One of my favorite designers, Nate Berkus, used to have a daily television show and I loved it whenever he had Real Estate Agent and Mogul Barbara Corcoran as a guest. If you are not aware of who Barbara Corcoran is, she is a Real Estate Contributor on NBC's Today show and part of ABC's reality hit Shark Tank.
She is one of the renowned experts on Real Estate and here are a few things she had to say. A couple were new to me but they may be great advice for sellers to pay attention to!
I would first check with your Realtor 'Sharlene Hensrud' to get her advice as well as things may be different in this area. They do give you some things to think about.
1) BUYERS DECIDE WITHIN 8 SECONDS WHETHER THEY ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR HOME.
Well I must say I totally agree with this one and funny, but if you look on my website it says that the buyer will decide within 11 seconds. I was 3 seconds off!! As a Home Stager I need to get that first impression even better to make up the 3 seconds! But seriously, we all know how important that first impression is.
2) PRICE YOUR HOME EXACTLY AT WHAT IT'S WORTH.
Don't leave "wiggle room". Barbara's recommendation for the best way to get to the right price is to get three qualified Agents to give you their opinion on price, then go with the lowest one as that is the broker that is telling them the truth. How many agents tell the sellers only what they want to hear just to get the listing? I am not an agent so I cannot weigh in here but I think if you know your agent well and know they are telling you the truth, that is the main thing.
Small price drops here and there don't get attention and really don't look good. What you need to do is drop the price enough to get it into down into the next price bracket. If your home is in the $350K-$400K bracket now, you will need to drop it down to $349K to get noticed by another group of buyers.
4) NINE OUT OF TEN BUYERS VIEW HOMES BASES ON PICTURES ONLINE.
Okay, gas prices are lower but we all know this is true!! Plus people just don't have the time to drive around and look at homes anymore....they weed them out on the internet. Pictures are key!!
5) GET YOUR HOME INSPECTED BEFORE LISTING. 
And not for the reasons you may think. It's not so you can hang another little sign at the bottom of your 'For Sale' sign saying 'Inspected'. It is so that you know what you need to fix and get it fixed before you even put it on the market.
6) IF YOU HAVE 8 SHOWINGS WITHOUT AN OFFER YOU ARE OVERPRICED.
Since I am not an agent this one was new to me. Apparently the US average is 8 showings per offer and anything over that is not a good sign. What are your thoughts Sharlene for this area?
So sellers....get a good agent like Sharlene Hensrud. Get a good Home Stager. Need I say more?? Need Barbara say more?
