How the marketplace works

Selling is a team effort. Your real estate professional is your marketing coordinator and is responsible for developing and implementing your home's marketing plan. As the seller, you control the home's condition and you set the price. However, it is the buyer who will actually determine the value of the home based on what he or she is willing to pay for it.

While we want to establish the highest possible market value for your home, it's critical not to underprice it. That's why we do a Home Market Analysis: To determine a market-value range for your home. And we'll discuss…

• How soon you need the property to sell
• Financing options that appeal to buyers
• Other factors that impact your home-sale goals.

Conversely, there are risks associated with overpricing your home out of the market:

• Makes competing homes look like better values than yours
• Reduces agent and buyer interest
• Can lead to mortgage rejections once the appraisal is in.
  Remember the value of your home is based on the buyer's perception of that value rather than the amount you originally paid for the house. The Landis Company will use the Home Market Analysis to help you price your home more competitively

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Determining the Value of Your Home

Before you set an asking price for your home, you and your Landis Company sales professional will complete a Home Market Analysis. The Home Market Analysis presents an opportunity to review and evaluate the facts before you make a very important decision -- the price you'll ask for your home. The analysis also helps us look at your home from a buyer’s perspective -- the perspective that counts when you're pricing your home to sell.

Using this process, we will establish a realistic listing price and increase the percentage of qualified buyers who look at your property. Our Home Market Analysis will show:

• What's happening in the local real estate market right now
• What buyers are willing to pay for homes similar to yours
• What they won't pay
• Which homes will be competing with yours for buyers' attention.

The Landis Company knows what's happening in the local real estate market right now -- and what buyers are willing to pay for homes similar to yours, what they won't pay and which homes will be competing with yours for buyers' attention. We are pricing your home to get it sold.

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Find the Right Buyer

When you're selling a home, it's vital to know where the potential buyers will come from. Statistics show that real estate professionals are the best single source for bringing buyers to a home. More often than yard signs, newspaper ads or any other type of advertising effort, it's real estate professionals who will let buyers know about your home. The same is true of buyers from out of town. Nationally, more than one-third of all buyers come from out of town, so it's vitally important for you to work with a real estate professional who can access all the out-of-town prospects. At The Landis Company, we mobilize the real estate community to work for you.

Our Marketing Upgrade System comprehensive marketing approach is the key to bringing buyers to your home. We'll implement the Marketing Upgrade System to give your home maximum exposure and reach your home's target audience -- prospective buyers and the real estate community that controls those buyers.

In addition to mobilizing the real estate community and creating maximum exposure for your home, we will also work closely with prospective buyers. For instance, we know that a qualified buyer is better able to make an offer, purchase a home and complete the sale. Consequently, we'll only begin with those prospects that qualify -- the ones with the motivation, authority and financial resources to buy your home.

Though each agent has his or her own style, all Landis Company sales professionals possess one thing in common: extensive resources and support only The Landis Company can bring to successfully marketing your home. Among those resources are our exclusive Marketing Upgrade System.

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Listing with Your Real Estate Firm

A listing agreement is a contract in which you hire a real estate firm to find a ready, willing and able buyer for your home in exchange for a set fee.

Three types of listing agreements:

• With an exclusive right-to-sell agreement, you pay fee regardless of who produces the buyer. This fee covers many important services that the sales professional performs above and beyond finding a qualified buyer.
• In an exclusive-agency listing, if you find a buyer, he or she is not obligated to pay the fee. If the sales professional finds a buyer, then the fee is paid to the real estate company.
• An open listing is one in which you sign with several real estate firms and give each authority to sell your home. It is typically less effective than exclusive listing because the sales professional lacks the incentive to make an all-out effort to sell your home.
  Note: Your home could also be included in a multiple listing service (MLS) as part of an exclusive listing. MLS gives your home greater exposure in the marketplace.

Your Landis Company sales professional can help explain and navigate the many choices you now face in selling your home. With suggestions from your sales professional, you can better decide which type of listing agreement is right for your needs.

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Selling your home – Merchandising Tips

When you have reached the stage where it's time to show your home, think from a buyer's perspective; your home seems fine to you but potential buyers will examine every square inch of your house before they begin to think about making a purchase.
Let your sales professional handle the Open House arrangements, but do what you can to make sure the home looks its best.

• Cleanliness, neutral decor, necessary repairs and the first impressions of potential buyers are four main points of concern when showing a home.
• Kitchens, baths and entries are among the most important parts of the home to concentrate on. Prospective buyers pay close attention to details in such areas.
• Plan to be gone during the Open House so that prospective buyers will discuss your home openly with your real estate sales professional. If you can't leave, let your sales professional do the talking. He or she can discuss price, terms, possession and other factors, as well as handle objections or questions.

Many sellers have beautiful homes -- and have received favorable comments from guests, friends and real estate professionals. But when its time to sell, what matters most is what the buyer likes. We suggest that you take a "buyer's tour" of your home before you ever put it on the market.

That's what our Home Merchandising Analysis is all about. The Home Merchandising Analysis combines our real estate marketing expertise with our vast knowledge of the home to show you how to enhance your home from a buyer's perspective. Contact The Landis Company and a sales professional will walk you through your home and help you see it from a buyer's point of view. The system will show you just where to concentrate your efforts -- and give you a chance to identify all the positive features that you'll want buyers to notice.

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Gathering the Facts

Buyers want to know details; having the answers is a powerful sales tool. Your Landis Company sales professional will use the information you provide to answer questions, create an advantageous listing and devise an exciting marketing campaign that attracts the right kind of buyer for your home.

Help your sales professional by collecting or providing the following information:

• The legal description of the property
• The number of rooms and their sizes
• A list of things not attached to the house that you're offering for sale, such as window treatments, carpet, fixtures, swing sets, etc.
• Past utility bills, property taxes and insurance
• Information about your mortgage, including the type, terms and assumability
• Financing assistance, potentially through your own lender
• Any liens against the property
• If you live in a condominium or a townhouse, include a copy of the association's declaration, bylaws, and financial statement, monthly fee's and special assessments
• Special items or improvements about the house (Point out things that may not be apparent on a walk-through)
• The positive points about your neighborhood, such as demographic information and proximity to services, shopping, schools and other areas
• Any defects that aren't apparent (You should inform your sales associate about defects so a buyer can be informed)

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