Listing Expired? Maybe, It’s Time For a Change.
We saw that your home is no longer actively available on the MLS. Washington, DC is a very competitive real estate market, but if you’re ready to try again, we would love to speak with you about how we can use our years of experience and proven marketing strategies to open up a floodgate of potential buyers.
As your REALTOR®, it is our job to ensure you receive:
- the most amount of money
- in the shortest amount of time
- with the least amount of problems
17 Years of Marketing & Sales Experience Will Guide You To a Successful Sale
When we are hired to market and sell a property, we take that job very serious, because we know our job is to get the highest sales price possible, for our seller clients. Every property we market is distinct, so we highlight the best features of each property. Here are some of the reasons we think you’ll love working with our team, including examples of our marketing.
Our Best Sales Tools
Staging
Each home we market is given a thorough walkthrough, to determine the best way to stage it. If this is a new term to you, “staging” is presenting your home in the best possible light, by assessing (and adjusting, if needed) aspects of furniture placement, wall colors, and even landscaping. Sometimes the way we live in a home, is different than the way it should be presented to potential buyers.
Professional Photography (including Aerial Photography, Videography)
We believe professional photos are needed for every listing that we market. These photos are the 24/7 Open House for the listing, so it is important that we really make your house stand out from the rest! With that, we professionally photograph your house or condo and may also add in some twilight and aerial shots.
Floor Plans
Prior to our putting your house on the market, our professional measurer will make a visit to your home and quickly both measure your home, and also create a hand drawn floor plan of your home. From those initial measurements and hand drawn floor plan, she then creates a computer generated version, that we use to market to buyers and real estate agents.
Luxury Marketing
Whether you are selling a property that is worth $50,000 or $10 million, wouldn’t you rather hire someone that is trained to sell that $10,000,000 property? Well, there isn’t a company or association that trains on marketing the $50,000 property, but there is one that trains on selling the $10 million property.
The Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist™ (CLHMS) designation assures affluent buyers and sellers that real estate professionals have the knowledge, experience, and unique skills to meet their needs. Members of The Institute who hold the CLHMS designation have documented performance in the TOP 10% of their residential markets and have successfully demonstrated their expertise in the luxury home and estate market.
Social Media Marketing
While we realize that homebuyers don’t visit Facebook and Instagram to search for property, we also know that many homebuyers are on Facebook and Instagram, on a consistent basis. So, we incorporate Facebook/Instagram advertising into our marketing, to help bring extra exposure. Extra total exposure equals extra buyer prospects seeing your property. Extra buyer prospects seeing your property can many times lead to more than one offer.
Reverse Prospecting
Our Multiple Listing Service platform has features that very few agents take advantage of or even know about, which is, reverse prospecting. We have the ability to see which agents are conducting searches for homes that meet your criteria. We are able to call these agents directly to see if they have a possible buyer for your home.
Six Truths About Real Estate
1. Having an agent represent you has its advantages:
Professional representation… We are your personal representatives and we are required by law to represent your best interests to the best of our ability.
Personal specialist… it’s similar to hiring an accountant to help you file income taxes or a mechanic to fix your car. If you had the time to master those specialties, you would be doing your own taxes and fixing your car. But who has that sort of time? Besides, most people will sell only 2-3 homes in their lifetime – two real estate transactions in a lifetime will not turn anyone into a real estate specialist.
Objectivity… our job is to point out all the pros and cons for all the decisions you will be making throughout the home-selling process. We will even tell you things you may not want to hear because as your agents, We want you to make informed decisions, not emotionally-based decisions.
Convenience… these days, it’s nearly impossible to sell a home yourself without it turning into a part-time job.
2. Not all real estate professionals are REALTORS®.
Only licensed real estate agents who are members of the National Association of REALTORS® can call themselves REALTORS®. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties honestly – they subscribe to a strict code of conduct and are required to maintain a high level of real estate standards. It is to your advantage to work with a REALTOR® because of the training and standards this professional designation requires.
3. The price of your home should be based on the price of sold properties in your area rather than the list price of properties now on the market – this is how we establish your home’s fair market value.
- Not attract as many buyers because they’ll think it’s out of their price range.
- Take longer to sell.
- Make competing properties look good.
- Be overpriced in everyone’s minds (agents and buyers) and they tend not to forget.
- Cause you to lose valuable time and miss out on buying your dream home.
- Cause negotiations to stall.
- Cause appraisal problems.
- End up selling below market value in order to make up for all of the above.
4. Research conducted by the National Association of REALTORS® shows that more buyers purchase their properties at fair market value – not above it. The percentage of buyers increases even more when the price drops below fair market value.
5. The fair market value of your home is determined by the market – that is, what today’s buyers are willing to pay. Buyers are comparing your home to other homes now on the market.
Buyers don’t care about:
- What Your Neighbors Say
- What Another Agent Says
- What You Spent On Upgrades
- What It Costs To Build Today
- What You Spent On Repairs
- What You Spent On Remodeling
- What You Spent On New Carpet
- What You Paid
- What You Need
- What You Want
6. Your home generates the most interest during the first 30 days it is on the market. If it is not properly priced during this time, we miss out on this peak level of interest.
FAQ About Expired Listings
Why didn’t my home sell last time?
The Washington, DC real estate market is very competitive, but in most situations homes fail to sell for 1 of 3 reasons:
- Asking price (most typical)
- Home condition
- Staging
When you work with Dana Ash-McGinty and the ASH MCGINTY Team, we will evaluate each of these factors and develop a successful plan to get your home sold.
What should we do to our home to ensure the best price?
