Quick Reminder For Sellers | Buyers Don’t Care What You Paid!

Help Me Sell My Condo Quick Reminder For Sellers | Buyers Dont Care What You Paid!

Ok, the purpose of this post is to act as a simple reminder.  A seller should never be caught up in what they “paid” for their place.  Buyers do not care. Unfortunately, it is the last thing on their mind.  They want to pay what they want to pay.  One of the best sayings in real estate is that “the value of a condo or home is what someone is willing to pay for it”.

During a down market, it can be a very difficult situation for a seller.  Especially in a market like the one we are experiencing right now.  In some cases a seller will not only lose money on their investment, but will have to write a big check in order to sell.  Pricing your home at “market” is extremely important.  One of the biggest hurdles when selling is that as home owners we always feel that our property is worth more than it actually is.  If you list your property too high, the home will be on the market longer and it will ultimately cost more money along the way.

The lesson here is to price your home at market rate.  It simply doesn’t matter what you paid.

If You Don’t Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

704 Exterior 199x300 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00075 20101126 1248 300x225 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

Are you ready?  I’m going to put the professional photography discussion to bed. I’m calling my experiment the “The Great Picture Debate”. Continue reading.

Over the last decade, the debate over professional photography has heated up.  In may opinion, it should not even be a discussion.  If you broker doesn’t use professional photos, I would encourage the following:

Step One

Show them this blog post

Step Two

If they still don’t use professional photos, follow the instructions in step three.

Step Three

FIRE them!

The pictures below tell a very real story.  The unit featured is a rental that I am bringing on the market over the weekend.  Located in Capitol Hill at 714 Bellevue East.  It is a 1600sf + condo with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 decks, a patio and a wall of windows.  For experimental purposes, I followed my incredibly talented photographer (Aimee Chase of Vista Estate Imaging) everywhere that she went.  I took a picture at the exact location that she did.  My goal was to make sellers, buyers and brokers aware of the disservice that occurs when a seller or a landlord does not have access to professional photos.  It is impossible for me to truly express the need for professional photography.  In a day and age where all buyers, lessors and investors start their search online it is imperative to have listing photos that will accurately portray the real condition of a unit.

In this real estate market, the demand for purchases remains low.  Great photography is one of the tools in your control that you can use to get people “in the door!”.  Don’t just take my word for it.  If you go online and look at the existing inventory, much of the condos/homes that don’t sell are either over-priced or poorly displayed.  I tend to believe that many units could sell in this market with better photography.

I hope you find my efforts below useful.  It truly paints the picture.  Good photos are worth their weight in GOLD!

714 bath 1 199x300 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00084 20101202 1426 225x300 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

714 dining 300x199 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00086 20101202 14321 300x225 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

714 Dinner to Living 300x199 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00088 20101202 1440 300x225 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

714 Kitchen 300x199 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00087 20101202 1435 300x225 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

714 living Deck 300x199 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00090 20101202 1443 300x225 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

714 Master Loft 300x199 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent IMG00095 20101202 1456 300x225 If You Dont Have Professional Photos, Fire Your Agent

5 Steps To Leasing Your Condo

Picture2 5 Steps To Leasing Your Condo

Renting your condo?  Try these 5 steps to ensure you stand out when being compared to other units:

Set The Right Rents

Rents  will vary depending on location, the building type and available inventory. The key is to “never” try to set your rents too high.  You should try to rent your condo at similar rates to other condos of the same product type. A rental analysis is important.  If you can determine what other “comparable” units are renting for, then you are taking the right approach to pricing.

Take Great Pictures

Dark, dreary photos are the best way to ensure that your condo stays on the market for months.  Bottom line is, we are a visual society.  We trust that what we see is what we get.  So with that in mind, doesn’t it make sense to take professional photos?  There is a cost associated with it, but ultimately, if it saves you months of sitting on the market, it will seem like a minor expense.  Many leasing services, like our own (UCS Leasing Service) will provide this as part of the contract.  Photos are the most important element in establishing the level of traffic needed in order to find your perfect tenant.

