Sell faster, buy smarter

In today’s market, agents MUST be proactive about their marketing approaches in order to sell.

With current inventory up as much as 64% in some regions, what are you doing as agents to bring more traffic to your listings and sell them faster? Several recent articles on Bankrate.com discussed the market conditions and what sellers could do to improve the chances of their home selling faster. Every article said to get an inspection BEFORE the home is listed. I often find myself asking Realtors and sellers how much a home inspection will cost the seller, but what I really should be asking is how much it will cost to leave the inspection up to the buyer. Certified Pre-Owned Listing, a new marketing program, incorporates a prelisting inspection in its packages.

Without a prelisting inspection, buyers have complete control of the contract, and they are using their inspection report to get the seller to repair EVERY item listed. In many cases, the seller is being taken to the cleaners on conditions that in all likelihood could have been curtailed had the seller taken a bit of proactive action. Considering these factors, the average cost of an inspection to the seller could easily be thousands of dollars if it is left up to the buyer after contract.

As a seller today, one of the most important factors is to stay in control of the sale. To do this, it is important to know what conditions will be found in an inspection BEFORE your buyer, so as not to be cornered after the contract. Having access to this information prior to the start of negotiations gives the seller an edge he/she didn’t have before. Now the seller has options before negotiations have even begun. With the findings of the inspection, the seller can elect to do any of the following:
1. Remove the defective component altogether – as long as it does not affect the value or attractiveness of the home, e.g. a defective disposal.
2. Replace the defective component.
3. Repair the defective component.
4. Disclose the condition prior to contract.

Enter a new marketing tool geared towards Realtors and sellers that choose to take this approach: www.CertifiedPreOwnedListing.com. This technology will rate pre-inspected homes based on the conditions that are found. If the minimum requirements are not met after an inspection, the seller has the option to correct the problems and have an inspector re-rate their home. Discovering that a roof replacement is needed, for example, could give the seller the opportunity to competitively price contractors before a buyer even enters the picture, presumably saving the seller thousands in the final sale of the home. Certified Pre-Owned Listing also offers your sellers a 120-day warranty to cover any breakdowns after the inspection.

If the seller agrees to publish the inspection reports on this web site, buyers and agents will be able to access the reports once they become registered members. By requiring registration, sellers and agents will be given the valuable information of knowing who is looking at their listing as well as when they are looking at it, generating leads automatically. You can take control of the sale back into your own hands.

It is important to keep the three key components that guide the buyer in the purchase of a new home in mind; price, condition and location. With www.CertifiedPreOwnedListing.com, the buyer can determine his/her price range in a select location and narrow down his/her prospects based on the condition of the property. Never before have buyers been given the opportunity to search for all three factors in one place. Never before has disclosure on the seller’s part been so beneficial. This service will be favorable to both buyer and seller and will indisputably be a success in the current market.

For questions about the program, please contact Certified Pre-Owned Listing at 866.499.4918. Agent registration is free, so log on today to be listed online.