What Does Comprehensive Marketing Mean For Your Home Sale?

In order to expediently sell your home for the best price possible, we at Compass must launch a comprehensive marketing campaign in order to show your property in its best possible light. But what does this mean? Let’s break down some of the components.

Your agent will:

• Study market conditions, figure out the type of buyer who is likely to pay the highest price and position your home accordingly. Targeting buyers correctly is one of the main ways that a savvy agent will get your property sold quickly and for the best price.
• Price your property correctly from the start and prepare to show it at its very best. This could add substantial value to the property price since buyers want to invest in a well-kept and good-looking home.
• Retain a professional real estate photographer to take pictures of the home. Visuals are crucial at this and just about every other step of the game.
• Thoroughly market to other brokers to grab their attention and attract them to showings. Connecting with other brokers is another essential way to bring potential buyers in the door.
• Create a dedicated property showcase on a website or webpage complete with photos, descriptions, maps, neighborhood information and floor plan as well as interactive features. These days, many if not most buyers are doing the majority of their research online.
• Advertise online in a comprehensive way along with a beautifully designed print campaign.
• Coordinate broker tours, open houses and private showings.

Questions? Get in touch.

The Hunt for a New Home is On!

The following tips for finding the right home are geared for newbies to the market– and for veterans who could use a brush-up on the basics.

1. Make a List of “Must Haves” and “Wants.” Your search will be easier and you’ll be more confident in your decision if you take a systematic approach. The best way is to make two lists: Your “must haves” and your “wants.” Your “must haves” are the essentials: bedroom/bath count, square footage and unique features like room for your kayak or big walls for your art. Your “wants” are the qualities that you would like for your new home to have but can live without. Great examples of “wants” are hardwood floors, a gas stove, and architectural style. By taking the time to articulate what you need and want in your new home, you will know exactly what to look for when looking at prospective homes.

2.  Learn the neighborhoods. The variety of home styles and neighborhoods is astonishing in San Francisco. You can buy a mid-century house in Midtown Terrace, an Edwardian flat in the Western Addition or a sleek apartment condo in South Beach.

Sometimes I like to put my buyers in a car and drive the neighborhoods. It gives them an opportunity to learn some of the City’s geography and get a feel for the different areas. The 700 block of Waller is vastly different from the 300 block, for example. Weather is also a big consideration. If you’re a sun worshipper, some neighborhoods, like the Outer Sunset, are out of the question.

3. Beware of the “Red Shoe Experience.” This tip comes from Elizabeth Weintraub, of Lyon’s Realty in Sacramento. Women will relate to this. Say, you need a new pair of red shoes. You go to the mall. At the first shoe store, you find a fabulous pair of red shoes. You try them on. They fit perfectly. They are glamorous. Priced right, too. Do you buy them? Of course not! You go to every other store in the mall trying on red shoes until you are ready to drop from exhaustion. Then you return to the first store and the red shoes are gone. Do not shop for a home this way. When you find the perfect home, buy it. 

4. Make your decision! This tip is a corollary to the Red Shoe Experience. Homebuyers often hesitate after they’ve found the right home because they’re not confident about their decision-making process. Your home is probably the largest investment of your life, and it’s normal to feel those butterflies. However, if you have followed the steps above, you will have your bases covered. If you’ve found a home that meets all of your “must haves,” most of your “wants,” is in the right neighborhood, and in your budget – it’s the one for you!

Interest Rate Trends Over Time

Daunted by Disclosures?

Disclosure packages in San Francisco can run up to four inches thick–especially if the property is a condo in a large building. But buyers can cruise through them more quickly if they know how to prioritize.

I tell buyers reviewing their first disclosure package to go through everything carefully, including the boring parts. There is some boilerplate material that will always be in every well-crafted Disclosure Package. I call this stuff “bedtime reading material.”

The portions of the package unique to the property are the most important. If you’re looking at a multi-unit property, the leases and tenant questionnaires are the first thing to review. The number of tenants, their ages, and whether they are protected can all affect a building’s value.

Inspection reports, if they exist, take next priority. My practice is to comb through them and take notes on things that stand out. (I oddly like this part.) If I find a nasty pest report that calls out structural rot or a home inspection with an extensive laundry list of big ticket items, I can let my Buyers know right away and perhaps save us all a lot of time.

The next documents worthy of attention to are the Sellers Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (RETDS) and San Francisco RETDS Supplement. These long questionnaires are the Seller’s opportunity to tell you everything you should know, from the yippy dog next door to seasonal seepage in the garage. (I tell my Sellers that these forms are their opportunity to not get sued after escrow, so they are quite thorough when completing them.)

When warranted, I also take a hard look at the geological reports. The 1989 earthquake felt like a near-death experience for me, so I’m sensitive about homes on downslopes or upslopes and want to make sure they are not in slide zones. If it’s important to the client, these reports can also tell me if the property is on landfill.

A Word About Condo Disclosures:

Condo disclosures should include a complete set of the CC&Rs, the Budget, the By-Laws and Meeting Minutes for the past 12 months. When sifting through these, I often enjoy the meeting minutes, which sometimes have juicy details like the neighbor who sunbathes nude on the roof deck, or the one who overwaters her plants and creates a sluice of water down the back stairs. I also check the CC&Rs for the pet policy and rental restrictions.

The Shrinking Apartment

DID YOU KNOW?  According to a new report from real-estate website RentCafe and data-analytics firm Yardi Matrix, the average size of a newly-built rental apartment has shrunk by 52 square feet, or 5%, to 941 square feet since 2008. New studios and one-bedroom units have shrunken in size even more by 10.3% and 4.2% respectively. New apartments have also become much more expensive to rent: the average price has risen 28% over the last 10 years to $1,944. Denver rents are up the most, over 80% in a decade. 

San Francisco Home Price Appreciation

The Comforts of Home

Home is where we set the pattern of our days. The best ones create lovely habits. When I lived on Grove Street in NOPA, I adored reading in bed where I enjoyed a view of Buena Vista Hill. In my current home, I often sit outside at night in back. Right now, we have a Daphne bush in full bloom. It is intoxicating. 

When I show homes to people, I can see them thinking about their own habits. They picture morning coffee in the kitchen, stepping out of the shower and even consider their daily streetscape when they walk out the front door at the end of a showing. 

I like to ask my Sellers about their own habits at home. With the right questions, I not only hear about their favorite spot for morning coffee, but also learn how a moon sits in a child’s window, where the dog likes to sun and sleep, and what pizza nights are like in front of the television.

I always say I’m honored to represent someone in the sale or purchase of a home– but I also honor the spaces they live in. Home is sacred to me. If you feel the same way and are ready to sell or buy, perhaps we should meet. I’ll hope to hear from you! 

When A House Becomes A Home