House Hunt: Open Houses This Sunday

OPEN HOUSES THIS SUNDAY  1 - 4 p.m. (unless noted)

$255,000. 230 Red Mountain Dr, Cloverdale, 2Bdrm, 2Bth,      Century 21 Healdsburg

$425,000. 2395 So. Fitch Mtn. Rd, Healdsburg, 2Bdrm, 2Bth,   Century 21 Healdsburg

$660,000. 523 Mason St, Healdsburg, 3Bdrm, 2Bth                 Stornetta Realty

$599,000. 1003 Sunset Dr, Healdsburg, 4Bdrm, 2Bth +1/1, 12–4  Wine Country Group

$325,000. 129 Clover Springs Dr, Cloverdale, 2Bdrm, 2Bth,            CPS Healdsburg

$785,000. 443 Piper St. Healdsburg, 3Bdrm, 2Bth, Wine Country Group, Sebastopol

$299,000. 338 Grandview Ct, Healdsburg, 2Bdrm, 2Bth, 10-2AM,   Full Spectrum ReMax

$399,000. 544 Westmont Ct, Healdsburg, 3Bdrm, 2.5Bth, 1-4PM    Full Spectrum ReMax

$439,000. 2253 So. Fitch Mtn. Rd, Healdsburg, Bdrm,1.5Bth,   Coldwell Banker

$699,000. 544 Brown Street, Healdsburg, 2Bdrm, 1Bth                Wine Country Group

How To Sell Your Home In This Market

Real estate sales have well defined selling seasons. It is pretty dead between Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl. That is the time Realtors prepare for the next season.

It slowly ramps up and gets very busy just before the schools are out. The market bumps along all summer. Now we are in prime time.

Prime time is a short period in which it is do or die. This year is different. This year there is absolutely no margin of error allowed to get homes sold in a short amount of time or have them languish on the market all winter.

I asked Eric Drew of Artisan Sotheby’s what it takes to get a house sold at this point of the season and his answer was to the point:  “Price, price and price, plus a great marketing plan,” Drew said.

He is right; price is the main component at this stage of the game.

I asked Greg Cornelius, the managing broker of, the same question.

“Price Bob!," he said. "You have to get the price right from the beginning in this market or have the home on the market over 90 days.

"Using a local Realtor is the key to getting the price right," he added. "Local knowledge is key”.

I think that it goes deeper than that because we are at the stage in this market where it takes everything you have to get your home to rise to the top.

Those experts are exactly right and I do no dispute them. I do want to provide you with the formula that will work every time. It is also a formula that I have rarely seen a seller embrace but is sure to work.

As a seller, be active in checking out the comparative properties that your Realtor is using and tour those homes with the agent. Even the best Realtors miss something now and then. The Realtor is your geographic area expert and hopefully your neighborhood expert.

Remember, your Realtor is working on commission so if he goes too low he takes a pay cut. If too high then no pay at all! Beware there
are still some Realtors that will offer a higher price to you just to get the listing.

Find out how long the properties for the Realtor that you want to use has his or her average days on the market. This is tough because even good agents have their clients jack up prices at the last minute to get a little extra blue sky.

Even the best agents get stuck having to put a price on a home that is a bit high. This is almost always forced by the sellers and it a recipe for disaster.

To sell the home here is what you should do. You know what the competitive price is so take $10,000. off of that right out the gate. Odds are you may have to do a price reduction at some point and with the long cold barrel of winter right ahead you want your house sold right. This house selling is not some sort of bizarre entertainment for you is it?

If you think that your home is ready for market, think again. If you invest another $5,000 in your home at this point it will make a
huge difference. Hire an expert to optimize your investment  and plan on going over that $5,000 amount. I know this is the last thing that you want to do but trust me, the season is running out and you do want to have your home sell right.

Next, make sure that your agent has the best marketing plan there is. It has to be a blend of both print advertising and internet. Neither is OK by itself.

Remember that we are dealing with a global economy, so
since it will cost you the same to go with a global firm, go with a global real estate firm. Right now there is real estate investment money flowing into Florida from Brazil.

Make sure that your Realtor is posting to Craigslist daily in the hot foreign markets like Brazil. It costs nothing and we are the place on the planet where people want to be. Market to those foreign countries, it is free!

And last but not least: Do everything that your Realtor tells you to do. I would not do stuff like bury crystals in the yard or bury a wash cloth by the light of the moon -- but I would do just about everything else.  If it seems too costly look at alternatives to their suggestions that will help but do them. 

For more information contact www.HealdsburgRealEstate.com

or Facebook/HealdsburgRealEstate.