Living in Contra Costa County

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 13 - Pricing Your Home!

This is Part 12 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 8 - Living Through the Sale

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 9 - Picture This!

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 10 - Selling When Empty!

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 11 - Make Your Showings Safe!

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 12 - When to Show Your Home!

Pricing a home can be a Challenge, Pricing a Luxury Home can be even a bigger challenge.  Home pricing is an art not a science. 

Generally when I price a home I look at the recent sales of homes in the same area about the same size.  I look at the size of the lot and the amenities.  If it is an active market I generally want to price it low enough to get traffic and interest, but not to give it away.  If the market is very hot, then you can push the envelop on the price.  In a dead market you need to price below the competition to get showings.  This is all very obvious.  However there are some other considerations, especially when it comes to luxury homes:

1. There are some homes in high end developments that could be considered luxury.  There are often good comps for these homes to help with the pricing.  Although it is not always that easy.
   
   
2. Homes that comp good on the computer may have big differences in terms of conditions, upgrades and amenities.  While the home in superior condition will warrant a higher price it cannot be priced too much higher than recent comps or other homes on the market.  Even with superior condition buyers will often go with the cheaper home figuring they can fix it up themselves and decorate it to their own taste for the money.  The other problem might be getting the superior house to appraise with a lower comp working as an anchor. 
   
   If the home is truly superior then go ahead and price it higher, you are selling Status, Uniqueness and Luxury.  The more of those qualities you can show that differentiate you from the other house the more you might be able to ask for.  But do remember if the cannot see the difference on line or on the MLS and the price difference is too big you might not get the showings.
   
   
3. Many Luxury Homes will not have good comps due to being truly unique.  The pricing for these homes may be much more subjective.  When land is part of the Luxury value of the home this also changes the dynamics as not only does current use of the land effect value, but the zoning, ability to subdivide, and potential other use may also effect value.
   
   
4. With truely stand out estate style homes, especially on land or that are very unique it may take longer to find a buyer as the number of buyers for the particular home will be limited.  These limitations will be financial and just a desire for the unique feature of the home.  With homes of this nature you are not generally looking at a local move up buyer, but often someone out of the area.  It will take time to find this buyer. 
   
   Just because the home is taking longer to sell does not mean it is over priced, although a price adjustment may be considered it should not be rushed (unless you absolutely need to sell fast).
   

As I stated above home evaluation is more of an art than a science, especially a Luxury Home.  If you would like a free Home Evaluation of your Luxury Home please contact me.

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Selling a Luxury Home - Part 12 - When to Show Your Home!

This is Part 12 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 8 - Living Through the Sale

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 9 - Picture This!

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 10 - Selling When Empty!

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 11 - Make Your Showings Safe!

When to Show your home might seem like a question with an obvious answer.  That answer is Show it as much as possible.  Generally this is true, however there are some exceptions:

• Only Show the home when it is clean and ready to be shown.  Remember you are generating value based on Luxury.  Remember the three things that will drive Luxury value - Status, Uniqueness, and Luxury.  The house needs to be immaculate and show these elements when it is seen.
  
  
• Real Estate tends to draw Lookie Lou's - people that like to window shop, but have little or no interest in your property.  Agents do not like to waste time, but agents cannot keep all of these people out of your homes.  Just accept the fact there will be Lookie Lou's and maybe a Lookie Lou might actually buy or tell someone else about your home.  However, if your home is far and away above all the other homes in the area, an estate or real top tier you may want to have the property shown by appointment only and make sure the buyers are pre-screened.  
  
  
• Make sure your agent gets the home on the Broker Tour.  Get the information out to every broker in town.  Let them see how nice the home is and they will scour around for any prospect they thing might be interested.
  

How do you control your showing times:

• First of all don't, if you can have the home ready 24/7.
  
  
• Have the agent put in the remarks section to call in advance and at least leave a message.  If you go out make sure your home is ready to show, as they may call while you are out and just come by.
  
  
• By appointment only with lock box.
  
  
• No Lock Box and by appointment only.  I have known some agents to give the lock box to the owners to set out when the owners are leaving, but other wise keep it in the house.  Of course there is no way to affix the lock box to the home using this method.
  
  
• With many lock box systems agents can control when the box is active and in-active to keep people from getting the key during certain times.

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Selling a Luxury Home - Part 11 - Make Your Showings Safe!

This is Part 11 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 8 - Living Through the Sale

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 9 - Picture This!

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 10 - Selling When Empty!

Now that we have talked to the experts, had the home staged and any repairs completed that need to be completed it is time to get the home ready to show.  I am not too worried about the visible at this time as the invisible or at least the not so obvious.  The security of your home.

