WHY RONAELE AS YOUR REALTOR®?
Like all successful ventures, the decision to sell your home needs a Realtor® that has a business plan to do that. Not only is the time involved to keep the home clean stressful, it is taxing on the family as a whole (especially for a family with children). Each home I list will be given an aggressive plan of action to move it off the market as quickly as possible, for top-dollar. Simply listing on the MLS®, in my opinion, is old-school & isn’t proactive enough. I am not disputing the power of the MLS®; obviously it is, to date, the cornerstone of real estate marketing. However, when you hire a realtor®, you should be demanding the best of advertising techniques, social media & open house days, should they be necessary, as a lure for those in the market.
MARKETING PLAN:
TWITTER: The first two weeks of your home being on the market is crucial; having your home priced properly will engage the most serious of buyers to your home. Twitter is an essential tool during this period & will be used aggressively. Feeds about your home, accompanying pictures, as well as links to the blog, website & MLS® are the necessary techniques I use to market your property to local home buyers. These feeds are also followed by a large host of local realtors ®, decorators, & businesses. Social media is a resource that, when used often, professionally and aggressively, have the potential to drive traffic to wherever you need it. In my case, I use it to link to my website, my company blog, my decorating blog, the MLS®, Facebook, LinkedIn and everything in between (newspaper & online ad resources). Social media is powerful: Do not underestimate it.
WEBSITE:
www.fancyshacks.ca is my name, brand & reputation. Your home is placed on the website as well as the MLS®. I am a firm believer in the power of social media because it is “live”, and more current than the MLS®. Social media is the medium I use to draw traffic to my website which will have all the details, pictures &unique features of your home.
BLOG FEATURES
Although this site is secondary to fancyshacks.ca, www.graceyourwalls.com has a following of local interior designers, businesses and public who read my blog for decorating advice. The links from Twitter direct traffic to BOTH sites.
LinkedIn: My professional LinkedIn account has links back to my home front website & blog.
FACEBOOK®: Obviously most people are aware of the immense pull of Facebook. Again, Twitter links, blog updates & website updates are all fed to & from Facebook.
PRINT MEDIA: Advertising in the local paper still is a necessary advertising medium the public still utilizes for real estate purposes. We will discuss the paper that will best drive results.
THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHAIN REACTION:
Of course, all of the above techniques are dependent on your approval. Trust the magic of the digital world because it is rapidly changing real estate & how we do our business. Real time apps such as Twitter make it possible to lure homebuyers to the blog & website, and from there back to the MLS like one massive vortex of advertising magic. Twitter is simply amazing and I call it my “fishing rod”, as it is the way to bridge the gap from buyer to seller and back around again.
AGENCY
Agency relationships are crucial for both buyers & sellers. It is created in 2 ways; implied (created by the actions of parties) & express created by giving consent (either written OR oral). The Real Estate Act requires me, your Realtor® to explain the relationships & obligations I have to you. Once you decide to hire me, we will formalize the relationship through a written service agreement. The first thing we do together is expressly create this agency relationship by means of the SELLER BROKER AGREEMENT.
This is an agreement that sets forth what you can expect out of me, and what I expect of you. Here, you grant the brokerage the authority to sell your property on the terms & conditions in the contract. You need to understand this contract and I encourage you to use the link to print off a copy. We will be discussing in detail the agency relationships that are created or may be created throughout the course of doing business together.
AGENCY RELATIONSHIPS GUIDE:
We will be speaking in detail about “Agency” and the Agency Relationships guide will be given to you and you will be asked to sign that you agree to our relationship.
Sole Agency:
Most relationships begin in sole agency, which is established in the Seller Broker Agreement. Our relationship changes from sole to dual agency, usually because a buyer under my representation is interested in your home. This obviously poses a conflict of interest, and the Real Estate Act requires me to inform you of this. It is innately impossible to protect 2 opposing parties’ best interests; agency must change from sole to “dual” agency, where I become a facilitator to the transaction so both parties can come to a mutually agreeable contract.
