This episode covers a relatively new set of products in the real estate industry that allow buyers to literally buy before they sell. In other words, buying their new home before they sell their old one. But that's backwards, yes, I know. It's the age-old problem of having to sell your current home first because you need that cash in order to buy your new home. For most people, the equity in their old home becomes the down payment on their new home. But having to sell first usually means putting a home sale contingency into your offer, which, as I've mentioned is extremely unattractive to Sellers and likely to get your offer not accepted. Every Seller is focused on selling their home as quickly as possible for the highest price. They don't want the added risk associated with you having to sell your home in order to buy theirs because they have absolutely no control over this. There are tons of innovative startups in the real estate industry solving problems such as this, and one subset is focused on helping you with this specific issue. Three examples are Homeward, Ribbon, and Knock. Homeward and Ribbon essentially turn your offer into an all-cash offer, making it very attractive to Sellers. Both also buy your new home for you, if needed, allowing you to then sell your old home before buying your home back from them. Knock takes a very different approach. Instead of buying your new home for you or making your offer an all-cash offer, they instead loan you the equity in your home for up to 6 months with no interest so you can achieve the same results. In essence, you get your equity out of your home before you sell it, buy your new home, and then sell your old home.

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This episode covers the topic of going under contract on your home. Also know as going binding because when both sides agree to the contract, it's now considered a legal and binding agreement. This is a great milestone in the sale of your home because it means you not only found a buyer, but you reached an agreement with that buyer on the terms of selling your home to them. But don't pop the champagne just yet. You typically have three hurdles to overcome before you get to closing. Most of the work happens on the buyer side, and you may feel somehwat powerless to control the outcome, but rest assured there are things you can do to influence the final outcome and reduce the chances of your buyer terminating. Remember. It's not a done deal until you get to closing, and there are several ways the deal can fall apart on the way there. Your agent's job is to reduce this risk, but you have a key role in this as well. Thanks for listening.

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This episode covers the topic of fielding offers on your home. This can be either the most exciting time in the selling process or one of the worst. So, the more you know up front about what to expect, the better prepared you'll be for what happens and how you respond to it. Understanding the Purchase & Sale Agreement is important, as it lists all the terms of the offer. Fielding multiple offers can be complicated depending on when they come in. You can consider asking for Best & Highest to simplify your comparison and analysis of offers if they uncontrollably flood in. Having a backup offer is a great way to reduce risk in the even your primary offer terminates at any point. That can happen during Due Diligence, the Financing Contingency, or the Appraisal Contingency. Finally, negotiating offers is actually a negotiation with your agent since it's their job to simply communicate your wishes to the other agent, not make decisions for you. In the end, you want what's best for you while keeping in mind what's fair for the buyer. No one wants to feel like they're not getting at least most of what they want. Thanks for listening.

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This episode covers the topic of holding your home open to help ensure a quick and successful sale. There are plusses and minuses to having an open house. You should explore both the traditional approach as well as virtual open houses. Discuss holding a Caravan for other agents to see the home. Your agent should plan these well in advance and discuss all aspects of them with you. Review the outcome of each open house, including metrics and guest feedback, so you can work together to gauge what to do next. An open house doesn't always result in an offer, but the foot traffic, buzz, and feedback can be invaluable in spreading the word and allowing you to course-correcting until you find the right buyer. Thanks for listening.

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This episode covers the topic of how to best market the home you're selling to get the results you want. Marketing your home is probably the most important part of the selling process once you've decided on the price and made it look visually stunning. Make sure your agent goes beyond the simple approach of putting it in the MLS and placing a sign in the yard. They should be able to explain to you, before hiring them, what their marketing plan will be so you know exactly what they plan to do to sell your home. And I don't mean literally. Too many people miss this key step in the process or don't ask the right questions up front. You're paying a listing agent good money, so you should expect them to have a great marketing plan and describe that to you. Aside from print marketing and open houses, they should be using Social Media creatively to call attention to your home. And you, as well, should feel free to help if you so choose. In the end, a great home priced well with little to no marketing isn't going to sell as quickly or for as much as the same home marketed professionally in a very out-of-the-box way. That's a business cliché for out of the ordinary Thanks for listening. 

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This episode covers the topic of how to best photograph the home you're selling to get the best results. The old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, couldn't be more true. But when selling your home, think of it instead as the idea that "a picture is worth a thousand dollars . . . Or many thousands of dollars." That's right, having great pictures of your home is one of if not THE most important aspects of marketing it to potential buyers. After all, upwards of 90% of buyers start their search on line. Do they close their eyes? Nope. They're wide open and looking. At what? Are they reading about your home like in a book? NO. They're looking at pictures. Pictures of your home are your first chance to make that first impressions, and if they're not very good, people won't look past them and simply move on. So, it's imperative to showcase your home in its best possible light by taking the best photographs you can and publishing them in a way that makes your home stand out. In this episode, I cover how to photograph your home, what to do with those photographs, and additional tips & trick for using still photography to your advantage. Thanks for listening.

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This episode covers the topic of how buying and selling real estate has changed now that we're in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this, and I guess that means all of us. It's not a situation anyone could have imagined just a few months ago, and our lives have been forever changed. I’ve been asked “How do I sell my home at this time?” because of the lockdown and the virus. Homes are still selling, and people are buying. The buyers who are out there are serious, and many are ready to get out of their apartments and into their own home during these times. Sellers who must sell and move are still selling. Although there's been a huge slowdown, activity is already starting to pick back up. In Georgia, real estate professionals have been deemed "essential," so we've been able to continue working in this environment while some states have banned real estate activity. It wasn't an episode I had planned to do, but given the situation, I wanted to educate listeners on what's being done to safely support buyers and sellers and how the whole process of a real estate transaction has suddenly changed. We've essentially implemented safety measures all along the way to ensure we're taking the needed steps to protect you and your family. And technology is now playing an even bigger role in making this happen. I cover four major topics here: The Market, Buying, Selling, and Mortgages.  Thanks for listening.

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This episode covers the topic of staging your home to sell. I mentioned in a prior episode that there are five things that impact your home's value and that you can control only two of them. Price and Condition. Part of its condition is physical, but part of it is surface-level and more emotional. This is staging. Studies show that staging your home can help it sell more quickly and for more money because it helps buyers envision your home as theirs. There are different ways to stage from doing almost nothing to fully emptying the home and starting from scratch. Staging guidelines focus on color, furniture placement, emotional cues, and de-personalization and decluttering. There are also specific tips by room, including the living/family room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms. In the end, if you take the time to stage your home before selling, you're likely to have a better outcome. Staging after you've listed, in response to poor showings, feedback, and offers, can still help, but by then you've already made your first impression, and working backwards to fix this error may help, but it's always better to stage before listing your home. Take the time and effort up front to make that first impression the best it can possibly be. Thanks for listening. 

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This episode covers the topic of preparing your home to sell, which is one of the most critical aspects of the process. As I stated in a prior episode, there are five things that impact your home's value and you can control only two of them. Price and Condition. This is about condition. Getting your home in its best possible condition is critical to getting buyers to love your home, make great offers, and ultimately buy your home. If you don't care enough to get your home in tip top shape, buyers will see this immediately and think you don't care. It's more things they have to worry about when buying, and they're likely to choose a comparable home with fewer things or nothing to have to fix after closing. So, take the time up front to prepare your home so that it's as appealing as possible by having no little projects that come with it. This includes 1) physical repairs, 2) cosmetic touch-ups, and 3) staging. Thanks for listening. 

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