There will be people coming in and out of your home.  When they will come in and out and some ways to consider controlling this we will look at in the next post.  But here are some thoughts.

• Put your valuables in a safe place.  A safe, a safe deposit box, another location, but not just hidden in your dresser draw.  Most people are honest, but there are people who will rob your home at an open house or even a showing with the agent.  They work in teams, some distract others do the dirty work.  Do not blame the agent, most of these people come across as decent and honest buyers.
  
  
• Consider any paper work with personal information as valuable property.  Identity theft is a growing crime.  Bank account records, tax records, even your birth date would provide a valuable tool for people to victimize you.
  
  
• Leave your security systems on.  Give the agents the access information as needed.  Some systems will allow multiple passwords to even allow you to know who turned the system on and off.
  
  
• Even if someone does not rob you during a showing or open house they could use those opprotunities to case the home for a burglary. 
  
  
• You are selling your home based on Status, Uniqueness, and Luxury and so you will have to have some nice looking things about.  This does not mean they have to be very expensive, they just have to look nice.  If you have a valuable vase or item that you might not want to be exposed put it away.  Some things could get damaged by honest people just bumping into them or kids of buyers running around the house.
  
  
• If you are have concerns consider putting in and using Nanny Cams.
  
  

As an aside if you have any nice fixtures or things you do not want to go with the house.  Remove them before you put the home on the market.

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Selling a Luxury Home - Part 10 - Selling When Empty!

This is Part 9 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 8 - Living Through the Sale

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 9 - Picture This!

In Part 8 I talked about the problems of Selling a Luxury Home while living in it.  Although there are also some advantages.  This time I want to look at Selling a Luxury Home while it is empty.

The biggest advantage of Selling a Luxury Home while it is empty is the obvious.  Generally speaking it is easier to keep clean and ready to show when no one is about; and you get your junk out of the house.  This is the primary advantage and it is big, but I can think of few others.

There are some draw backs to moving out of the home before it is sold.  When no one is living in the home there is no one to watch it for security purposes.  Someone living in the property will also be aware of day to day problems.

If you move out before selling the home your agent should check up on the property on a regular basis, however, there are still some other considerations.

• You may want to leave some furniture and accesories behind the stager thinks might be appropriate for your home.
  
  
• You will need to be sure someone is caring for the lawns and grounds.
  
  
• Someone needs to check the mail and make sure the newspapers are picked up and things like that.  I know you will cancel the paper and have the mail forwarded, but that stuff still seems to end up setting around.
  
  
• The interior of the home will still need to be cleaned.  Remember we are selling a high end home and that means Status, Uniqueness, and Luxury.  You don't want the place to be dusty or have the floors getting dirty.
  
  
• Keep the utilities and the security system on.  Showing agents can be provided codes to turn the security on and off.  Make sure the heat and air is on at the appropriate times when the home will be shown.  Another thing is too keep lights on if you can.  Most homes look better when properly lit, even during the day light hours.  I know the to keep heat/air/lights on for showings can become costly, but you are Selling a Luxury Home; it needs to show that way.
  

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Selling a Luxury Home - Part 9 - Picture This!

This is Part 9 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 8 - Living Through the Sale

I want to take a step back and look at another important team member - The Photographer.  When Selling a Luxury Home a Professional Photographer is an important part of the equation.  Even if your Realtor or you can take excellent photos odds are that the professional will take a better picture that can capture the things you want to highlight to potential buyers.  Remember when Selling a Luxury Home you are selling Status, Uniqueness, and Luxury; you need to show those things every step of the way.

If you wonder if these things like staging, photography, and presentation make a difference I want you to think about the Cola Wars in this Country.  Millions are spent to get you to reach for the Red can over the Blue can or visa verse.  No detail is over looked in the advertising and presentation.  Those companies would not spend that kind of money if they did not have to.  Are those major brands really better than more economical brands; sometimes they are.  Sometimes we just think they are because we have been conditioned to think that way.  They certainly cost more and this is what we are trying to do is get the best price when Selling a Luxury Home.

Frequently the professional photos will be included in the Stagers cost.  However, if they are not the Stager will often have a good referral.  If not your Realtor will. 

Here are two sets of photos.  The ones on the right I took.  The ones on the left were taken by the pro.  See the value?  The angle is different on the photos, but the light and camera settings are different too.  Pro photographers have a trained eye for this detail.

Living Room

Bedroom

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Selling a Luxury Home - Part 8 - Living Through the Sale

This is Part 8 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

We have all had those moments when our home looks less than ideal.  If you have kids it has probably been more than a few moments.  My top 10 examples:

1. Your two year old decides he is an artist and the wall is his canvas.
   
   
2. The cat brings you a present - it has just killed.
   
   
3. The dog leaves you a present on the carpet.
   
   
4. The kids decide to surprise you by cooking breakfast.
   
   
5. The kids decide to make their own powdered drink mix, spill it on the carpet (why they were making it on the carpet I do not know), then take a sponge to it.
   
