There has never been a better time to sell an upstate home. Historic levels of demand combined with anemic levels of supply has resulted in purchase prices never before seen upstate. The buyer profile has changed as has the amount of resources these buyers are willing to spend to purchase Hudson Valley + Catskills real estate.
So, if you’re considering selling your home, now may be the time to pull the trigger. That said, the first step is to select a listing agent that knows how to maximize your selling price. Here are five essential questions to consider when making that decision.
Do They Hire a Professional Photographer? It’s essential to present your home to the public with professional, high-quality imagery. You're paying a listing agent a hefty commission and, in return, they should be spending money on various things including high-end photography. Eyeballs generate interest and interest generates offers which ultimately translates to more money in your pocket. Because we consider this one of the most important components to selling a home, we have experienced professional photographers on retainer who specialize in shooting homes. Our photographers work with stylists to ensure that our clients put their best foot forward when a listing goes live. When shooting, our photographers consider various factors including the angle of the sun at various points in the day, any special aspects of the property that make it unique and the best way to use drones to capture setting. Most importantly, we work with them to be sure that the imagery highlights those aspects that will most appeal to city dwellers looking for second homes.
Do They Have an Extensive Reach to City-Based Buyers? You want to be sure that whomever you choose has connections to a deep pool of city-based buyers and can market homes directly to that audience. While social media is one important tool, you want to find a listing agent that has multiple distribution channels and is regularly meeting and communicating with active buyers. We have 50,000+ unique visitors to our website each month, 9,300+ followers on Instagram (and relationships with various influencers who can push our listings to hundreds of thousands of followers) and 5,000+ subscribers to our buyer-focused newsletter. This extensive contact with a vast audience of buyers enables us to price homes according to what we know a city dweller will pay for a particular home.
Do They Provide A Roadmap to Maximize the Purchase Price? In the current market, the majority of buyers prefer turnkey homes with certain characteristics for which they're willing to pay a premium. Before listing a home, we’ll work with sellers to create a list of aesthetic upgrades and light renovations that are important to potential buyers and that will increase the level of interest and, ultimately, the purchase price. When appropriate, we also stage homes (at our expense). Showing potential buyers a stylized version of your home can contribute significantly to what a buyer is willing to pay. On many occasions, by implementing styling and staging strategies, we’ve helped sellers achieve purchase prices that they (and other brokerages) thought completely unattainable.
Do They Understand Pricing Strategy? There are different pricing strategies to consider for different types of homes. Your listing agent should be able to provide very specific guidance on this point. While there are many factors to consider (e.g. your level of motivation, the style of your home and the area in which it’s located, amenities, renovations, etc.), in a heated market sometimes it's best to price a home to generate multiple offers. By fostering a competitive situation, you'll likely maximize the value you receive. By understanding the proper pricing strategy to implement, the vast majority of the homes we list sell well above the asking price.
Accompanied Showings or Not? You want to make it easy as possible for buyers to see your home. Accompanied showings generally benefit one person, the listing agent. Essentially, the listing agent is piggybacking off the sale of your home to either generate a direct buyer which equals more money in their pocket or generate new buyers that they can represent on future home purchases. While this service offers little to no value to you or prospective buyers, it adds a significant layer of complexity to scheduling. On many occasions where we represented potential buyers, the listing agent's schedule conflicted with the buyer's schedule and thus a showing never happened. This is exactly the opposite of what you want. So, with certain limited exceptions, we generally recommend setting up a home to accommodate as many showings as possible. Buyer’s agents are trained professionals who will treat your home with respect and follow the rules you've established. Setting up an inexpensive video system is something that we've help sellers do to ensure that agents are complying with these rules.
Please reach out to discuss the Catskills real estate market and schedule a free in-home consultation to assess the value of your home and to discuss the appropriate marketing approach.
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