Ready to Sell in Maple Valley? Go Global!

One of the things I pride myself on as a Listing Agent is the power of my internet marketing program. When I meet with potential sellers in the Maple Valley area, I am able to demonstrate to them through statistics and anecdotes how an effective internet marketing strategy, combined with an experienced eye on local trends can help them be successful, even in today’s market.

One of the features I offer to website visitors is the ability to sign up for automatic Listing updates for the Maple Valley market. A few weeks ago I received an email from a soldier in Iraq who had signed up to have new listings emailed to him. He is researching different communities in the Seattle area, trying to determine where he and his family will settle when he comes home.

Here’s a snippet of his email:

We really do have a broad geography.
I am looking for good schools from Bonney Lake to Lake Stevens.  Maple
Valley is the center and your web-site kept turning up every time I
searched on “Maple Valley”. (Emphasis added by me)

On a weekly basis I have people visiting my various websites and blogs from New York to Texas to California to Dubai (?), and other many other international locations (ok, I’ll admit I don’t even know where some of these countries are) and many of them are repeat visitors.  

Over 80% of home buyers begin their home search on the internet. Today more than ever, it’s imperative to your success that your property have maximum (read global!) exposure beyond a simple MLS listing format. Buyers want details, photos and virtual tours. They want to shop in their PJ’s from the comfort of their living room.

And I’m happy to help them!

If you plan on selling your Maple Valley home in the near future, I’d love the opportunity to talk with you (no obligation of course) about the power of internet marketing and how it is possible to sell, even in a slower market.

 

 Colleen Fischesser is the Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Select in Maple Valley, WA. She has been successfully selling and marketing properties all over South King & North Pierce counties since 1990 but specializes in the Maple Valley Washington area. .She may be contacted directly at: 425-432-5400

 

Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved Colleen Fischesser

Foreclosures Among Us

It’s a sad fact that our community has not been immune to the mortgage meltdown and downturn of our economy. Every day I see more and more notices of foreclosure for local Maple Valley homes, more bank-owned homes and more short sales which may soon run out of time before being sold at a Trustee’s Sale on the courthouse steps.

But what is even more upsetting is to see people in financial trouble who are not aware they have options. Just this week I heard the story of a woman currently in foreclosure. The bank wanted to work with her on a short sale (where the bank is willing to accept less than what is owed on the house if the seller has a buyer for the property) but either because she didn’t understand the process, or received some bad advice, she ran out of time. Her home will be sold at auction and her credit will reflect that she was foreclosed upon.

If you or someone you know someone is facing foreclosure, there may be options available. Steps which could help you to either postpone or avoid the foreclosure sale altogether. If you are given a Notice of Default, my advice would be to seek legal advice immediately and then contact an experienced real estate professional to help assess the current market value of your property and discuss whether a short sale is a possibility.

Just Sold the Pond at Greenbrier

This beautiful Curtis Lang resale home in the ponds at Greenbrier just closed escrow yesterday. The home offered over 4,000 square feet, main floor master and fully finished basement . It was situated on a private 1/2 acre lot and the final settlement price was $600,000.

The Real Estate Market Will Survive-”Life Happens”

 I know there is a level of uncertainty, even fear with consumers and industry insiders in the market right now. This is a post I previously published on another blog several months ago. I thought it might be timely and perhaps offer some small measure of comfort for those who need reassurance that the real estate industry will survive……

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I’m always saddened to get that phone call from past clients telling me they need to sell the house because they are divorcing. Sometimes they sound almost apologetic or embarrassed. I always reassure them I can help and tell them “Life Happens”.

Life Happens all the time in Real Estate.

Once after a seller had accepted an offer, I had to call with the news his buyer had just fallen off a building and could no longer move forward with the transaction. Another time, I was representing buyers on a home which had taken them seven months to find. One week before closing, the sellers want out. Mr. Seller was in another state, having taken a new job while Mrs. Seller stayed home w/ Junior to get the house sold. Mr. Seller had called (one week before closing) to tell his wife not to bother to come, he’d met someone else. After seeking legal counsel Mrs. Seller signed and the buyers moved in a week later.  

There will always be a market for real estate because Life Happens!  Babies are born and lives are lost. Students graduate and promotions are given. Jobs are eliminated and Marriages end. Life happens and whether it’s good or bad, there will always be people buying and selling real estate. But during the process, the value of having an experienced, caring ,dedicated  professional working for you is priceless!

Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved Colleen Fischesser

Think You May Sell Your Maple Valley Home Next Winter?

The reason housing inventory goes up in the Spring and Summer months is because most people want to sell their homes when they look their best-the sun is shining, the grass is green and the rhodies are in bloom! But what if you know you’re going to sell but for whatever reason, this isn’t the right time? What if you have to sell your Maple Valley area home in November (think dark by 4:30 and rain)? I suggest to my clients who are selling in the Winter months, to put out photos of the yard in the Spring and Summer when the garden beds were plump with perrenials and the rhodies were bursting with color. It helps the buyer, standing at the picture window looking onto the rain soaked dormant landscaping, get an idea of what the yard will look like in a few months.

My point? When this rain stops and your lawn and garden looks great again, take some photos for your sale this Winter. They can be used in a photo album, or even one of those digital picture frames next to the marketing materials for your property. You and your buyers will be glad you preserved a picture of what your home looks like at other times of the year.

But of course we have to wait for this rain to end.

It’s got to end soon….right?

Colleen Fischesser is the Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Select in Maple Valley, WA. She has been successfully selling and marketing properties all over South King & North Pierce counties since 1990 but specializes in the greater Maple Valley area. She may be contacted directly at: 425-432-5400

Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved Colleen Fischesser

The Formula For a Faster Sale: Yesterday’s Price - Market Adjustment = Faster Sale

 My mom used to watch Days of Our Lives every afternoon when I would come home from school. Although I haven’t watch a Soap Opera for years, I can still here the music and the announcer’s voice over “Like Sand through an hour glass….these are the days of our lives”

For many home owners having their property listed may seem as painful as watching grains of sand slip slowly through the hourglass…..day after day living life outside their regular routine; making the beds every day, (yes, some people don’t make their bed every day!) keeping the dishes out of the sink, the dog in the laundry room…whatever the hoops they need to jump through may be. The fact of the matter is, if you want to sell now, you have got to price your home aggressively and if it doesn’t sell, be prepared for a price reduction.

In my market area, of the 29 stick-built homes with sales pending, 75% made at least one price reduction after the initial list price. These homes were on the market an average of 124 days.

Compare that to the 25% which came on the market at a relatively aggressive price, never reduced and sold in an average of 22 days.

The name of the game today is PRICE. Buyers must have a reason to buy your home, over the dozens of others on the market today.

Let’s see, make the bed 124 days in a row or 22 days in a row and still end up at the same price?

Seems like an easy choice to me!

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