   
6. You have a teenager - need I say more!
   
   
7. After running a Hot Wheel Track down the stairs impromptu idea to go with something bigger.  Tonka Truck leaves a hole in the wall.
   
   
8. The two year old is proud of himself for learning how to undo child safetly locks on fridge.  He wants to crack eggs just like mom, but on the carpet.
   
   
9. Kids bathroom starts to smell like little boys need target practice then you find out they have been flushing Lego's.
   
   
10. Two year old decides to surprise you by taking off his own diaper (dirty) and then going to the potty by himself.

We all have our own moments we can laugh about in retrospect about home messes or disasters.  The reality is homes are for living in and often reflect that lived in look.  When we go to sell the home we may or may not have to live in the home while it is for sale.

Finances or other circumstances may prevent a seller from moving before they put the home on the market.  It may be more secure to live on the property while it is on the market and exposed (more on security latter). 

However, if you have to live in it, it needs to be kept clean.  Remember we are looking at Selling a Luxury Home; it is about uniqueness, status, and Luxury, the home needs to reflect this.  This can be very hard with kids.  Here are some suggestions that may help you manage the home when Selling a Luxury Home while living in the home.

1. Consult first with your Realtor and Home Stager about how the home should look and what changes you need to make around the house.
   
   
2. De-cluttering will probably be one of the things you will be working on with the stager.  This will mean moving stuff, both furniture and smaller items out of the home.  My personal recommendation is to get a container by one of those companies that does moves.  Back it up at your current home and when you move have it brought to the new home.  You will be moving it one way or the other, get it taken care of in advance.  If you cannot do that put the items in traditional storage or at least store it in your garage.  Although it looks nice if the garage is clean too, but if you have to clutter one room that one is probably it.
   
   
3. Make the kids part of the team.  Explain to them what needs to happen and try to get them on your team, provide an incentive.  The incentive could be the new home they can expect, new toys when they get there, what ever works.
   
   
4. Get most of the toys and mess makers out of the house.  You cannot take a way all the kids toys, but do try and get the biggest mess makers out of the way while moving.  Be on top of the kids to clean up when they play before they move onto the next toy.  (Yes many of these rules can go for us adults with our toys too.)
   
   
5. It is great if you have house cleaning help to work with, even if only temporary while selling the house.  But remember for most of us help will not be around 24/7 or just before the buyer is coming buy to inspect.
   
   
6. Keep life simple.  When selling a home it is not a great time to plan a major dinner party, start a major sewing or home improvement project, or have the in laws in town for a couple of weeks.  Try to eat our more, or cook simple foods that are easy to clean up.
   
   
7. Clean as you go.  The house should be ready to show at all times.
   
   
8. Even though you clean as you go there needs remember to keep up with regular maintenance type cleaning; dusting, mowing the lawn, etc. . .
   
   
9. When Selling a Luxury Home you can show by appointment only which gives you more time to get ready.  There are upsides and downsides to limited showing times.  We will cover those latter.
   
   
10. Keep focused on your goal of selling the house.  Although the cleaning is hard it is also a good time to assess your life and de-clutter in general.  Most of us have more "stuff" than we need or should even hang onto.

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Selling a Luxury Home - Part 7 - The Team - Putting it together

This is Part 7 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

When you decide to use the team as recommended above to sell your Luxury Home get all the initial reports and inspections together and decide what you are going to do.

The reason I wanted you to get all the members of the teams initial reports first is to keep you from having to redo work. If the termite inspector finds Section 1 work to complete and Section 2 work you want to do in order to get the house in good order you might as well do repairs cosmetically consistent with what the Stager reccomends. It makes no sense to paint the front door as part of a Section 2 repair to then have the Stager tell you it needs to be a different color. Remember we are talking about Selling a Luxury Home; we need to show Uniqueness, Status, and Luxury.

The Termite and Home Inspection Report (along with any other inspection reports) should be placed out for review by potential buyers, along with documentation of repair. You could put them in the same packet with a Preliminary Title Report (more in these latter). The reports should also be posted on the MLS where member agents can access the report. Having this information available will help you sell your Luxury Home.

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 6 - The Team - The Stager

This is Part 6 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - The Termite Inspector

At this point someone is thinking that their home looks just fine, they do not need anyone to tell them how to clean, and stagers are a waste of money. I am going to disagree and tell you why staging is very important for Luxury Home Sales.

