Thank goodness! We have turned the curve. As a real estate professional, I look for 3 consecutive months of improvement before I declare a shift in the market. It appears that we have hit the 3 months period and things are still moving in the right direction.
The month of April was very strong. Our sellers are seeing more showings. More offers and more deals are making it to the closing table. Best of all, we have been able to get our sellers some really good prices for their properties.
Now is the time to be Active in our approach to our real estate investments. Meaning, we do not want to just sit back, look at the activity, and relax - thinking the market will bring us a good selling price. The increase in demand will make selling more likely, yet there are a few things that we have to focus on in order to create Top Dollar selling prices. I mention this because I am already seeing some agents get lazy as they see that the market is improving. They are putting a listing in the MLS and sitting around waiting for another agent to bring a buyer. My commitment is to get you the most money if you want to sell, and here are a few things that we are doing to make this happen.
1. Active Marketing is Required: Putting a property in the MLS is not Active Marketing. Active Marketing is placing it in the MLS and then spending time marketing it to buyer databases, active Internet prospecting, Top Agent prospecting and more. This is not the time to leave money on the table due to lack of marketing efforts.
Watch my video on Active versus Passive Marketing
2. Aggressive Buyer Follow Up: You may have heard how bad agents are about calling their buyer leads back. It does not make sense yet nearly 70% of buyers report agents are poor at follow up. No wonder why so many properties fail to sell. Follow up is critical if you are going to sell for a good price.
Here is a video describing Aggressive Buyer Follow Up
3. Negotiating: Having a strong negotiator on your side is quickly becoming the difference between just selling and selling for the absolute top dollar possible. A strong negotiator will often get 4-6% more for their sellers than someone who is only negotiating occasionally. Because of the increase in activity in our market, I am seeing a HUGE increase in the amount of new agents coming into the business. Many of these agents left the business when it became too difficult to get deals together and negotiations became tougher. You have to be careful because there is a lot of money left on the table due to inexperienced negotiators.
Watch our video called "Negotiations that Work for our Sellers"
As you can see, the market is improving yet my agents will not relax and settle for what the market will or will not provide. This is the time where hard work means more money for our sellers. You have waited many years for increased activity so now is not the time for agents to get lazy.
Let us know if we need to discuss your 2013 real estate strategy. You can call us even if you are not selling today. We are your Myrtle Beach real estate resource and are available for all of your real estate needs.