3 Simple Tips For People Selling Their Home or Condo in Philadelphia
Suggestion 1 - Selling Your Philadelphia Home ? Find a Realtor Who Markets Listings Aggressively !!
We are not in a Seller's Market ! We believe you must use a Realtor to get get the most exposure for your property through the MLS and extensive internet marketing which puts your home at the fingertips of hundreds and thousands of Realtors and consumers daily, 24/7.
It is usually best to hire a Realtor in your 
area of Philadelphia as well as your specific subdivision such as Old City, Graudate Hopsital, Northern Liberties, Fishtown...etc. Look for a Philadelphia Realtor that is an Expert Listing Agent. Make sure they go above and beyond when it comes to advertising and marketing their clients properties. For example: we use enhanced services at Remax.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com, our very own The Somers Team - Philadelphia Real Estate , Craigslist, our Blog Philadelphia Real Estate Voice and many other smaller sites such as backpage, kijiji, and so on. 85% of all Buyers look on line before they even call a Realtor. Thus, you want you home to be seen !
If you can not find a local Realtor that can do that for you then branch out beyond your immediate area. Our marketing efforts will far outweigh an agent who is "just local". You'll need more than a lawn sign and a listing with a few pictures.
Suggestion 2 - Selling Your Philadelphia Home ? Price Your Home To Sell Not to Sit !!
It will be important to choose a listing price that will honor the current market prices. We will discuss the specific sales and go over a detailed market analysis if you decide to use us as your Realtor. Ultimately you set the listing price but the Market Analysis and our insight will guide you.
Suggestion 3 - Selling Your Philadelphia Home ? Prepare your House for Showings !!
Clean, declutter, deodorize, and minimize everything in the house for showings. There should be no more than 3 items on any surface or wall. Clear walk ways and remove excess furniture. Pack all useless items and store them in a garage, closet, or spare room.
Depending on the price you want to sell your home for, you may or may not need to do some handy work like paint or replace carpet and such. We would have to see the house to make those recommendations. No major renovations will be recommended since it is unlikely in this market that you will get the money back in the sale.
Plan to make showings very easy for the prospective buyer. Never say no to a showing if possible. There is so much inventory out there, buyers can easily skip your home to purchase another !!
We would certainly like to help you if you are thinking about selling your property.
We hope this info on Selling Philadelphia Homes and Condominiums helps answer some of your questions. If you find the information informative and helpful, please subscribe to our blog ! Is only a click away ! If you are in our neck of the woods, please contact us via phone or email or ask about our new office location in Northern Liberties ! And for more insight on the Philadelphia condominium market, please read Where is the Philadelphia Condo Market Going ?
If interested in buying or selling a condo in Philadelphia, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at thesomersteam@yahoo.com or 215-400-2612 . You can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter . For investment properties, check out our new investor site at Philly Investor Hub and ask us about Philadelphia Foreclosures and Short Sales .
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Areas of specialty include Northern Liberties, Old City, Center City, Fishtown, Graduate Hospital, Art Museum, Queen Village, Pennsport, Old Kensington, Port Richmond, Bridesburg, Society Hill, Loft District, Spring Garden and more !
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All are great tips. One thing that bothers me is when Sellers tell me, Just put in on the market and we'll see what it does. Red flags come up and I certainly would not take such listings. I find a polite way to tell them that I find no joy in listing houses. I do it to sell them.
Loreena - One of the best quotes out there is that "I do not list homes, I sell them" . If sellers and agents withdrew all the listings that are so overpriced that will never sell the inventory would probably go down more than 10 percent and as a result, many of the pundits would say "the housing crisis is over" !
The best is when you go on a listing presentation, when you know the area WELL, when you've recently sold properties in the area, you know the comps, dealt with the appraisal issues. .... etc... etc... and then you find out the potential client went with the agent who offered to list their home at the highest price ... only for it to SIT ... and SIT and SIT ... and they end up having to sell even lower than YOUR suggested price .... yes .. red flags ... I've walked myself.
And recently I've come across over priced listings that the agent KNOWS they are over priced ... and when an offer is made high enough to cover seller assist, yet within the list price ... the agent says, "Oh we don't want to go THAT high because of appraisal issues ..." OMG ~ have you come across this?!?!? I have and MORE THAN ONCE ... makes no sense to over price a property just to get the listing.
Sorry went off on a rant! LOL
~ Kim Schreiner, ePRO, Realtor
RE/MAX Affiliates, NE
CHris and Steph..Very good advise..Well done..thanks
HELPFULHANNAH
Christopher and Stephanie:
I agree with all you are saying. We are being very agressive in our marketing and it is paying off.
Richard
Kim - I hear you ! It happens too often. And in a declining market, that strategy really hurts the seller. Sometimes it is best to walk away. I think the only exception would be when there is agreed upon price reductions within a definite amount of time... every 2 weeks or so. Many of these folks should just take their properties off the market as they are "not in a rush" or "testing the market". Or "I do not have to sell". These properties clog up the inventory and confuse other sellers as other sellers will say "well that house is listed $40K higher ?? "
Hannah - You are welcome ! Thank you for stopping by : )
Richard - Absolutely ! Aggressive marketing in this market is great for the sellers. It is necessary. And, not for nothing, it is good for the Realtors that are doing it. It is great to be known as "that aggressive Realtor who is all over the Internet" !