Thinking about Selling Your Home…
Web 2.0. What does it mean if you are looking to buy or sell real estate? In short, Web 2.0 is about you and your home. It is not about me and how wonderful I am. Many agents still focus on their successes, their accomplishments. But they do not focus on what consumers want.
So what do real estate consumers want? I believe they want “instant gratification.” They want information at the click of the keys. They want lots of quality photos, they want information and they want it fast. More than 85% of buyers use the Internet in their home search.
For proof of what they don’t want, look no further than the real estate ad supplement of the LA Times or at an undated issue of Homes and Land. Notice how thin they are. Like dinosaurs of old, they are still alive, but they are atrophying.
My goal is to focus on you and to bring the forces of Web 2.0 to bear in giving you, the seller, and your home the widest exposure possible – or in giving you, the buyer, ready and widespread access to information. To find out more, you can call me, e-mail me or text me.
Phone: 818.466.1267
e-mail: AskSher@SherHann.com
Cell/Text: 805.906.1001
You can contact me about your home, your neighbor’s home, about where to eat or who can fix your roof or cut your hair. Whatever. Just remember: if you contact me, you get me, not my assistant or the receptionist.
My name is Sher Hann; I have been a REALTOR® in Westlake Village and surrounding communities more than 20 years, and I’d love to hear from you.
The areas I serve include Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Newbury Park, Moorpark, Calabasas, Lake Sherwood, North Ranch, and Wood Ranch/Simi Valley.
(If you want to read the fine-print, look at the details below.)
Selling a Home
Selling your home is one of the biggest financial and personal decisions you will ever make. Here is a look at the selling process and tips to help you get the best price on the sale of your home.
Your REALTOR®’s Role
Your navigator throughout the home selling process is your REALTOR®. It is his/her job to represent your best interests throughout the entire process. You should hire a REALTOR® who is familiar with your local market are, including sales prices in your neighborhood and home sales trends in your area. He/should must understand of real estate contracts, financing options and advertising venues. In addition your REALTOR® should have good working relationships with other agents as well as allied services (title companies, escrow companies, serviced vendors).
Your REALTOR® should give you advise on “setting the stage” for prospective buyers. This might even include consulting a professional “staging” designer”—an investment that can reap you many thousands of dollars in sales price.
Your REALTOR® may not necessarily be the agent who actually sells your home (that is, represents the buyer as well as you), but the buyer you get will come as a result of his/her efforts.
Cost of Sale
Most REALTORS® charge a fee that is a percentage of the sales price. Until your home sale has closed, you, the seller, usually pay nothing. Therefore the real estate fee, usually called a commission, must cover the REALTOR’s® assumption of risk. In addition, the commission covers many other costs, including advertising and the cost of expertise.
There are also numerous transaction costs once you have executed a home sale contract with your buyer. However, like the commission, these costs are usually not charged unless the sale closes. In California the sales traction and costs are handled through escrow (not closing attorneys). While your escrow officer will handle much of the paperwork, your REALTOR® should stay actively involved.
