In a city this big the question sellers often ask is why is one similar-looking home worth more than theirs. That’s especially true for condos, including in Seattle, where there are unofficially more than 36,000 units.
Just as an individual has a personality all to himself, every home has special attributes that add character and appeal. Many factors play into pricing beyond square footage – the view, finishes to the home and modernity of appliances to name a few.
Intelligently positioning a home when two alike are on the market can sometimes make one more appealing than the other. Leveraging wide-ranging skills of a real estate professional – especially one affiliated with the National Association of Realtors ® (NAR) – can help turn that dud of a listing into a darling of a home.
It’s not uncommon for owners to sell their home without the help of a Realtor ® (or, sometimes, without an agent!) but there are good reasons why that is a mistake.
Homes listed by real estate professionals typically get much more exposure and their sellers generally receive more support. Agents/brokers* are skilled in many areas, including marketing/promotion, organizing open houses, presenting and discussing all offers with sellers, assisting in negotiations and maintaining strong communication with clients throughout the process. (If you didn’t know, I have an extensive background in both communications and digital marketing.)
Your agent will help you throughout the process – sharing research on current home prices and trends, suggesting how to improve the home’s “curb appeal” and providing effective coaching on responses to buyer offers. Every step on this path is crucial to selling a home for the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time at the most favorable terms.
In addition, your agent should be knowledgeable about the neighborhood and familiar with local resources (schools, restaurants, public transportation). He/she should be well connected to professionals that can help you along the selling journey – from real estate attorneys to escrow/title professionals and from home inspectors to contractors. The agent should also know how to overcome snags that sometimes occur in a transaction and carefully negotiate with the seller in mind.
Discount real estate brokerages, on the other hand, often pass the baton from one person to another through the process. Sellers can sometimes feel frustrated having to explain their situation to more than one agent (or office staff), raising concerns over lost information, missed deadlines and disconnected communication.
Not so with John L. Scott Real Estate, with more than 85 years in the business and going strong. Its agents represent sellers from beginning to end – and hopefully after you’ve closed the deal and settled elsewhere. Honestly, do you think an agent working for a discount real estate firm – the one that offers a discount for their services – has firm pricing and negotiation strategies for a seller?
On top of all that, your agent should be part of NAR. Member Realtors ® adhere to a higher standard than others in the industry. They follow NAR’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. One paragraph in the Ethics mandate captures it well: “The term Realtor ® has come to connote competency, fairness, and high integrity resulting from adherence to a lofty ideal of moral conduct in business relations. No inducement of profit and no instruction from clients ever can justify departure from the ideal.”
My background as a journalist – particularly my 15 years at Dow Jones & Co. and The Wall Street Journal – trained me well for this role in real estate. It’s in a newsroom environment where stories were carefully researched and sourced before ever seeing the light of day, and no inducement from outsiders could ever play a hand in the unbiased reporting of a story. I always maintained the highest level of professionalism and duty of care as a reporter and editor…and it remains my guiding mission today as I work with real estate clients and industry colleagues every day.
I will always represent John L. Scott Real Estate, my business affiliations and – most important – my sellers (and buyers) with respect and professionalism. I will always work with their best interests in mind.
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