3 Reasons Why Your Agent Should Have a Team

There are a lot of steps in the real estate process. When you hire a listing agent, you need to look for someone that is part of a team. What happens when a buyer calls the agent but that agent is meeting with other clients and can't answer the phone? You could have just lost a potential buyer.

That's why it's important to have a team where someone is always available to answer any questions. There are three reasons you should hire a listing agent with a team.

1. We have a listing and closing team - Both of these teams have people that are trained to handle the different aspects of each step. The listing team works on always making your home front and center. The closing team helps handle any issues that may arise such as inspection, appraisal, contingencies, etc.

2. We have a lead coordinator - Our lead coordinator communicates with all potential buyers immediately. When buyers ask about a home, they want an immediate response or they'll just move on to a different home.

3. We have a team of buyers' agents - You may wonder what a buyers agent has to do with selling your home. Just think, though, those agents are working with buyers looking for a home. Why not your home?

These are three important reasons why hiring a listing agent with team support is so important. If you are ready to sell your home, give us a call today!

Tips to Hiring A Good Listing Agent

Your home is one of your biggest assets. You want to make sure when it comes time to sell you have an agent who knows how to get you the most money. How do you find a good agent? I have some key things to look for when hiring your agent.

1. Experience - You want an agent who knows the market, knows your area and knows the value of your home. You also want an agent who has good sales experience; a lot can come up in a closing, so it's important your agent knows how to close the deal.

Our team has been selling together for 12 years. I've been in real estate for 17 years and my family has been in it for 50 years! That's a lot of experience! Not only that, but we have outsold all the Ohio realtors in the past 12 months.

2. Marketing - You can't sell your home if no one knows it's on the market. It's crucial that your listing agents knows all the different avenues to get your home exposed. We use internet, print and signage.

Check out Zillow, Trulia and other listing sites to see how relevant your listing agent is: are their listings at the top?

Make sure that there is a good sign in your yard. Fifteen percent of sales are from buyers who drive by looking for homes in a neighborhood. Our sales have our website that takes them to the listing, it has a text messaging services that gives them more details.

Print advertising is also important. While it's not as common as it used to be, it is still an important way to get your home exposed.

If you have any questions or are ready to sell your home please, give me a call!

6 Reasons to Sell During the Holidays

Welcome back to my video blog. The holidays are here and I always get asked whether now is a good time to list. The truth is the holidays are a fantastic time to list. I have six reasons why you should consider putting your home on the market.

Buyers are serious - While we do see fewer buyers in the market, the ones that are shopping around are ready to make a commitment.

There is less competition - Inventory is typically lower during the holidays and that means your home is of higher value to the buyer.

Homes look better - Homes almost look like models with their decorations and lights.

Buyers are more emotional - The holidays always add an emotional element to buyers’ decisions and most of the time they are willing to pay more for a home.

If you sell now, you will be a non-contingent buyer - Selling your home now means you can sell high and then buy low rather than the opposite during the spring market.

You don’t have to move during the holidays - If you sell your home within the next month, you won’t have to move until after the first of the year. Homes take about 45 days to close once they are under contract. So don’t worry about packing up on Christmas day.

These are just six of many great reasons you should put your home on the market. Give me a call today; let’s talk about what’s best for your situation.

Thanks for watching!

The Importance of Pricing Properly

Welcome back. I get asked all the time what the importance of pricing a home is and how a price should be determined?

Aggressively pricing your home, rather than overpricing it is one of the key elements to selling your home quickly and for a fantastic price.

A study done by the National Association of Realtors showed that the first six weeks a home is on the market are the most important.

Why? Because most websites will show the hottest new listings and that means your home will be on the ‘front page’. You want your home to have a great price to entice buyers to visit.

Most of the time in overpriced homes, sellers actually have to sell for less than what their home is worth. The longer the home sits on the market, the more buyers think there must be something wrong with the property.

If you need any help selling your home, please give me a call. Thanks for watching!

4 Things to Do Before Listing

Welcome back! I have a list of four things to keep in mind when you put your home on the market to sell it fast and for a great price.

           
1. Staging and decluttering - If you have any large furniture, remove it to make the room  appear more spacious. Put away all appliances and clutter from the kitchen and bathroom counters.

2. Curb appeal - How your home looks on the outside is just as important as how it looks on the inside. Spruce up the landscape. Put on a fresh coat of paint.

3. Prior home inspection - We recommend getting your home inspected before listing. That way you know the problems before hand and don’t have to worry about renegotiating.

4. Price - Before listing, determine a price that is best for your home and won’t leave your property sitting on the market.

If you have any questions about getting your home ready for the market, please give me a call at 440.974.0404

Thanks for watching! 

Ohio’s #1 Real Estate Team

Welcome back to my video blog! This has been a crazy month for us and I’m so excited to tell you our great news!

We recently attended the Ohio Association of REALTORS conference where awards were given to different individuals and teams. Going into the ceremony we knew our team was one of the top producing teams in the state. We were so honored though to find out we were the number one top dollar producing team in all of Ohio. We beat out 26,000 other realtors.

We could not have had this success without so many people. I want to thank all of our clients for choosing us to work with.

Fifty years ago my dad got licensed as a realtor and I want to thank him for being a great role model and mentor to my career. I also want to thank my real estate coach of 12 years, Mike Ferry.

Thank you to Carlos Justo of Miami Beach who has helped me tremendously, one of the top realtors in the United States.

Thank you to my broker David Mussari of Prudential. And a final thank you to Gregg Boehlefeld who has been a great mentor to me ever since I’ve grown up.

Thank you again to everyone! As always if you have any questions, please give me a call. We’d love to help!

Is now a good time for a seller to put their home on the market?

Hello, everyone! Thanks for visiting my video real estate blog.

A lot of people have asked me lately whether now is a good time to sell their home. The answer is absolutely. Last year, our team made 60 percent of our sales in the last six months of the year.

Why is this? Well, a lot of it is based on consumer confidence: prices are up and the number of homes sold is up by 15 percent.

Now is a fantastic time to sell. So if you’re ready to put your home on the market, give me a call so we can get started right away!

Thanks for watching!

Cleveland Area Market Update August 2013

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to my video real estate blog.

What’s happening in our current real estate market compared to last year?

For the past seven months we’ve seen a huge increase in sales. With low interest rates and a great stock market, our Cleveland market has been very strong.

In the past 30 days, though, interest rates increased from 3.5 percent to about 4.5 percent. As the rates began to rise, we saw a spike in the number of sales; it caused a lot of buyers who were on the fence to make their move. The market then slowed a bit as rates leveled out in the mid 4s.

Despite the increase, interest rates are still historically low and I expect buyers to be aggressive and sales to continue to grow throughout 2013. If you have any questions about the market, please give me a call!