In the numerous meetings I've held with property owners thinking about selling their home, I've always been very clear and peremptory with them, when I realized that they wanted to maintain and encourage the possibility of them leading the whole process:
If you have the time and knowledge to do it, do it. If you have the ability to maintain objectivity throughout the process, and not give in to emotionality, do not hesitate and go ahead.
Faced with the incredulous look of some, as they expected another argument from me, I keep telling them that I, as a real estate mediation and consultancy professional, what I have to offer them is TIME, KNOW-HOW and OBJECTIVITY. Just it.
And then I explained to them what I meant.
As I will now explain to you, Mr. Owner:
Regarding the Time I dedicate to my activity and to my clients as a Real Estate Consultant, I try to keep a professional schedule with a wide range, remaining available for work from Monday to Saturday, from nine in the morning until eight in the evening, week after week. These are my options. But it is clear that, in order to maintain the proper balance between my personal and professional life, I 'steal' a few hours, here and there, throughout the week, from this professional agenda, but always in such a way as not to jeopardize any process of sale or purchase from my customers.
Now, would you, Mr. Owner, have all this Time availability? Yes, you may have. But are you really up for it?
Does your availability of Time, Mr. Owner, allow you to answer all the phone calls made to you by potential buyers of your property? Or by real estate agents and consultants who want to obtain information about the property to check if they have clients for it? Or, then, to try to list and commercialize it? And Mr. Owner, will you have Time to read and respond to all emails and messages (sms, whatsapp, social networks) from potential interested parties (or just curious people) in your property? And will you really have Time to visit your property with people interested in it? And will you have the patience to wait for interested parties who are late for visits? Or will you have the patience when they don't even show up (and don't even notify you in advance or apologize later)?
And regarding Know-how of the process of selling a property, do you have it, Mr. Owner? Yes, it is also possible that you have it. But are you likely to have all the necessary and sufficient Knowledge?
First of all, it is important to clarify this Know-how: it is about Process Know-how, Market Know-how and Marketing and Advertising Know-how. Not forgetting that Know-how can also help in obtaining Bank Financing.
Let me explain:
The Process Know-how, Mr. Owner, will make it easy for you to access the legal documentation of the property, analyze it and make the best efforts towards its correction, with the competent authorities, when necessary. And this Know-how will also give you the ability to write and/or analyze and negotiate the terms of a promissory contract of purchase and sale, in perfect knowledge of all the implications of what is included or not included therein. The same goes for the definitive contract of purchase and sale (a.k.a. 'deed') and everything necessary for it to be carried out to the satisfaction of both parties and in accordance with the Law.
Market Know-how will allow you, Mr. Owner, define an affordable market price for your property, taking into account its characteristics and location, as well as allowing you to monitor the pressures on your price arising from fluctuations in demand and supply, from new projects launched on the market in your area real estate, the influence of changes in the inflation rate and interest rates, etc. Do you have this Know-how, Mr. Owner, so that you can use it for your benefit?
Marketing and avertising Know-how will allow you to understand the target buyer profile for your property and, consequently, define a marketing strategy and an advertising plan consistent with that profile. This Know-how will tell you how you want to present your property, in terms of image (photography and video) and text, in order to enhance it and, consequently, improve the proposals to be received. This Know-how will also be used in the selection of the means to be used in the promotion of your property, namely in terms of real estate portals, social networks, email marketing, contact databases, signs, billboards, etc. Not forgetting that this Know-how will also tell you the best use of money involved in the planning and marketing of your property.
And it could also be very useful, Mr. Owner, to have the Know-how in obtaining bank financing for the buyer of his property. Because a potential buyer may appear and offers you a price and other purchase conditions that you like, but he might not have any pre-approved bank financing or not yet obtained one under the necessary and sufficient conditions.
Do you have these levels of Know-how, Mr. Owner? It is possible that you have. However, it is unlikely that you will have all of them or that you will have them at a level that allows you to positively maximize your intervention in the process. Now, as a professional real estate consultant, I have an obligation to have this Know-how, in addition to having a team – in my agency and real estate network – that permanently supports and enhances this Know-how.
And finally, Objectivity. Do you, Mr. Owner, consider yourself as an objective person, who uses rationality and common sense to listen to the opinions of others, even if they are contrary to your own? Yes, I believe you have it and use it almost of the times. But what if what is at stake is your property? What if it's the house where you live? What if it's the house where your family grew up? The house you bought, fixed, decorated and invested a lot over the years? Will you have the necessary and sufficient objectivity to sell it?
Will you, Mr. Owner, have the ability to keep your emotions under control when you receive phone calls and messages from people who do not hesitate to make negative comments (and some very unpleasant ones) about the price of your property? Or will you have the patience for phone calls from mere curiosity seekers? Or the countless calls from real estate agents and consultants who insist to exhaustion - and without common sense - on the possibility of listing your property? Or, Mr. Owner, will you calmly tolerate negative criticism of the state of conservation, decoration or tidiness of your property, during the visits you provide to interested parties? Or will you react in a controlled manner to the ridiculous proposals that will be made to you at the time, accompanied by derogatory arguments about the property potential buyers have just visited with you?
It's difficult, don't you think? Yeah... The truth is that it won't be easy for a homeowner to manage his emotions when what is at stake is his property and the appreciation he makes of it. A professional real estate consultant trains and does this daily. In addition to the fact that we deal with a property that is not ours, which facilitates the use of Objectivity in our professional performance.
Does what I wrote above make sense to you? After all, as a real estate mediation and consultancy professional, offering you TIME, KNOW-HOW and OBJECTIVITY... is a lot, don't you think?
Have a property to sell? Want my Time, Know-how and Objectivity?
Do not hesitate to contact me:
Marco Moura Marques
+351 967 035 966
marcomouramarques@kwportugal.pt
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