There is a benefit to making sure your home looks its best prior to offering it for sale. There are also small remodeling jobs that can pay off at resale. We will advise you about specific improvements that will increase your home’s marketability and value.
How often will you advertise our property? We don’t just list homes; We market them. We will make sure your home is marketed to potential buyers around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will customize a marketing plan to reach the types of buyers most likely to purchase your home. We know how to maximize the power of the internet and social media for our clients, while also using traditional methods including print media, yard signs and direct mail.
Will you be present at all showings?
At open houses We, or a member of our team, will be there. For showings, potential buyers will bring their own agents to see your home. Most buyers prefer only their own agents be present when evaluating a prospective new home.
Another agent told us they can get us more money! Some agents will quote a higher price just to get your business, but an overpriced house will not sell. If you choose to work with us, We will conduct a home pricing evaluation prior to recommending an asking price for your home. We will explain how we arrived at the price, but ultimately the decision is up to you. We will offer our professional opinion on how the market will value your home.
What marketing responsibilities will we have? Your primary job during the sale of your home is to keep it neat and clean for showings and open houses. A large part of a home’s appeal involves staging, which is everything from furniture placement to home fragrance. We will advise you on how to stage your home well, giving you easy tips and quick fixes to maximize your home’s appeal.
Our Proven Steps To Selling Your Home
Define your goals, wants, needs and expectations. A good place to begin is by exploring your short and long term goals in life and how selling your home fits in. We will walk through a process we use to thoroughly understand our client’s goals, wants and needs to ensure that your expectations are met.
Determine the best price for what’s going on in the market right now. We assess the current state of the market and what comparable homes are actually selling for by reviewing a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) on your home. That way, we can objectively determine its fair market value and price it right.
Staging, Staging, Staging – Prepare your property so that it is in top-selling condition. Most of us don’t keep our homes in top-selling condition. We will work with you to help you see things from a buyer’s point of view. We will consult with you on what to repair, replace or remove so that your home makes a GREAT first impression.
Implement time-proven, research-based marketing strategies. Your home will be marketed with a 14 point marketing plan that has the highest potential for bringing not only the most buyers, but also the most qualified buyers to your doorstep.
Show your property. Always keep your home in top-selling condition. When you leave for work, make sure that your home remains in top-selling condition. You know what they say about first impressions!
Receive an offer. When a buyer decides to buy your home, an offer will be presented. We will advise you on the offer and whether the buyer is qualified to purchase your home.
Negotiate to sell. Most offers require some level of negotiation. We will work together to decide your parameter and we will negotiate on your behalf.
Have your home appraised and inspected. Once you have accepted an offer, We will work with the buyer’s agent to coordinate an appraisal, inspections and a survey (if required). If the buyer requires that certain repairs be made on your home, We will continue to negotiate on your behalf and recommend vendors so we move successfully from contract to closing.
Prepare for closing. A few days before closing (also known as settlement), We will contact the title company and the buyer’s agent to ensure that all the necessary forms and documents have been prepared. We will meet with you to review the closing documents and let you know what additional forms and information you need to bring to the closing meeting.
Close! At the closing meeting, ownership of your property is legally transferred to the buyer. We will be present to advise you and ensure that everything goes according to plan.
We Utilize a 14 Point Marketing Plan
- Price your home strategically to be competitive with the current market and current price trends.
- Stage your home to showcase features that buyers are most interested in: uncluttered rooms and closets, fresh paint and pleasing drive-up appeal.
- Place For Sale signage, complete with property flyers that are accessible to drive-by prospects.
- Provide a home warranty from American Home Shield that will protect your property during the process and add extra value to buyers who will also receive a year’s worth of protection.
- Distribute Just Listed marketing to neighbors, encouraging them to tell their family and friends about your home.
- Optimize your home’s online presence by posting it on local and global MLS systems and buyer focused websites, using professional photographs and creative descriptions.
- Create a property specific website that will solely feature the benefits of your home.
- Create a home book, comment cards and flyers for your property. Showcasing additional information and photos of your home and neighborhood will attract extra attention.
- Target my marketing to active real estate agents that specialize in selling homes in your neighborhood.
- Include your home in our company/MLS tour to allow other agents to see your home first hand.
- Advertise your home in my online real estate newsletter and direct mail direct mail campaigns.
- Create an Open House schedule to promote your home to prospective buyers.
- Target my marketing to active buyers and investors in my database that are looking for home in your price range and area.
- Provide you with weekly updates detailing my marketing efforts, including comments from prospective buyers and agents that have visited your home.
Our 10+ Customer Service Commitment
- Provide you with 10+ Customer Service during the entire selling process including, taking the time to understand your wants, needs and expectations, returning your calls and emails the same day and being honest with you at all times.
- Help you obtain the highest possible price for your house in the shortest amount of time.
- Advise you on pricing and assist you with staging your home.
- Implement the 14 Point Marketing Plan (see above) to market your house through as many channels as possible.
- Coordinate the home showing process.
- Present all offers in person and advise you on the terms and contingencies.
- Negotiate offers on your behalf.
- Schedule and coordinate completion of contingencies and inspections.
- Monitor the buyer’s loan process.
- Coordinate and supervise the preparation of all closing documents and guide you through the closing process.
Our Guarantee
Concerned about being LOCKED IN for a long period of time in a lengthy listing contract? Worried you’ll be stuck with an agent that sounds good today, but you may never hear from again?
If you’re not happy with us, fire us. It’s that simple. And there’s no penalty. We make it easy to work with us.
Contact Us For More Info
If you have any questions about the upcoming sale of you house – or to request a Home Pricing Evaluation & Listing Consultation, complete the form below.