Dual Agency
A situation of dual agency is when the brokerage or its industry member represents both the buyer & the seller in the same trade {Real Estate Act}. A conflict of interest arises when trying to properly represent the best interests of two opposing positions (that of seller & buyer). And so, we then enter into what we call transactional brokerage. Some key points to understand under this circumstance are:
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You understand my role as now a facilitator of the purchase/sale. I become a neutral entity and help both parties come to a mutually acceptable binding contractual agreement.
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You need to understand that under transactional brokerage, I am obligated to share non-confidential information you have given me to the buyer.
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Under sole agency, I was obligated to disclose everything I know to you. Now, to facilitate the contract under dual agency, if the buyer asks me to keep something confidential, I must abide.
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As dual agent, I cannot try to get you the best deal to the detriment of the buyer.
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Under dual agency, if you ask me for advice, the buyer will be informed.
If a buyer shows interest in your home, and they are also being represented by me or the brokerage I work for, you have 2 choices:
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Enter into transactional brokerage (Transaction Brokerage Agreement) and proceed under dual agency to facilitate the sale of your home.
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Refuse the Transaction Brokerage Agreement & continue being represented under sole agency. The buyer will then be directed to another industry member or another brokerage.
As your realtor®, my job is to sell your home to the best of my ability. However, never should this come before your best interests. Your comfort & satisfaction during every phase of our business relationship is a priority uphold strictly, so please ask questions if you do not understand agency.
THE DOWER ACT
I will be asking you questions similar to the ones below to determine whether or not Dower issues apply.
Where the Dower Act in Alberta becomes an issue in the sale of property or land is being sold and the following criteria are in effect:
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Are you are legally married?
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Is there only one spouse registered on title?
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AND, have either of you have resided on the land at any time during your marriage?
If yes to all of these, then the Dower Act applies and we need to have the seller’s spouse agree to & sign the Dower Consent Form as well as a Certificate of Acknowledgement of free consent from a notary public /officer of the court before we proceed with listing the property.
**revenue properties do not apply in which neither have resided at any time**
PREPARING YOUR HOME
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Staging – something to consider if it is in the budget. I am HUGE on home staging especially for vacant homes. The cost of home staging by a professional more often than not pays for itself in cutting the amount of time the home generally stays on the market.
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PAINTING –patch wall gouges & nicks: then a fresh neutral coat of paint on walls/baseboards.
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PROFESSIONAL RUG CLEANING – this will rid the house of most pet odour, as well as bring a sparkle to the carpet you long forgot it had.
Besides the fact that I will urge a deep clean & de-clutter of the home to set your home up for a successful sale, here are a few extra tips to consider. I will be giving you a thorough list of recommendations on staging, cleaning & de-cluttering when we meet firsthand.
Wash baseboards with soap & water. If white, use bleach (if you did not repaint them)
Wash under baseboards with a skinny envelope opener & wet soapy cloth
Windex® the windows (in & out), between window panes & sliders
Windex® light fixtures/chandeliers
Wash down kitchen & bathroom cabinets. If your cabinets are white, use a small amount of bleach.
Artificial Plants (wash off leaves with soapy water) hose them down if you can
Family pictures OFF the walls & out of sight.
Small appliances (kitchen toaster/blenders/coffee maker’s) put away in cupboards, replace with one central focal point (plant/flowers). Nothing on the counters!!
Wash off the top of the fridge
Take all magnets & papers off the fridge & put away. Wash exterior of the fridge.
Clean out closets. Now would be a good time to purge the clothes you haven’t worn in years. Nice decorative boxes to line the top shelves, and put all extra odds & ends that are lying around from other rooms.
Litter & other pet paraphernalia: put away in garage or basement, if possible!!
**a cleaning service to help out might be something to consider**
