Latest / Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life / Why Sellers Are Sabotaging Their Home Sales: The Top 5 Mistakes You NEED to Avoid in Santa Clarita Real Estate

Transcript

Why Sellers Are Sabotaging Their Home Sales: The Top 5 Mistakes You NEED to Avoid in Santa Clarita Real Estate · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you the top five mistakes that homeowners make when it comes to selling their home.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing that they don't do is they don't look at where the market happens to be trending.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: In some cases, the market is in an actual increase, and we're talking, you know, multiple percentages per month.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen this market happen many times and many, many times since 1998.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Most recent market incline was back in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: The market took off like gangbusters.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: The same happened back in 2000, 2012, the end of 2011, beginning of 2012.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's when that market started to generate a lot of price increases.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then the previous to 2007, we saw that market take off until, of course, you know what happened in 2007.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: That was the last uh real estate market crash.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And we've still been we've been recovering ever since then.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: After 2007, then the market actually bottomed out the end of 2011, first quarter of 2012.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then that was pretty much the low point for at least the markets surrounding the major metropolitan cities.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the things that sellers don't do is they don't look at the overall market trend.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: There is a time to overprice your property, believe it or not, there is a time to underprice your property depending on the direction of the market.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: You should talk to your real estate professional and find out what would be best for you.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing is the curb appeal.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times sellers don't pay much attention to that first glance or that first look of the property.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Having everything dolled up completely to the nines has to be prepared, top shelf in the front, whenever people are walking up to the house.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Everything should be alive, robust, clean, and manicured.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that includes lawns.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: That includes, if you happen to be even selling a condominium townhome, that door should be freshly painted, door frame, the exterior, the window that might be next to the door should be absolutely crisp and clean.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then the draperies or whatever coverings you might have, they should they should be also dialed into the top level.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: When they're coming up to your property, just imagine as if you were going to go to a house knocking on the door, dating the person inside.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're there to pick them up.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if they opened up the door looking like a soup sandwich, you'd probably have an issue with that.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: But if they open the door and all you hear is the music from Snow White and Cinderella and the seven dwarves, and then you have the birds and the beautiful animals flying out, and you have the rays of light shining in almost like Morticia from the Adams family, you have all of that going for you.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then maybe you're at the right place.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing buyers feel when they're looking at residences.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Staging your house, that is something that's starting to come out more and more.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: But we also see online staging.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: So if you don't want to spend that money to have a stager come into your residence and put it together, which is very valuable in a lot of cases, especially if it's vacant real estate and you're trying to sell something that doesn't have any furniture in it, or if your furniture is dismal and in bad shape, to really dress it up, a stager does do a lot of good for you.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of avenues for that, a lot of local resources, excuse me, here in Santa Clarita and Los Angeles.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Staging isn't a bad idea.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can see that staging typically does bring more dollar for dollar for investment when people are putting that type of work into the property.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: But also the prepping the listing photos and having those staged as well, as long as they remain true to the property itself.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not saying that you should, and this is something that's really frowned upon, at least in the buyer's world, and I've seen this happen.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: You have a picture of a kitchen and you have the furniture changed in the kitchen, which is great.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's wonderful, and it's all good.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: But then you have them taking a uh kind of a designer's permission and they start plugging in different things that don't exist in the property.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: They show a property that has maybe tile countertops with some kind of stone or granite and travertine or even some kind of lighted LED concrete, and that's a problem because those are very expensive types of counter coverings.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: When the buyer comes in the house, even though you don't mention in the comments as a real estate agent, they look and they're like, well, there's tile in here, and I expected granite or marble or quartz or whatever it may be.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So dressing up the property is important.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Staging's good, but it's important that if you're going to do it, do it for real.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going to do it online, furniture only, don't try to retouch or change or change coloring in the photograph.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: It could create an issue with the buyers, and that always starts with distrust.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And once somebody distrusts you in a seller's perspective, it's going to be hard to work.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now looking at home inspections, there are seller pre-marketing home inspections.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not a bad idea.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times sellers don't even think of this portion.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're able to provide a report, an inspection report or a termite report, showing that your residence is termite-free and has everything completed and done with a certified home inspector, buyers can't help but love that.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's the same thing as sellers preparing a folder or file on their residence, having all the receipts from all the work done through all the years they've owned the house.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's a big deal.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Currently, we have one in escrow that the sellers are that way.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Some sellers could care less and don't say one receipt or even don't really much have a memory for anything they've done on the property in the last 30 years of ownership.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: But with the sellers that do, it means so much to the buyers.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the buyers typically never cancel those types of transactions because the sellers are completely transparent, have everything that the buyer could possibly want.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Create that file for you.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, if you want to do a pre-marketing home inspection, not a bad idea.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: That way you can even provide that report to the buyer, and it shows that you're not scared.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're selling something that you lived in, something that you took pride in, something that you will pass on to the new buyer, of course, for the right price and with the terms you want.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, finally, something that's a big deal, not working with a skilled real estate agent.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find plenty that really know what they're doing.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: They know their craft, they know their job.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: They've been doing this for a long time.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've been doing it since 1998.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I might not be a great fit for you.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you look at me and say, wow, the guy with tattoos, bald head, all this stuff.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I want somebody more suit and tie, somebody fancier, maybe a female, maybe a male, maybe somebody that doesn't have a gender or has a different gender, whatever that may be.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then you hire that person, just make sure that they're going to be able to do the job for you.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that they're able to back up what they're saying in writing and make sure that they're available.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: You should be able to call when you have a question.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if they can't pick up the phone because they're with clients or doing something else, they should get back to you promptly.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: There shouldn't be a day that goes by without some kind of communication with the agent you hired.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Also, speaking of agents, a lot of agents want to be the mega rich movie stars that are on your Beverly Hills real estate and all these different shows on HGTV.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're hiring Connor McIver, you shouldn't be passed off to one of Connor's people.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: You should be working with Connor McIver.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Connor McIver should be accountable.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you have an issue in the deal, he shouldn't say, Well, it's not my fault.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So-and-so did that.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: I passed you on to them.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, you didn't hire so-and-so.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: You hired Connor McIver.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: So whomever you hire in the real estate process, they might have people working for them.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: But if anything falls apart, that accountability is key.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: They should always pull back and say, It is my fault.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: How can I fix it?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Also, they should be there for you.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay to talk to escrow about escrow stuff.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: They're the expert.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a title question about title insurance, again, title is the resource.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But if it's a real estate question about something pertaining to the transaction, it shouldn't be a buyer's agent or a listing marketing agent.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: It should be the agent you hired dealing with it.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: These are five things, folks, five things where sellers make critical mistakes.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you watching.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: More information.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: You want to find out where the market is currently, jump on a Zoom call with me.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to zoommescv.com and you'll have access to my calendar.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: We'll sit down over Zoom.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: I can talk to you for as long as you need to find out where your strategy happens to be, how we can make it better, and then how you can attack your real estate dealings, whatever they may be, buying, selling, investing, so on and so forth.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it is in California, Santa Clarita, or elsewhere, I have a massive agent network as well.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm always accountable, folks.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here for you.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Please let me know if you have any questions.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And welcome to Santa ClaritaOpenhouses.com.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk to you soon.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.