THE NEXT CHAPTER
I love it when a plan comes together!
We’ve covered a lot of topics over the past 4 years of this blog, and a number of those topics revolve around planning and executing your plan when it comes to selling and buying a home.
It’s no secret that many agents employ a very passive approach to selling real estate. List the home on the local MLS® system, put a sign on the lawn, hold open houses (pre-pandemic), and wait for the buyer to materialize.
One of the things that help differentiate our brokerage and team of agents is that we take a more proactive approach to marketing the homes we list.
The story I’m going to share with you features one of our long term subscribers and the sale of her Mom’s home.
We were called in to do an evaluation and advise on a strategy to get Mom’s home sold so she could close in time to move into her new apartment. Our team previewed the home, discussed timelines, and reviewed the steps to prepare the home for market. Once we confirmed our strategy, we put our pre-marketing plan into action, which includes featuring the home in our weekly Coming Soon campaign, going out to an ever-growing list of buyers we’ve curated. We brought in our trusted stagers to consult on how to best showcase the home so it would be as appealing as possible to a variety of buyers. Then, a week of preparations – staging the home, decluttering, and detailing – and finally we bring in our photographer to capture professional photos as well as an iGuide.
A quick sidebar on photography: we’ve always been a big proponent on professional photography when it comes to marketing a home. It’s hard to believe agents once used camera phone pictures on MLS listings (and we’re talking 2000s flip phones here, not the modern-day iPhone shots that rival professional equipment). Though we considered ourselves ahead of the pack, when March 2020 hit we suddenly realized we needed to up our game again: enter iGuide. In the past reserved for homes only over the $1M mark, these virtual tours quickly became the status quo for our listings. Why not give buyers a detailed look at the home before they see it in person? COVID aside, it’s in our clients’ best interests to pre-qualify buyers and avoid unnecessary traffic through their homes. Check out the virtual tour for one of our new listings, 32 Elsley Court, below:
Okay, back to the story. This home – a beautiful raised bungalow in the west end – is ideal for both entry level and move-up buyers, and we anticipated there would be significant interest from the market. We set a deadline 5 days out to review offers, and on the day the custom lawn sign was installed we launched to our internal sales team and the market as a whole through the Guelph MLS® system, as well as the Toronto real estate board. GTA buyers account for over 10% of the buyers in our market and we wanted to capitalize on that buyer pool as well.
We made sure we were well prepared to handle the showing traffic with a solid COVID protocol and rigorous contact tracing in place.
We know a lot of buyers (and their Realtors) don’t want to compete for a home, and dread the offer date strategy. They dread it because it works, and when we’re committed to getting the best outcome for our client, we’ll use the right strategy.
More on the outcome of this strategy in a moment.
Despite a solid plan, you’re never absolutely certain that a particular strategy will work until offer day arrives. There were a few nervous hours this past Tuesday, while we waited for an offer (or multiple) to appear. We’d managed to get well over 35 showings safely through the home, so would the plan work?
Much to our relief, and our clients’, we would be reviewing 9 offers that evening.
Not surprising, we saw several strong offers hit the table but none a clear cut winner.
This is where it gets interesting, and one buyer agent employed a great strategy of her own in order to have her clients’ offer stand out.
Most of the offers were submitted with very little background information and details about who the buyer was. This is typical, and very unfortunate for a lot of buyers.
Most buyers, especially in the entry level market, know they will be competing and it’s table stakes to be pre-approved for financing and to have deposit money ready to go. Next-level buyer agent service is making sure the seller knows the details about the buyer. This agent pulled on our elderly homeowners heart strings in a very positive way. So much so, our seller chose not to go with the highest offer, but instead with the buyers who shared their story. After many years making memories in her home, she wanted this family to tell its next chapter. The personal letter from the buyer family and the video email from the buyer agent cemented the deal for our client in the second round of negotiations.
Both parties were pleased with the outcome, as a result of the additional effort put forth by the agents representing their clients.
Now this post is not to pump our tires. The moral of the story is that a plan is only as good as its execution. In my opinion, both Realtors executed brilliantly and the result is two very happy families. There were some strong offers left on the table, and some disappointed buyers and agents no doubt. It’s tough making the calls to those whose offers weren’t chosen at the end of the night. With our real estate market making headlines for record-setting prices and unbelievable competition, this story is a lovely reminder of those great human moments. As we discussed a few weeks ago in Issue 227: Shelter, the pandemic has reminded us that although a home is a great investment, it is first and foremost a place of shelter, a place of comfort. This story is a reminder that real estate transactions aren’t just about the exchange of money and property – they’re emotional and personal, and we’re here to support our clients every step of the way.
A special thanks to Jo-An and her Mom for having faith and trusting in our plan, and allowing us to share their story.
Congratulations to our Happy Seller on the sale of her home – and warm wishes to the Happy Buyers who will be telling their own family’s story in their new home
THE PAST WEEK IN THE GUELPH REAL ESTATE MARKET
This week in the Guelph real estate market we’re reporting 54 homes sold in Guelph and the surrounding area. 38 or 70.38% of the homes sold went at or above list price! An incredibly strong sellers market as we are still showing significantly low levels of inventory in most price ranges.
The median home selling this week was a 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,587 sqft home that sold for $631,000 or $398.98/sqft. That home took all of 9 days on the market. The days on market reflects the lack of conditions in most sales and the fact that agents using the offer day strategy are controlling the time the home is exposed to the market. I expect this timeline will continue to be short as technology and consumers realize that waiting too long can be detrimental to their sales strategy.
Enjoy the weekend. Don’t forget the time changes this weekend!
FEATURED PROPERTY:
139 Chase Crescent
CAMBRIDGE, ON
3 BED / 2.5 BATH / 1,719 SQ FT
There’s something incredible about a truly move-in ready home, and this stunning family home in the heart of Hespeler will take your breath away from the curb! You’ll love the thoughtful layout – both practical and beautiful in its details: the formal dining space off the open concept main area, a little ‘mud room-style’ nook off the garage entrance, a luxurious master suite, and ensuite-privileges for the other two bedrooms! Imagine your family living here… it’s simple!
Jeff Moisan (519) 760-3227
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