This is how we roll – helping sellers and keeping buyers informed

In an incredibly tough market like this, you have to be on your toes. Use your time wisely and productively. As a real estate agent, one of the key things you need to know is the inventory in your area.  What are the average days on the market? What is the average list to sale ratio for the neighborhood? And you have to know the inventory… What do the houses in the neighborhood look like compared to mine? What condition is the house in right now? The Mt Airy Long & Foster Office real estate agents cover four counties; Frederick, Howard, Carroll and Montgomery.

We are getting back to basics at the Mt Airy Long & Foster Office. Once, sometimes twice a month, we schedule a LARGE caravan of our real estate agents to preview our listings. This has a twofold affect… One; the agents get to see new homes and get first hand knowledge of the condition, location and layout of the them. They are able to talk more intelligently about the neighborhood and provide their buyers valuable time saving information. Two; there are multiple agents previewing the home to provide feedback to the seller. They know what their buyers expect out of the homes in today’s market. The seller might not have noticed that wrinkled carpet, but the buyer will. Maybe the paint job is not that complimentary and needs to be neutralized. When you live in a house there are a lot things that kind of disappear into the background. A discerning buyer will pick up the littlest item and might cause them to reject the rest of the beauty the home has to offer. The inventory is too high not to be best in show. When you are selling a home you have have to have an open mind to the suggestions made with feedback. Granted, you are not going to be able to address all the items, nor will you really want to. But it is best to know what other think about your house, because it will help you position yourself as competitive as possible. In this market you should consider staging your home to increase your appeal.

Some agents believe the caravans or home tours are a waste of time…my question? What information are they providing to their clients? It sure isn’t anything about your house! And besides, what else are they doing with their time? I can think of two instances that an agent on tour immediately called their buyers to inform them of the house they were previewing. This lead to scheduling a showing for that seller. Both agents said they would have never known the beauty of the house if it were not for the tour. Sometimes, pictures and words on the internet don’t do the property justice.

Speaking of pictures… I still don’t understand why agents only put ONE picture of the home on the internet… That’s another day’s rant blog.