How you can ensure you hire the best possible agent

There are many great Rochester area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Value Report so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (585) 600-JEFF (5333) for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today, we're going to cover the 4th "p" of marketing: the professional. This is the person you hire to help sell or buy a home, so there needs to be a good deal of trust between the two of you. The best thing you can do to ensure you hire the right person is conduct an interview. Here are some of the questions you should have answered:

• Find out how they operate: Do they have a team or are they a stand alone agent? Will they be available to meet regularly? Do they have an assistant? Assistants are usually quite helpful to clients - they can get you the answers quickly if the agent happens to be busy. 
• Find out how they communicate: Will they give you feedback? Will they stay in touch with you to keep you updated on developments during the buying or selling process? We personally like to keep in touch with our clients regularly, contacting them at least once a week.
• Find out how available they are: Will they be present at every showing? How will alarms and keys be handled during the selling process?

Another thing you might want to ask is, what can I do if I'm not satisfied with your services? This may be a more difficult thing to ask, as many agents can be evasive. We, on the other hand, offer an easy exit listing guarantee. If, for whatever reason, you are not satisfied with my services at any point in the process, you can fire us no questions asked. We want to make sure you get the best possible real estate experience. 

So when thinking about hiring a real estate professional, give us a call. We think you'll be happy with the interview. 

Prepare for Success with a Solid Marketing Plan

There are many great Rochester area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Value Report so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (585) 721-3010 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

The Four P's of Marketing
To continue my four part series of the four P's of marketing, we will discuss a marketing plan. We have covered the product and the pricing so far, so let's dive into this third part.

Planning is extremely important for marketing. A lot of what goes into planning is figuring out what will work. I always make sure to read reports from the National Association of Realtors. These reports show what is important to the consumer and what captures their attention.

I always make sure to read these reports when I'm structuring my marketing plan for the upcoming year. There is a great publication called Real Trends that predicts where the real estate market is headed. Just be sure to research what works.

We all know what has been historically successful in real estate, such as open houses, print ads and direct mail. The use of the internet has really turned this market upside down, and you need to have a marketing plan specifically for the internet. To illustrate just how widespread and popular the internet has become, look no further than current buying habits: The average home buyer looked at 22 homes 10 years ago, while nowadays the average home buyer looks at only 4.7 homes. This means that your home needs to be marketed well and staged well. You do not have a second shot at a first impression with our current market.

To make a good impression make sure you hire a professional photographer, and be prepared to repaint your home and do a very thorough cleaning. Try a virtual tour - research has shown that consumers love virtual tours.

Another consideration to think about is where you will be on the internet. My theory is to get my clients in front of as many potential buyers as possible. I would recommend posting pictures to every real estate site possible: Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com, etc. Find the website with the highest traffic, and list the home on that website.

The way that homes are marketed has changed. If your Realtor cannot keep up with the changing landscape of real estate and market your home online, then I would find a professional like myself who can do so.

I hope this information is useful to you. As always, if you're interested in buying or selling real estate in Rochester, then please contact me via email or phone.

Finding an Accurate & Attractive Price Range for your Home is Easier than You Think

 There are many great Rochester area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Value Report so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (585) 721-3010 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

The Four P's of Marketing: Pricing your Home

Today I am going to continue my discussion of the four P's of marketing. Last time we talked about preparing your home to sell where we touched on staging. Today, however, we will be discussing how to price your Rochester home.

A lot of people get sent in the wrong direction with this aspect of selling and it can cause major problems down the road. What you want to do is consider very similar homes to your own to gauge an accurate price.

• Consider the area: Find a property that is in a similar school district, and preferably the same subdivision or neighborhood as your own. Here in Rochester we have a lot of different home builders so it makes comparing a little bit tougher, but there are many other aspects you can focus on for pricing.
• Find the same style of home: Every style of home has its own price bracket. You wouldn't expect a 2,000 sq. foot remodeled Victorian home to sell for the same price as a 2,000 sq. foot ranch home, would you? However, there are nuances to pricing by certain styles. I might put a colonial home in the same price bracket as a Cape Cod, so if you're unsure about the style of your home, then please contact me for advice.
• Same Size: You should shoot to find a home that is similar in size to your own, plus or minus 100 sq. feet.
• Same Age: If you have a home that was built in 1995, then find another property built from 1990-1999. Don't compare properties like a 1985 build versus a 2005 build, because there are significant differences to these.
• Amenities: Find a property with the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Other features like garages can add value, but things like in-ground pools and extra fireplaces really shouldn't add a lot of extra value if you're comparing homes.

After finding similar properties, you need to set a price range. You don't want to set a new high or set a new low, so shoot for somewhere in between. Be objective when pricing and compare your home with others to determine which property you would pay more for. Be honest with yourself and consider the different features and qualities to each property. After finding and comparing properties to your own, you should be able to price it somewhere between all of them.

You should know that it is always recommended to consult a realtor to price your home in the best range, so if you need any help pricing your Rochester home, please contact me and I would be glad to assist you.

Stay tuned for the third installment of my Four P's of real estate Marketing!