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Ready to sell your home?

"If you're looking to sell your home in Grundy County, we're here to guide you through every step of the way.  From beginning to end, our process is transparent and simple."

Joan-Eslinger-New2

Where to start when selling a home?

We've shared a list of resources below to help guide you in our entire process of selling your home.  Years of experience in Grundy County Real Estate is here to help you sell your home!

  • The Process of Selling your Home

  • My Marketing Plan

  • 5 Laws of Real Estate

  • Market Trends

The Process of Selling your Home

14 Tips For Choosing The Right Real Estate Agent For Your Property Search Or Sale

Buying or selling a home is an exciting experience for anyone. There is the thrill of the hunt and the excitement of the deal. The whole process is enhanced by a good real estate agent who knows the ins and outs of the market. But with so many brokerages and agents out there to choose from, finding a perfect fit may be more of a challenge than you expected. Working with a top agent who is experienced and trustworthy can go a long way in ensuring your property sells at top dollar, or that you buy for the best price in the market.

 

1. Choose The Person, Not The Experience

I am a firm believer in choosing an agent who works for you and with you. Don't choose an agent based solely on experience. Although it’s good to have, it's not everything. You will be spending a lot of time with that agent and you need to mesh. Choose someone relatable and real. Choose for you, not for the house. Choose someone good at talking and negotiating.

 

2. Remember Chemistry Is Key

Focus on neighborhood expertise; look for hyperlocal. Choose someone who knows the market – who understands if price points are going up or down. Ask yourself, can you trust them, are they honest? Is the agent well connected and they know what properties coming on the market? .

 

3. Seek Referrals From Other Homeowners

Despite the technology that seems to take over much of the searching for a home, the right real estate agent is still a human-to-human choice. Referral is best. There's no bigger compliment to an agent than a referral from a past client. Ask homeowners who they would recommend. If you know the area you want to purchase in or sell your home in, there will be an expert in that area. -

 

4. Find Someone Who Has Your Best Interests At Heart

Ask yourself, "Does my real estate agent have my best interests at heart?" Be honest and transparent about what you’re looking for, and if an agent isn’t bringing you the right options, it’s likely they aren’t looking for houses for you but rather to benefit themselves. Ask questions upfront and don’t be afraid to move on to someone else if the relationship doesn’t feel right.

 

5. Go With Your Gut Feeling

Your brain uses logic and emotion when making a decision, and that specific feeling you get when doing so is your intuition — your gut feeling. If you're interviewing a real estate agent for the job, first look to see that they do a lot of business and have a lot of raving fans. Second, go with your gut feeling. If it feels right, he's the guy or gal for the job.

 

6. Find An Agent You Can Trust

As the client, you begin the dialogue — but pay close attention to the agent or broker and how he/she listens and asks YOU questions. Most successful agents have access to the technology it takes to make your property seen or to find options for purchase, but it takes a human being to understand and work to achieve your specific goals. Take time to find a human you respect and trust. -

 

7. Look For Passion, Conviction And Honesty

Look at the agent’s work. The easiest and most valuable way is to review how they're marketing other properties. Look at their listing materials, website, brochures and signage. Pay attention to their personal appearance. Look for passion, conviction and honesty. You want your agent to tell you what it's going to take to get your home to sell faster and for the best price. 

8. Communication and Responsiveness

This is probably the most important. How are we going to communicate and how often? How do I reach the agent with questions and how quickly are they going to respond? Do they answer their phone calls? Do they text? Do they return emails promptly? Who am I going to communicate with? Is the agent part of a team, am I going to be passed over and be blocked from talking with the Realtor who attracted me or am I going to be able to talk to the Realtor? It may sound a little needy, but anyone in this industry knows that responsive communication is part of the job.

9. Check If They Mitigate Risk

Find a real estate agent who is honest about the risks of buying or selling. Throw out the flattery and fluffy agents. You want someone who is realistic and can proactively mitigate risk. When interviewing agents, pay attention to those using real data in their answers when it comes to investment analysis, neighborhood-level market performance, and long-term impact of your decision to buy or sell.

10. Look For Strong Core Values

Whether it's business or pleasure, finding a good person all comes down to core values. Core values are important because you want to work with someone that plays by the same rules you do. For example, if you are an honest person who tells the truth, would you not want someone to tell the truth to you?

 

11. Find A Compassionate Agent Who Understands You

Let’s face it — buying a house is a stressful task, especially if you are facing a divorce, having a baby, mourning the death of a spouse, etc. You need an agent who is patient with you and your circumstances. Interview an agent or broker and see if they have the same emotions, outlook on life, personality, as you do.

 

12. Track Record And Inventory

Make sure your Realtor is a full-time agent, not someone doing it on the side as a hobby. Great real estate sales brokers never show up out of nowhere. It takes a long time to build a track record that attracts quality clients. When you hire a Realtor, you are their client and customer. They should be primarily concerned with your needs, not how much they’ll earn on commission or how quickly they can close the deal.

 

13. Negotiation Skills

For Buyers: How adept is the agent I am working with at getting me the house I want at a fair and reasonable price. What ways can they suggest to dress up my offer to make it the most desirable?
For sellers: How adept is the agent to negotiate the best price and terms for the sale of our home? What can they suggest for repairs or cosmetics to make our home a shiny penny over other homes on the market?

