The Internet has forever changed the way homes are sold. Almost everyone uses the Internet to conduct their search for homes, and the few that don't use it directly use a Realtor who uses the internet to search for them. Once the buyer finds properties that interest them they make an appointment to see those properties. The Importance of Photos 99% of home buyers who searched for a home on the Internet found photos to be among the most useful features of REALTOR® websites according to the National Association of Realtors. This is one area you can focus on to get the best results from Internet Buyers. The MLS limits you to 10 small photos, but with GuruRE you can use an unlimited amount of large photos. We also will send a professional photographer to your home to take the photos. See below for more information. The Importance of Price If you have the price wrong, you can place full page ads in the real estate classified of magazines and the Internet and your home will not sell. We can tell when a home is priced to sell. As soon as it goes on the MLS a lot of calls start to come in. Then people view the property and within a week there are usually several offers. When it is priced wrong very few calls come in, and the home does not sell. The Three Most Important Factors when selling your home Once you are listed in the MLS, then pricing, staging, and quality photos become the 3 most important factors in selling your home. We can't emphasize this point enough. The MLS will give you the exposure you need to sell your home. Then it is up to the price you decide on, the way your home looks including the location, and using the best photos possible to get people interested in seeing your home. |
Showing Tracking System - The most important part of a showing is following up to see what the Buyer thought about your property. This critical feedback can help you make changes to sell your property faster. We have programmed an automated feedback process to make it easy for the Buyer's Agent to give your their comments.
The way it works is anytime there is a showing request we enter it into our Website database. This automatically generates two Emails, one to you letting you know the showing date, time, and details about the Realtor showing the property. The other Email goes to the Buyer's Agent confirming the showing and giving them a link to click on once the showing is completed so they can enter their comments directly into our Website database.
The minute they submit their comments an Email is automatically sent to you letting you know their comments and the Email includes their Email address and phone should you have any questions.
You also have a password protected link that you can click on at anytime to see the history of all the showings and all the comments. This is critical feedback that can help you sell your property faster. It is gathered automatically and easily by our Showing Tracking System.
If a Realtor does not submit comments we automatically send out up to 3 reminder Emails. We have found most of the Realtors respond to our reminder Emails so you will get comments on almost every showing of your property.
There are two other advantages this system offers.
One is security because all Realtors that request a showing are checked out with the Board of Realtors database before we confirm the showing. If you are using a lockbox this is just one extra step to make sure the person we give the lockbox combo to is indeed a current member of the Kauai Hawaii Board of Realtors.
The other advantage is we can include some comments automatically in the Email that you want every Realtor to know about before they do the showing. For example, perhaps you have a pet and they should know, or a tenant, or something in particular you want to point out about your home. What ever you want them to know, we can add it to the Showing Tracking System and our automatic Email will remind them without fail for every showing.
Craigslist - In addition to listing your home through the MLS, we will manually list your property on Craigslist showing one Large High Resolution Photo along with links to our Website to see the rest of the Large High Resolution Photos. Craigslist is turning into one of the best resources for buying property and has thousands of viewers scanning the listings daily. We will continue to post your listing until your property is sold.
Satisfaction Guaranteed. You pay us nothing up front and you can cancel at anytime with no notice and without penalty. We get paid through escrow on the day your home is sold.
We also offer all our clients 25% off the Title Insurance Fee if First American Title is used.
GuruRE's average selling time for Single Family properties sold in 2007 was 47 days compared to 71 days for the market average, 70 for Coldwell Banker, and 63 for Prudential Locations.
Pricing Your Home - The most important factor in selling your home is the price. We analyze the comparable's with you using data from our cutting edge Website. View tips on analyzing the comparables from our Website.
Staging Your Home - Staged homes sell faster and sell for higher prices. While many Realtors will give you a few tips for staging your home we provide you with a staging checklist that has over 350 important staging points to look at. This is a very comprehensive look at the best way to get your home ready-to-sell for the most money in the least amount of time.
Contract Negotiation - Contracts are complicated, and intimidating. You don't want to go to a closing with some doubts. You will have the full benefit of our experience and knowledge for a smooth and successful closing.
Disclosures, Inspections, Escrow - We will make sure you conform to all Hawaii statutory disclosure requirements. We will also inform you of any inspections that you should consider having done ahead of time to smooth the negotiating process with buyers, and to ensure a successful escrow and closing.
No up front costs - You pay no up front costs for our services, so you can bet that we will work hard to get your home sold, for as much as this market will possibly bear. We will also work within your time frame and your needs. For example, sometimes it can be hard to sell and move out of your current home, and buy and move into a new home, all at the same time! We can help smooth this out.
Qualifying Buyers - Buyers have their own timelines, which might not be yours. We make sure they don't waste your time by qualifying them as to their real ability to afford your home.
Great Communication - We will keep you up to date at all times. You will always know what is happening with your property and understand the various steps we are taking to sell it.
Yard Sign - We will setup a nice yard sign so people driving by can contact us to get information on your house.
