SELLING YOUR HOME

I know the two of the most important questions that come to mind when selling your home are:

• How much is my home worth?
• How long will it take to sell?

There are many factors used to determine a price for you home. I will prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), giving you a clear understanding of competing properties, market trends, recent sales and homes that did not sell in your area. Together we will look at this data and determine if this is the right time for you to sell. In this analysis we will discuss what you need to hear, and perhaps not what you want to hear. I will always be honest, sometimes brutally so, even to my own detriment. Case in point, during the recent recession as my paychecks became less frequent, I still often recommended sellers wait a few years for the market to rebound.

Bottom line, there is no point in giving you an inflated listing price for your home if the market doesn’t dictate it. That would be a waste of your time and energy, as well as mine. I refuse to overprice a home just so that I can pick up buyers off of a sign. That would be of no benefit to you.

There are many questions you need to ask before hiring a REALTOR® to sell your home:

• What is your home-selling experience?
• Do you come well-recommended? I have high rankings in both Zillow and Realtor.com as rated by my past clients.
• Are you a REALTOR®? Yes, I am.
• Do you have an active real estate license in good standing? My active licenses in WA & ID are both in good standing. To find this information about me, you can check with the Washington Association of REALTORS® (WAR) or the Idaho Association of REALTORS® (IAR).
• Do you belong to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and/or a reliable online home buyer’s search service? I belong to the Spokane Association of REALTORS®, and cooperatively the Coeur d’Alene MLS and Northwest MLS.
• If there’s no nearby MLS, how often do you cooperate with other local brokers on a sale? I also have a network of REALTORS® in neighboring counties who will put my homes on their MLS system should your location border the outlying areas of my coverage.
• What have you listed or sold in this neighborhood lately? In a typical year I average 28-35 sales per year in Spokane & Kootenai counties. The neighborhoods vary.

And in addition to the criteria mentioned above, there are number of very important reasons you will typically prefer to work with a REALTOR® such as myself. Among them we adhere to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) highest standards of ethical conduct and professional training.

WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT?

COMMUNICATION. In any relationship communication is key. I answer my phone! I can be reached via phone, text, email, chat … you name it and I have the capability to do it. I will also follow up with you at least weekly with any status updates, even if there’s nothing to tell.

PROFESSIONAL MARKETING. In my mind you need to spend money to make money. I’m not afraid to spend my own money on professional photography, a personal website, virtual tours and social media to get your home looking it’s best in front of thousands of eyes.

OUR OFFICES ALL WORK TOGETHER. We have four Coldwell Banker Tomlinson offices in the area. Need to drop off an earnest money check and one office is more convenient than the other? Problem solved! We work as a team to make all our clients lives as stress-free as possible. Let’s be honest, there will always be some sort of stress involved when buying or selling a home so let’s work to reduce that.

I KNOW PEOPLE. Need a recommendation for a lender, title company, attorney, plumber, inspector, HVAC repair, foundation repair, sewer scope, structural engineer … I’m your gal! I can direct you to the right person for the job when it comes to your home.

DUAL LICENSED IN BOTH WA & ID. Not sure whether you want to purchase in WA or ID? Selling your home in ID and want to purchase in WA? I am licensed in BOTH states. This means you have the pleasure of working with just one REALTOR, me! And of course you I can help you with just one of the states as well.

WHAT ELSE WILL I DO FOR YOU

• I will walk you through the process of selling your home from beginning to end.
• I provide you with an estimate of the closing costs you will incur.
• I will answer my phone!
• I will provide comparable information about the prices for which other properties have sold and analyzing data for you to gain a true comparison.
• I will share information about your home through three Multiple Listing Services and on the Internet.
• We may have an offer, but is the buyer qualified? I will take extra steps to verify your buyer is actually approved for a loan or has sufficient funds readily available to purchase.
• I will pointing out pros and cons of each offer and offer beneficial negotiating tactics appropriate to the situation. The highest offer price is not necessary the best offer to accept!
• I will alert you to potential risks.
• I will comply with the disclosures required by law.
• I will help you prepare for a smooth closing of the transaction.

I will make every effort to make this as smooth a sale as possible. I’ve personally purchased and sold homes so I know about the stress, uncertainty and seeing some of your sweat equity lost to selling costs. But my end goal is not only for you to feel like you are my only client, but for you to also feel it was so simple and stress-free that it was the best money you ever spent.

SELLING TOOLS

• How much is my home worth?
  Trying to price your home to sell? Not sure how much it’s worth?
• Moving Checklist
  A time-based checklist to help plan for and improve your moving experience.
• Packing Tips
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