You've probably read the headlines:
"Lack of buyers!" "Massive price drops!" "Endless days on market!"
For many Sellers, it's an unpleasant reality. But not for the resourceful ones who have a plan and are willing to do the work to make their home move-in ready. For those folks, the market is on fire! The following case study details how my out-of-state clients and I created a 360 solution that generated urgency, multiple offers and a sales price more than $100,000 over appraised value, all without the Seller fronting any out-of-pocket costs or even stepping foot into California.
The Situation:
At the end of July, I was approached by a former work colleague who had purchased a starter home in Studio City in 2000. When work relocated her to London in 2005, she held onto the home as an investment property. But now, 18 years later and realizing long distance property management wasn't her thing, she was ready to let it go. But what to do with a home that was clearly showing its age from years of tenant neglect.
PRO TIP: Think like a Buyer. Before listing your home, take some photos of the exterior and the critical interior rooms. Then imagine you're a homebuyer scrolling through these photos on Zillow. Would you consider purchasing it at your desired price?
Step 1: Building the Strategy
While the home had a great location and an enchanting canyon feel, it needed a lot of TLC. But before doing any work, we initially explored the developer market by placing it on the collaborative Compass network as a Private Exclusive. This allowed us to generate a number of early showings and three offers without accruing days on market. But it quickly became clear that a 2-bedroom home was not going to receive a serious offer from a flipper above our appraisal price of $1.2M.
PRO TIP: Set a baseline with an unbiased 3rd party appraisal before hitting the open market.
Step 2: Prepping the Home
We next turned to what it would take to ready the house for the open market, getting bids from contractors, electricians, plumbers, landscapers, painters and stagers. And by utilizing Concierge, the Compass no-interest financing program, the Sellers were able to invest in a $40k refresh without any upfront spend, fees or accrued interest.
PRO TIP: Don’t get intimidated by the work. Refreshing your home doesn’t have to be terribly expensive or time consuming. You’re not remodeling, you’re simply trying to eliminate as many “buyer no’s” as you can without breaking the bank.
Over a four-week period we maximized curb appeal by repairing and painting the exterior, building hillside stairways and privacy fencing, and designing new landscaping. With the interior, we added recessed lighting, painted and refreshed kitchen cabinetry and repaired minor electrical and plumbing issues. But more than that, we increased value by removing mismatched aesthetic features that had been added by multiple owners (and tenants) over the past 40 years. The results were startling.
Step 3: Finding our Buyer
Listing a home for sale is a lot like launching a movie. You have to first understand who the audience is and then determine how to grab their attention while standing out from the competition. And like a movie launch, you have a very short window within which to do this.
So, who exactly was our Buyer Profile?
Noting our proximity to both the studios and the uber-hot shopping and dining options in Studio City, we centered on a Young Professional or Childless Couple likely in the entertainment, advertising, or tech space who would recognize the value of a well-priced home with curb appeal on a quiet street with close proximity to one of the new cultural epicenters of LA.
Step 4: Helping Buyers Take Notice
Today’s home buyer spends hours online scrolling through countless images of homes. But after a while, fatigue sets in and everything starts to blur together. As a Listing Agent, we have one shot to help buyers take notice. We do this by investing in great marketing assets (staging, photography, video, copy, website) that sell - without misrepresenting - the property. And then we build a strategic media plan to ensure our home is seen wherever and whenever buyers are conducting a search.
Step 5: Helping Buyers Take Action
If great content captures the buyer’s interest, pricing it right and making it available drives them to come out to see it. Because we had primed the market first as a Compass Private Exclusive, we had a good idea of pricing tolerance when we gave the public its first view of the property as a “Coming Soon” on the MLS. In advance, we announced 8 public open houses across a two-week showing schedule, which ensured maximum turnout.
PRO TIP: Don't give up on open houses after low attendance. Our buyer was found only because her parents toured the home at our 2nd Twilight Open, which we had almost cancelled because of poor turnout from the first one. Thank goodness we didn't give up.
Once prospective buyers arrived, we created an effective event experience by offering guided walk throughs, thoughtful music playlists, refreshments and insightful market data all designed to help buyers and their agents imagine their future selves in the home.
Marketing collateral touted the neighborhood's many dining, shopping and wellness options for the unitiated.
The Results: The Art of Representation
- 8 Open Houses hosted across 14 days
- 174 Groups toured the home
- 3 Offers written and countered
- Appraised Price: $1,200,000
- List Price: $1,288,000
- Sale Price: $1,320,000
A native Angeleno, I grew up in a "show-biz family" and began my career as a third-generation theatrical agent impacting the careers of actors including the likes of Crispin Glover, Ray Liotta, and Demi Moore.
After beginning a family, I traded Sunset Blvd for Madison Avenue and spent the next 20 years in advertising, creating and implementing marketing strategies that drove new business growth, resulting in the successful onboarding of clients such as Coca-Cola, Comcast, Electronic Arts, Nike, Pinkberry, Princess Cruises and the US Army among many others.
I now apply those same principles of agency; integrity, accountability, and perseverance on my client's behalf as we work together to define and fulfill their real estate investment strategies.
[email protected] | 310.717.8536 | DRE: 02074499