Get Social With Your Advertising

Social media should be your focus when advertising your listing.  Post your condo for rent on Facebook, Twitter and your blog if you have one. Don’t overdue it, but Social media is a powerful tool to get the message out.  The more people that see your listing the better.  Who knows, maybe a friend from college or a co-worker was looking for the exact place that you are trying to rent.  Don’t get lost among the thousands of other condo rentals in your city.  Get Social!

Syndication

Online syndication is the new classifieds in the rental business.  For example, Postlets.com will help you build your ad, create a live link and will then syndicate your new listing to services like FrontDoor, Google Base, HotPads, Myspace, Oodle, Trulia, Twitter, Vast and Zillow.  Why is this important?  Why not. Advertising your listing on all these different sites might give you the edge over your competitors.

Be On The MLS

In the greater Seattle area there are over 26,000 MLS members.  When renting your condo or home, I think its imperative to be listed on the MLS.  Trusting Craigslist and other listing services simply is not enough.  If you are looking for top dollar, make sure your home is seen by as many prospective tenants and brokers as possible.

Renting your condo can be stressful.  If you take the time to follow these 5 simple steps, I think you will find success.  Good luck!

UrbanCondoSpaces.com & Jeff Reynolds practice full service leasing.  If you ever need assistance in renting your unit, take a look at our service and contact us.

UCS Condo & Home Leasing Service

Need to rent your home or condo?

Whether you are a first time owner or a savvy real estate investor the hassle of leasing your home can be overwhelming.   Urban Condo Spaces makes leasing your home or condo hassle-free while saving you time, money and heartache.

Our condo and home leasing service includes the following, but keep in mind that it can also be tailored to meet your individual needs:

RENTAL ANALYSIS
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Urban Condo Spaces will set an appointment with you to see your property and determine the best rental rate based on current market conditions.  This process involves a CMA (competitive market analysis) as well as immense preparation to ensure your home is priced at market.

ADVERTISING
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Urban Condo Spaces coordinates and books the placement of all advertising for your property. We are certified as relocation specialists and have deep relationships with indiviual owners, relocation companies and HR directors.  These relationships allow us to place your property in front of prospective tenants from many of the local corporations in our area.  Some of these companies include but are not limited too,  Amazon.com, Costco, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Tommy Bahama, and many others.

SHOWING YOUR UNIT
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Urban Condo Spaces will personally handle all of the showings when presenting your property to prospective tenants. We are online and social media experts and have put that experience to work when creating effective marketing campaigns.  We will be timely in our follow up, aggressive with our selling of the property and will communicate with you throughout the process.

SCREENING YOUR TENANT
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Urban Condo Spaces takes your screening very seriously.  If you happen to have the wrong tenant your time as a landlord can be a nightmare.  Every prospective renter must go through a thorough screening process to ensure that they will be a qualified tenant for your property. This background screening process includes credit and criminal checks as well as recent landlord references.

LEASE AGREEMENT
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Once you decided on the perfect tenant, we meet with them to review and execute the lease agreement.  At this time we go through many disclosures with them and prepare the payment schedule for your rental income.  Having an experienced real estate firm handle this process is imperative.

MOVE IN AGREEMENT
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Urban Condo Spaces will go over all necessary move-in information with the tenant.  This includes providing current documents required by city, state and federal regulations.  In addition, as we perform our initial walk-through, we will take pictures and ensure that the unit is in the same condition as it was when the tenant moved in.

FUNDS AND DEPOSIT EXCHANGE
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Once all necessary paperwork has been executed we arrange to meet with your tenant and collect the security deposits and rent checks.

KEY EXCHANGE
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When this is complete, we provide your tenant with keys to the property and provide you with a package that includes a copy of all necessary documentation and collected funds.

FOLLOW UP
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After your tenant moves in, we will provide a final follow up to make sure that all parties are happy and comfortable in their new setting.

If you are interested in learning more about our program:
Jeff Contact Us UCS Condo & Home Leasing Service


Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc.
3933 Lake Washington Blvd NE #100 Kirkland Wa 98033
www.UrbanCondoSpaces.com
Seek. Live. Urban.