With the Right Agent on Your Side, Selling Your Home is a Stress-Free Experience
If you’ve been following the local news, then you’re probably well aware of the fact that Pierce County is a seller’s market right now, and an intense one at that. There is a lot of demand from buyers at the moment, and it might seem like homes are selling like hotcakes. While this might be true in some ways, it’s still essential to properly prepare and price your home for the market in order to maximize your investment. This means that working with a smart and savvy listing agent who is well-versed in your specific neighborhood is still of the utmost importance.
Meet Curtis & Megan
REALTOR® Curtis Gibson and REALTOR® Megan Gibson have their listing process absolutely dialed in. They especially love helping their real estate clients buy and sell in the Tacoma area, University Place, and Puyallup, and their focus on these areas allows them to stay tuned into what’s happening on a micro level.
Helping Move-Up Buyers Make the Transition
About a year ago, a past client referred one of their friends to the Gibsons. This particular client wanted to build their dream home, so Curtis helped them search for just the right piece of land. As they looked for the ideal property together, the Gibsons and their client developed a very trusting relationship, which for the Gibsons is one of the most important parts of working with their clients!
After looking at vacant land, their client decided building a home wasn’t the best decision for them anymore. They shifted their search to looking for a home that was already built, and found a view home that checked off all the boxes. After they purchased their new home, they were ready to sell the home in Tacoma’s Old Town neighborhood that they had previously been living in.
Prepping the Home for Showtime
This particular client was very busy, and needed to be pretty hands-off when it came to preparing their home for sale. Both Curtis and Megan were ready to jump in and get to work, offering concierge-level service to take the responsibility of preparing the home for market off the seller’s plate. Curtis and Megan are happy to do this with all of the homes they list, and it’s this level of involvement and attention to detail that sets them apart.
With this home, their sellers had already moved out, so the Gibsons managed everything that needed to get done. Window washers came in to make sure the windows sparkled, and cleaners came to make sure everything was spotless. As far as updates or repairs were concerned, this home didn’t need much, but for homes that may need a bit more elbow grease, Curtis and Megan know how to get it all done. Curtis remembers during the recession when people needed to sell their homes but didn’t want to do any updates—he would jump in and do things himself to make sure they were presenting the home in its best light possible. During the recession when Curtis would sometimes sell distressed properties, he would jump in and do things himself to make sure the homes were financeable and the transactions would close.
Throughout this process, Curtis and Megan would update their sellers from time to time, but again, they knew their sellers trusted them to prep their home and keep their involvement at a minimum. Other sellers might like to be more involved, and this is totally up to you—Curtis and Megan are happy to be as communicative as you need!
Megan is especially passionate about staging homes, so they will bring in a professional stager to see what needs to happen to ensure the home is presented in its best light. Every home is a little different, and for this particular property, the sellers wanted to leave some of their own furniture and decor as they transitioned into their new home. After taking this into account, the home was partially staged and showcased a mix of the sellers personal items and things that were brought in by the stager. It turned out beautifully, and really helps potential buyers envision themselves in the home!
Rolling Out a Robust Marketing Strategy
A big part of maximizing your investment when you go to sell your home is not only making sure that your home is presented in its best light, but it’s making sure that as many people as possible have a chance to see your home. Curtis and Megan always make sure to have professional photos taken (including drone shots that offer even more perspective), and depending on the situation they will also have a lifestyle video created to showcase the home. 3D tours are also a must these days—depending on current COVID-19 restrictions, it can be more challenging to get people in to see the home in person. They also include floor plans with the listing, so potential buyers can get an even better sense of the layout.
The Gibsons also send out “just listed” postcards to the area the home is in, and they also have fliers available to help point out the home’s highlights as well. On listing day, they post photos and a branded listing graphic to their Facebook and Instagram pages, and they also publish an in-depth blog post that really dives into featuring everything that makes the home and its specific location so special. Curtis and Megan go all out with their marketing, and it pays off big time for their clients!
Pre-Inspection = Less Stress
For this home, the seller procured a pre-inspection to provide all of the potential buyers with. Curtis and Megan wanted to do all of the legwork upfront, and when the seller doesn’t have to worry about something unforeseen coming up in the buyer’s inspection, it can be a huge stress reliever!
The Perfect Price
As Curtis and Megan are preparing a home in these other ways, they’re also doing multiple market analyses along the way to see how much they should list the home for, and how much it might sell for. For this particular home in Old Town, they did several analyses, but they didn't choose a listing price until the day the home was ready to go on the market. This allows them to get a full picture of what’s happening in the local market, and even how homes sold the previous weekend might impact the list price. A common practice for Curtis and Megan is to call the listing brokers of houses that are pending to gain information about the upcoming closings in the area.
Rolling Out the Red Carpet on Listing Day
In this market, there’s probably not a bad time to list a home. Curtis and Megan usually list homes on a Wednesday or Thursday, so as soon as this home was ready, they hit the green light.
Featuring a generous 2,832-square-foot layout with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, immaculate formal living spaces, a gourmet kitchen and more, this home is truly a masterpiece. Not only is it just blocks from the Ruston Way waterfront in Tacoma’s historic Old Town neighborhood, but it also offers views of Commencement Bay.
During the first couple of days, there were about 15-20 showings. Due to COVID-19 restrictions there was not an open house, but people were able to schedule appointments to tour the home. Once people are done touring the home, the program that is used to schedule tours automatically sends a request to the potential buyers for feedback on the home, but Curtis likes to pick up the phone and get some real world intel! He asks the buyers’ agents for feedback on what their clients’ thought of the home, and this gives him a sense of what the offer situation might look like.
After getting some feedback, Curtis learned that many people loved the home but they wished there was a yard. (Not having a yard isn’t necessarily a bad thing—for some people, the low-maintenance outdoor space is a perk!) But because of all of this feedback, when a strong offer came in for list price, the sellers decided to accept it. This Old Town home sold for the $950,000 list price with great terms, a quick closing, a reliable lender, and in just 2 days.
The buyers did their own inspection, and Curtis met the appraiser at the house to provide comps and answer any questions in person. Curtis likes to be available, but he makes sure to give the appraiser space to do their job. The sellers ended up needing to do a couple of minor repairs to the HVAC and deck, but it was a breeze to take care of!
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Working with real estate professionals who have in-depth local market knowledge and extensive experience selling homes is a must in any real estate market, but especially the one we’re in right now. Many homes are selling fast, but we’re still seeing homes that aren’t priced correctly, aren’t prepared or marketed well, and listing agents who aren’t communicative with potential buyers. All of these can = tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars left on the table when you go to sell.
Would you like to learn more about selling your home? REALTOR® Curtis Gibson and REALTOR® Megan Gibson are happy to chat and learn more about your goals! You can reach out to Curtis at (253) 691-2521, email him at [email protected], or get in touch with him here!
You can also follow Megan and Curtis on Facebook and Instagram.