Open House - Your listing Agent will work with you to host Open Houses and Broker's Open Houses. We will list them all in the MLS so you get maximum exposure on our Website and others for your Open House.
Questions & Answers
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What price should I sell my property for?
We can help analyze the comparables with you using the extensive data available on our Website.
When looking at comparables be sure to keep in mind Days on Market. For example, if some one is asking X dollars for a property similar to yours, but they have been on the market for 250 days, then they are probably asking too much so you should not necessarily think that would be the right price for your property. On the other hand, when looking at Sold comparables, if someone sold at over asking price in only 1 day on the market than they probably listed it too low, and you could think about going higher.
Also, you want to see how many Active listings are available that will be competing for the same buyer as your listing, and how do you compete in terms of price, location, and overall value. Try to put yourself in the buyer's shoes and think about what property you would purchase if you were ready to make a purchase.
Also study the In Escrow and Pending listings. These are properties that have just gone into escrow. You won't know what they sold for until the escrow is completed but you do know what they were asking and that a deal was reached. This is current information on asking prices that are actually selling and it is very helpful.
For a more detailed look at using GuruRE.com to analyze the comparables click here.
Do you show the property?
Yes. We show the property if we represent the Buyer. If another agent represents the Buyer then they would show their Buyer your property. In that situation the Buyer's Agent would prefer not to have the Seller's Agent there so they can take their client through themselves. Either way, there will always be a Realtor showing your property. Optionally, you are welcome to personally be at any showings.
Do I sign a contract?
Yes, but you can cancel it at anytime. We do ask for a 30 day protection period so if someone viewed the property while we had it listed and buys it within 30 days after you cancel we would still get paid.
How much commission should I offer for the Buyer's Agent?
No Buyer's Agents will stay away from your property at 2.5%, but they might stay away if you offer less than 2.5%. Some agents from very large firms can not represent a Buyer for less than 2.5% so if you offer only 2% then the Buyer's Agent must ask the Buyer to pay the extra .5%. This is a very uncomfortable conversation to have so they might be reluctant to recommend your property at less than 2.5% commission.
How much are closing costs not including the commission costs?
You can estimate that non-commission closing costs are .80%. They can be slightly higher if the buyer is an investor vs. an owner occupant because the conveyance tax is higher when you sell to an investor. Also, the more expensive the property, the higher the conveyance tax. In addition to the conveyance tax you have the escrow and title fees. You also will be paying for a Termite Inspection and if the property is not a Condo there will be the survey cost.
Do we need a lock box on the property?
It is very helpful but not required. If you do not have a lockbox then you have to have a reliable way to let Buyer's Agents into the property to show their clients. If you want to put a Lock Box on your property we will supply one. Lock Boxes are very helpful as Realtors can still show your property even when no one is available to let them in. We only give out the Lock Box code to Realtors and all Realtors are cross checked with the Kauai Hawaii Board of Realtor database when we enter them into our Showing Tracking System.
Will you show it to someone who is not using a Realtor when they call you?
Yes. We will show it if someone calls us who is not using a Realtor. We would then end up representing them and yourself, which is called Dual Agency. In this case as mentioned above we would keep the 2.5% for representing the Buyer plus our fee for representing you. This is because there is additional liability to represent the Buyer and we need to get paid to take on the additional liability and the additional services required.
Will my property be on all MLS Website's?
Yes. Once we add your property to the HiCentral MLS all the other Website's download from this site and will show your property. For example, Realtor.com, Yahoo, Honolulu Advertiser, Coldwell Banker, Prudential, etc.
I have someone who might buy my property but I still want to list with you.
If you are currently working with someone who might purchase your property we can exclude them on our contract and if they buy it you do not need to pay us anything.
What happens if a Buyer does not want to be represented by a Realtor?
In this case we would still represent you and you would only pay us our fee. There would be no 2.5% commission for the Buyer's Realtor as the Buyer is not using a Realtor.
If I have a tenant in my property do I have the right to show it?
Yes. Per Paragraph O. of the Standard Hawaii Rental Contract you have the right to show it to buyers by giving a 2 day notice. However, if your tenants are not cooperative it can make showing the place very difficult. If they don't want a lock box installed (which many tenants are not comfortable with) then they need to be home for all showings, and we can coordinate all showings with them.
What if I want to sell my property and buy another one at the same time?
You might think about using the Sale of Home Contingency in your offer for the property you are buying. This states that the purchase of this new property is contingent on selling your current property. This way you don't end up with two properties at the same time.
The Sale of Home Contingency allows the seller of the property you are purchasing to keep showing it and if they get an offer they will let you know. You would then have 72 hours to remove the contingency on selling your home and go forward or they would cancel the escrow and put the other offer into escrow.
Will you come out to my property to give me your sales pitch and opinion on my property?
Because we offer such a low commission rate we do not do sales pitches and property evaluations. We would be glad to answer any questions you have over the phone. Our sales pitch is everything you read about on this page. We have found that using the data on our Website and your knowledge of your property we can come up with the right selling price.