How to Get the Most Money For Your House.

Many people that we work with and speak to on a daily basis initially reach out to BlueMatch because they are looking to save money. Saving money is a great strategy in selling a home but is it really the best way to get the most money for your house? At BlueMatch, saving money is just one piece of a much larger puzzle in maximizing your net sales figures. BlueMatch has analyzed hundreds of homes that have sold on our platform and hundreds more sold by other other agents. In this article, we will go over some of the scenarios we often see and show you how you can avoid costly mistakes when selling your home.

A few months ago, I sold my own home using BlueMatch. I paid the same fees, and went through the same process as our customers. I opted to upgrade to managed service and I was very pleased with the outcome. My home sold for full asking and zero concessions and I offered a 2.8% buyer commission. It was one of the highest homes sold in my neighborhood at the time. In other words, I ate my own dog food.

The reason I opted to upgrade my service and use one of our agents is because my goal was not only to save money, but maximize the sale price of my home. By using one of my agents, I knew that they were going to negotiate not only the best price on my behalf, but also find me money throughout the process. The people that bought my house sent over three total offers. Each offer but the final was below my asking price. I almost accepted the offer, but my agent was confident he could get me a better deal.

We went under contract fairly quick and throughout the process, my agent found me an additional $4,000. When you combine the offer negotiation and what I saved in concessions, I am at $9,000 MORE than what I would have been able to negotiate on my own and thats without the $12,000 savings in commissions. When you combine the commission, my net increase was $21,000 on my home! That’s real money that went into my pocket at the end of the day.

Here is why combining a commission free strategy with a top agent makes for the best strategy:

1. Agents that do an extremely high volume of transactions, know what they can and can’t negotiate.

Our agents do more transactions in two weeks than the average agent does in a year. This means that they have seen more scenarios and know what is acceptable in the markets they work in. Some agents push too hard and lose the deal. Some agents don’t know what they can get so they leave money on the table. A great agent will know how far they can go without losing you a deal.

Make sure that the agent you choose has the experience and knowledge to perform at the highest level. Look at their Zillow profile. Make sure that they are doing at least 30-40 transactions per year. If they make excuses as to why they are not doing the proper volume, run! A great agent will be able to prove they are great with data. They will be able to show you past and present performance without hesitation. If they can’t, they are probably full of horse poop.

Just because your agent can sell you, doesn’t always mean they can sell your home.

2. Price your home correctly.

We can not stress this point enough. BlueMatch has done enough transactions that we can predict almost 100% of the time the outcome of what happens when you overprice your home. The scenario is all too familiar. A person will list their home on our platform and choose they lowest package. They believe they have the experience needed to sell successfully because they have 7 or 8 homes they have sold in the past FSBO. They list the home and overprice it. A week or two goes by, they panic, and decide hire a full service agent that has been putting a bug in their ear. They have no idea what their average days on market is suppose to be and refuse to lower their price.

BlueMatch follows every listing that cancels with us and records the outcome. In almost every single scenario, our past clients end up price dropping to what we initially recommended (in many cases even less) and sell below the dropped price. On top of all this, the agent putting the bug in their ear was paid a full 3% commission!

In almost every case, if the client would have priced correctly with us and remained patient, they would have put thousands back into their pocket. We always want our clients to succeed but overtime, we have become very good at predicting real estate outcomes.

3. Negotiating price is just part of getting the most money for your house.

In a real estate negotiation, there are many areas where you can make or lose money. Appraisal gap, concessions, closing fees, and HOA transfers are just a few areas where you can negotiate terms. Having a strong knowledge of what and how to negotiate these can add up to thousands in savings or net earning.

In Denver for example, appraisal gaps are very common. There are many factors that can determine what you should pay and what your buyer should pay. Not knowing what to do in this particular situation can be very costly. We are not talking about hundreds of dollars like in HOA transfer fees. Appraisal gaps can be tens of thousands of dollars.

4. Commission is a huge part of netting the most money for your house.

Real Estate commissions can add up very quick. A $400,000 house will cost your roughly $24,000 in total commissions if you decide to sell it with a traditional agent. Saving this upfront puts you way ahead of the game. Not offering a buyer agent commission can also hurt the sale of your home. We see this mistake happen often. The good news is if you correct it early, you can usually salvage your sale.

Many people automatically assume that they will be saving the most by listing with BlueMatch and not offer a buyer agent commission. Wile this is true in theory, it can result in a net loss. Listings that do not offer a buyer agent commission generally perform very poorly. Agents unfortunately boycott these listings leaving you with a small segment of the market that is searching without an agent. If your home sits too long, it will more than likely lead to price drops. We have seen these price drops surpass the 2.8% that is generally offered.

The nice thing about BlueMatch is if someone does not want to use an agent, we do not double end the deal like most agents. What this means is, you only pay our flat fee and that is it. BlueMatch recently sold a home in Ft Collins CO without a buyer agent. Our client, the seller, saved almost $50,000 in total commission! Now thats a lot of dough.

5. Having a strong history of high performance is a good indicator of future performance.

Many agents will charge you 2.8% to 3% regardless of their experience. Pretty crazy huh? Whether you choose a discount brokerage, a traditional brokerage, or a tech enabled brokerage like BlueMatch, it is important to research the track record and reputation of your agent. There are man ways to look this information up. Zillow is probably the best resource. Before signing with an agent, look at their past sales history. See how many homes they have on the market.

If the agent has only sold 20 or less homes in the last 12 months and only has about 8-10 listings or less, you may want to reconsider. Think about it. Would you rather have your heart surgeon highly experienced with over 10,000 successful surgeries or have someone fresh out of med school cutting you open? Would you rather have an attorney with a track record of winning thousands of cases or one that has won a dozen? The same holds true for real estate.

The more experience you have, the better you are. It’s that simple.

There is no magic formula to guaranteeing that you will get the most money for your home. Taking certain steps in the right direction however can drastically increase your odds. Doing a great deal of due diligence upfront and asking your agent tough questions can usually lead to you netting thousands more for your home. As always, happy selling!