Make sure your agent takes full advantage of all the marketing tools he or she can.
The majority of homebuyers start their search on the Internet. Is your broker taking advantage of that technology? Does your broker have a personal website? Can potential buyers easily find your home listed in a search and find feature? Once they do, is it easy to contact your Realtor for information? Does your Realtor list enough detailed information about your home? Buyers are often impatient and won’t take kindly to waiting for a Realtor to call back with information. They want to access facts about your home quickly and easily – or they might move on.
5. Breezing through the contract
Don’t make the mistake of taking the contract lightly. Protect yourself and go over it with a fine-tooth comb. It’s important that all of the costs, terms and responsibilities are included.
Have you disclosed everything about your home? Share all known defects with your buyer in writing. It will protect you if they later becomes dissatisfied.
6. Pay your Dona Ana Property taxes on time.
Savy buyers brokers can tell if you are behind on your taxes as all of your tax information and payment history is public information. If you are not current on your Dona Ana County Property Taxes it will come back to bite you. Nothing screams, I’m in financial trouble, like being behind on your property taxes. One year behind and you may get a lower offer from a buyer, 2 years behind and the will lowball your offer and 3 years behind and the County will file to auction your property.