 

14. Knowledge of the area.

Agents cover a wide geographical area but you want someone who can tell you the best restaurants in the area, short cuts to avoid traffic hold ups. Any problems like flooding in a specifica area. Vendors – they know who to call for any issue and will give me a list of preferred vendors/contractors.
Finding a real estate agent takes time, but picking your agent carefully will pay off in the end. Follow these tips above and you’ll be well on your way to finding an agent that will help you find your dream home, or sell the home you already have.

Sell A Home - My Marketing Plan

My Marketing Program is a tried-and-proven one. It has been established through years of experience and success. Real Estate Professionals sell homes. It is important to market to other Realtors as well as buyers looking for homes on their own.

There are many ways of merchandising your home. Some houses will draw more calls, so they may be shown more often. This is just like the retailer who has specials to get customers into his store so that they will look at the rest of the merchandise.
Efforts to market your home begin before you sign the listing agreement. Our ongoing advertising and promotion program generates a pool of prospective buyers – one of which may be interested in your home.

Specific marketing activities for your home begin the moment you sign the listing agreement. From installing the “For Sale” sign, to scheduling and writing advertisements, we are constantly working to sell your home. Our proven plan is designed to make as many people as possible, including real estate agents and prospective buyers, aware of your home’s features.

MARKETING PLAN

  1. Perform a comprehensive Comparative Market Analysis.
  2. Give instructions to the seller on how to make the home most presentable to a buyer.
  3. Place a lockbox on the door (if applicable) to facilitate ease of showings
  4. Load your home into the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Most Realtors in our market are members of the MLS. The MLS is the entire database of homes for sale in our market. It gives Realtors all the pertinent information and pictures of your home. I want to make your home as appealing as possible to other Realtors as they are actively working with buyers for your home.
  5. I use the latest ad writing software to generate ad copy for your home. Better copy mean more calls on your home
  6. I fully photograph your home with a digital camera for use on websites, brochures, and for MLS.
  7. Your property will be placed in the following websites:
    •  
  8. An eye-catching Advantage Realty for-sale sign is placed on your property. No other real estate sign has as much power.
  9. Top agents in our area will be notified that your home has been put on the market.
  10. Constant contact will be maintained with the owner.
  11. After your home is shown by another agent, I will do a follow-up to get a response from the agent and his buyer.
  12. I DON’T RELAX UNTIL YOUR HOME SELLS!!! Rest assured I will work as hard as possible to get your home SOLD!!

THE 5 LAWS OF REAL ESTATE

It doesn't matter what technology is introduced, what the interest rates are or whether you are in a buyer's or seller's market. Each of the following Facts of Life for Home Sellers represents a reality that all sellers must face.

LAW #1

Your house cannot sell for a penny more than the best offer obtainable from the best buyer available in the current market. Recent sales of similar properties have historical value, but the best buyer we are looking for is to be found in the present marketplace, not in the past record books. A Realtor's job is to find that buyer and obtain his or her highest possible offer. No house in history has ever sold for more that the best offer obtainable in the current market.

LAW #2

The only way to find the true value of a house is to thoroughly test the market and aggressively challenge the competition. Appraisals and expert opinions can be helpful in establishing a listing price for your home, but its ultimate selling price will be determined by the prospective buyers whom we are able to contact. Buyers will compare your home with other offerings in their price range and make judgments. It is critical that your home be competitive in price and appeal with the other properties that these prospective buyers will be considering.

LAW #3

Testing a bigger market and a better market with greater skill yields a better price.
It is axiomatic that the larger the market you can reach and the higher the quality of that market, the better price you will realize. It stands to reason, for example, that sellers working alone can expose their home only to the small segment of the market that can be reached by a single sign and limited advertising. It is also important to note that, in spite of the multiple signs and substantial sums of money spent on advertising, these two sources typically account for only about 20 percent of the actual buyers attracted to a typical real estate office. The other 80 percent of the market is represented by the efforts of cooperating brokers and the marketing activities of real estate brokers and sales associates. It is also well established that the buyers most ready, willing and able to act are almost invariably using the services of real estate professionals. Finally, the best buyer, unless a skilled professional is handling him or her, can often come and go without making a commitment.

LAW #4

An appropriate listing price will immediately and consistently attract attention and generate activity. The process of testing the market need not be a lengthy one, regarding market conditions. When a property is first exposed to the market, both buyers and brokers make instant evaluation of the offering and, if it compares favorably with what they have already seen, it will not only attract their attention, but also stimulate them to inquire for more details and arrange appointments to inspect. Your listing price must be realistic enough to immediately attract this attention from buyers and brokers. If it does not do so, while competitive properties are attracting attention and generating activity, you have a clear indication that the listing price is not meeting the acid test of the marketplace, regardless of economic conditions or other external considerations.

LAW #5

A home that is priced realistically and marketed effectively will always sell. There is an old saying that the three most important words in real estate are "Location, Location, Location". Like a lot of old sayings, this is simply untrue. No matter how poor the location might be, there is a price at which it will sell, and that price will be determined by testing the market. The three most important words in real estate, therefore, are "Price, Price, and Price" - followed by marketing. Unless the price and terms are competitive, the chances of a home selling are slim to none; and even realistic pricing should be supported by the thorough testing of the market and aggressive challenging of the competition that can best be performed by skilled professionals.

When realistic pricing is combined with effective marketing, there is a buyer for everything and, given these conditions, any home can be sold in any market.

Contact Joan

  • (815) 791-5875

    Or call me now!