Price and Presentation…..If you get those two things right, you don’t need anything else to sell a house.  Those are the hardest things to get right though, so most realtors focus on the minor things like open houses, fancy brochures, ballons on the for sale sign….you know, you’ve seen it all too.  See, if you don’t know what price a buyer will consider fair for a house nor do you know how to make the listing stand out among other similar houses, that’s all you got left to do.

I recently sold a house for a friend who lives out of the country.  He trusts me and knows I know what I am doing.  He gave me free reign to get his place sold.

He had rented it out for a few years, so it was a little rough on the eye.  It needed a fresh vibe or we just weren’t going to be able to sell it for anywhere near its potential.

Soooo, I had all the rooms painted a nice neutral beige called “Pony Tail.”  We had the carpet cleaned.  We replaced the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms.  I took a survey on Facebook to see which was better in the kitchen: A dark wood look or a neutral stone tile look.  It was a first time buyer type house, so both floor choices were vinyl rather than the real thing.  The dark hardwood look won out.  We then had the main rooms staged with furniture than would appeal to the typical first time buyer.

Want to know what happened next?  Well, we sold it.  Yep, took about 3 weeks and we got multiple offers too.  Got only $500 less than I told him it would sell for at that!

I really enjoyed helping my friend, but this was also a test for me to see if I really knew as much as I thought I did about buyers……I guess I passed.

Was  this a special house?  Not really.  Did we price it too low?  No, it was priced for slightly over what it would sell at.  Can this be duplicated?  Yes and no.  See, what made this such a success what that the seller was willing to do everything I told him to do in order to sell his house.  I hate to say this, but what ultimately makes a sale successful is the seller.  No amount of advertising or positive thinking can sell a house that is over-priced.  The best realtor in town (me again!) can’t sell a place that doesn’t show well.  It really takes a good seller who is willing to take the advice of a good realtor to get the job done these days……And you know what?  Wouldn’t you rather do this upfront and get it done quickly compared to dragging it out for the next 6-12 months?