Stagers hate to tell you how much the cost as it really varies from home to home and job to job.  It depends on how much furniture they bring in, how long it stays on site, and what remodeling they have to do.  Speaking very generally I have scene Luxury Homes expertly staged for less than 1% of the sales price.  One percent sounds like a lot, but it is actually very cheap as it will maximize your ability to show your homes Uniqueness, Status, and Luxury; the 3 things that will drive the value of your Luxury Home. Many people will rapidly cut the price of a home by 5 to 10% or more in order to get it to sell; but are reluctant to spend a much smaller percentage in order to get it to get quality offers.

A quality Home Stager will help you to sell your Luxury Home by:

• Helping you to get the home updated style wise.
  
  
• Provide neutral decorating tips.  The purpose is not to reflect your style, but to provide a blank canvas that shows potential to buyers.
  
  
• Show you how to decorate to get the small room to look larger.
  
  
• Help you declutter the home.
  
  
• Provide furniture for empty homes
  
  
• Sometimes homes will have bonus rooms or space that is hard for a buyer to define what it is for.  A good Stager will help the buyer define the room with the decor.

Stagers offer a variety of service levels and most will give a free initial consultation.  Hiring the right stager is one of the most important steps in Selling a Luxury Home.

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 5 - The Team - Termite Inspector

This is Part 5 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

Right of the bat some of you are asking why we need a Termite inspector if we just had a home inspector.  No matter how you feel about it in California they are two different inspections.  There may be some overlap, but here is how they are different:

• Home inspectors are not licensed by the state, but they do have professional credentials and professional organizations they are a part of.  Termite inspectors are licensed by the state.
  
  
• The home inspection report is yours and for you personally (Although you are obligated to make a disclosure about problems with the home).  A Termite Report is filed with the Structural Pest Control Board and is a Public Record.  A record of the inspection will also be posted by the Termite company in the home.
  
  
• The Home inspection is broad in it's scope.  The Termite report has a tighter focus.
  

The other misconception is that a Termite report focuses on Termites only.  The termite report will focus on:

• Wood destroying pest, fungus and structural damage.
  
  
• Conditions likely to lead to infestations or moisture damage; including grading issues.
  
  
• Estimates of repair.  The repair estimates will be divided into two sections.  Section 1 is actual damage and Section 2 is conditions likely to lead to problems.

Now if you are wondering why you should do the Termite Inspection in advance instead of letting the buyer pay for it that means you have not read Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4.  You should do that now.  The reasons are the same.  Remember when you are Selling a Luxury Home value is created by Uniqueness, Status, and Luxury.  Your Luxury Home needs to be in top condition to reflect the unique luxury status you advertise it as having.

In our next post on Selling a Luxury Home we will cover another member of the team; the Home Stager.

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 4 - The Team - Home Inspector

This is Part 4 in a Series. You may wish to look at the other parts first:

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 1 - Defined

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 2 - A State of Mind

Selling a Luxury Home - Part 3 - Make a Plan

In part 3 of Selling a Luxury Home we already covered why you should use a Realtor to get the most for your home in the least amount of time.  The Realtor is going to help you put together a team.  Remember this is a high Luxury Home and we have to show it as such.  The three things that will build value are Uniquness, Status, and Luxury in Luxury Home Sales.

One of the first team members you need to get is a Home Inspector.  In this market lately many sellers balk at this expense; expecting the seller to pay for any inspection they want once we are in contract.  There are several good reasons to have your own home inspection completed first:

1. It is better to find embarrassing issues first and get them out of the way before showing the home.
   
   
2. It better allows you to control the cost of any repairs that will be needed as a result of the inspection.
   
   
3. It demonstrates to buyers that you are serious and ready to go.  It assures them about the quality of the property.
   
   
4. It will save time and eliminate potential problems when you move into escrow.  The buyer does not have to get an inspection and all repairs can be taken care of in advance.  (A buyer can still get their own inspection if they want.)

Ok so the inspection is complete, but don't get too excited and run off and start repairs yet.  We are going to coordinate this with the other team members.  No sense in doing a job twice.  Let's do it all right the first time.

When you actually put it on the market the home inspection should be part of the package for buyers to examine along with documentation of repairs before the buyer puts in an offer.

There are any number of inspections you can have done on a home, roof inspectors, soil inspectors, pool inspectors, electrical inspectors, plumbing inspectors, well inspectors and testers, septic inspections, etc..   A buyer can inspect anything they want.  How many and what specialized you need when buying or selling is up to you.  As an agent I will never recommend anyone not get an inspection they feel they need.  If I were buying a home I would always get a home inspector, termite inspector (that is the next part), and get the others as issues presented themselves. 

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