Today we continuing our discussion on market preparation.
Featuring:
Bob Nelson, Eugene real estate investment broker
Marcia Edwards, Eugene residential real estate broker
Marcia Edwards: We were talking about marketing preparation and that is preparing your home for a visual experience that brings buyers towards you and hopefully brings them to the point where they want to write an offer on your home.
Bob Nelson: Certainly you mentioned the home, it equally applies to investment properties, to properties… How are you going to expose this property to a pool of ready buyers? Are you going to try to make it look at its best or are you going to put it out there knowing that you’re not presenting the thing at its best and hoping that somebody doesn’t chew you up too badly as they start to discount the property for its condition. The money they’re going to have to spend in addition to buying the property to make it in the condition.
Marcia Edwards: Compromised condition can make two mistakes more challenging. When condition is not optimum, then you’re making a sacrifice in your purchase or in your sale. What you’re doing are two things. One is that you’re saying to some buyers don’t come because you can’t handle a fixer upper and this is what this property is, so don’t show up on the porch and don’t become a buyer. So you’ve eliminated some of the pool of buyers. Other people that see the capacity they have to be able to make the improvements they need to will say I deserve a discount. Beyond the cost of the repair itself or the improvement itself, I need a margin because of the sweat equity I’m going to put into this property, so you are definitely going to be discounting your price for that.
Bob Nelson: Exactly, and if the seller doesn’t know that they’re going to be offended by lower offers. But I would sense that a good listing broker will inform their seller of the position that they’re in and what a good offer will look like.
Marcia Edwards: That’s right. So in marketing preparation, you’ve got to take the time before it hits the market, not while it’s on the market, but before you’ve made that first impression, because you’ve got buyers who are pent up looking for something, yours hits the radar, you’re going to have one chance to give them the best, strongest impression and condition review possible. So when you’re going through your property, you want to make sure that you keep it appealing to a broad base of buyers. You don’t want to put any unique use inside a space or too many uses where they can’t understand what the space is.
Bob Nelson: And that’s a tough situation. What would you do as you recognize you’re in that position?
Marcia Edwards: Well you’ve got to have someone else come through the property as if they’re a buyer themselves and have them review the property with a critical eye and make sure that the use and purpose of each room is singular and clear in the vision of those who view the property.
Join Eugene, Oregon, real estate experts: Bob Nelson, Real Estate Investment Broker with Pacwest Real Estate Investments, and Marcia Edwards, Residential Real Estate Broker with Windermere Real Estate, daily at 5:30 on KPNW for the “Real Estate Today” radio show.
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