Something fascinating happened over the past few weeks. I was contacted by a Seller who had listed his home with a friend, and after a few weeks he terminated the listing and approached me to see if I could sell his home. His friend, an agent from Toronto gave him a “good deal” and brought several offers that were dramatically lower than what he felt the home was worth.

I asked a few questions on why he felt that his property did not sell, and after chatting about his experience I agreed to work with the Seller sharing with him a strategy that was quite different than what had been done prior. My process is to start with what statistically is happening in the community for sales and then move into creating a strategy based on local experience. We reviewed what had been selling over the past week in Clarington, and I showed him that the average home in Courtice sold for 109% of the asking price. This meant that any Buyer looking for a property would look at an asking price and know that any property would sell for over asking. In fact, the week prior to us placing his home on the market, 81% of all homes had sold for full price or over asking. This means that the asking price is seen as more of a strategy price rather than a price to be negotiated down from. I had the home professionally photographed and a 3D virtual tour created, along with floor plans. (The previous listing was missing a virtual tour and floor plans.)

We used AI to craft a compelling description and launched online ads, targeting Durham Region, York and into Mississauga. The response was fast and furious.

We had a flurry of activity over the first few days with over 2,000 people viewing the online advertisements and 114 people viewing the virtual tour from the ad alone. In the end, over 1,400 people had viewed the virtual tour in total – from Realtor.ca and online database marketing to our Buyers.

The home sold for $100,000 over the asking price and the price that the homeowner had hoped to realize!

What this transaction showed were the differences between an out-of-town agent and an experienced local agent. When it comes to pricing, understanding the nuances and subtleties of “price positioning” is a bit of an art. As a local agent, I knew that dropping the asking price from the current marketing effort by $50,000 it would help to springboard an offer to our expectations. In fact, the actually selling price was $85,000 higher than one of the offers the Seller looked at before we decided to work together.

With the market starting to slow down as we are in the “July-August” holiday months, Sellers need every bit of help they can get to maximize the values of their homes.

I am happy to share with you over a coffee the “nuances” of how we found a Buyer who would pay $100,000 over the asking price. I am a big fan of 1) coffee 2) creating successful marketing plans and 3) selling homes at top values.

In fact, a similar home sold on the same street less than a month ago for $50,000 less than this one.

All it takes is a call or an email and a fresh pot of coffee.

I can be reached at 905-743-5555 or lindsay@buyselllove.ca

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