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• Why Comox Valley Real Estate First Impressions?

Comox Valley real estate first impressions are everything when it comes to selling a home. First impressions are generally involved when we meet someone for the first time, go somewhere for the first time or do something for the first time. First impressions are important in all aspects of our lives, including real estate.

First impressions involve immediate evaluations and intuitive responses that are often lasting. They are based on direct inputs from our senses and they can trigger emotional responses. When people meet other people or visit a new part of the world, first impressions are often powerful. The mental images created and the conclusions drawn of people and places can last a long time. The impact can translate directly into actions over the short and longer term.  Opinions are often formed about other people during first encounters and in the first few seconds. Appearance, body language, grooming, approachability, attitude, and what is said, all affect one person’s evaluation of another in a very short period of time. When first impressions are negative or wrong, they can be very difficult to change.

First impressions are also important to the powerful Comox Valley listings market place. Our senses are used to create those first impressions and our emotions come into play as we formulate opinions and draw conclusions. Emotions can often overpower logic and rationality and the conclusions reached through first impressions can make or break the home sale, and sometimes even affect or negate the viewing of a home. This real estate fact cannot be over emphasized to home sellers.

Given how many people currently start a home search, preconceptions can also come into play. Preconceptions involve the formation of an opinion before adequate property knowledge or experience. While there is a difference between a first impression and a preconception, they both can ultimately affect how, and even if, we view a home. Preconceptions are generally at work during the first and second stages of a home search.

According to home buyer profiles, nearly 90% of home buyers employed the internet and a real estate agent during their home search process. For many people, the first stage of a home search currently takes place online. Many people will spend time surfing the internet even before they enlist the help of a local Comox Valley real estate agent. It is, therefore, important for sellers to understand this. Their home should have a significant online presence, their home should show up well in searches, and their home should be presented in an accurate and positive way.

Think about the following examples:

A Comox Valley home does not show up well in searches so it is rarely found or seen.

A home shows up online but there are no photos.

A home shows up online but the photos are poorly taken and they do not accurately or positively represent the home.

As a Comox Valley real estate agent, I continue to see each of the above happen all too often. For example, some real estate agents will use a “smart phone” to take photos of homes instead of using professional photographic equipment. Which type of photos do you think will be more effective? Some real estate agents either do not have a personal website or they have a website that does not show up well in searches. How effective is this? Some real estate agents may take photos of a home before the home is property presented. Do you think that the home will show well? Which of these options provide best service to the seller?

There are many elements of a good and effective online home presence. Years ago, real estate photos were used almost exclusively. Next was the real estate virtual tour that comprised photos stitched together to provide a 360 degree view of a room. More recently, real estate videos have become more prominent. Which medium does your agent use? Does your agent create professional descriptions of your home? These are but a few of the current considerations.

What happens when the online presence is not effective, and worse, not accurate? People can, and do, formulate preconceptions that may eliminate consideration of your home without actually seeing it. Properly displayed and attractive Courtenay real estate listings may look great in real life but they also need to look great online.

During the second stage of a realty home search many people will enlist the services of a real estate agent. All agents are different and they often provide various levels and types of service. Some agents may offer to review MLS lists and show you a “selective” list of homes. Others may go through these lists with you so that you can decide which homes you wish to see. Whichever method or methods are used, if your home does not show well on the MLS system, it may fall prey to preconceptions that eliminate it from consideration before the buyer actually sees it.

Let’s assume that your home does show well online and in the MLS system and it is on the buyer’s list of possibilities. Your home made it through the first two phases of a home search and it is on to phase three – the actual viewing. Here is where first impressions count. The mental image that is created stems from our senses (sight, sound, smell) is often created within the first few seconds and the appeal or lack of appeal created. Remember that “appeal” is an emotional response created through the use of our senses. The bottom line is that a person’s opinion of your home will most often be created within the first few seconds of seeing it. First impressions are critical and your home will not get a second chance to make a good first impression.

What impression does the neighbourhood give a potential buyer? What impression is formulated by the buyers as they drive up to your home? What impression is formed as they park in front of your home and walk up to the front door? What impression is formed when they walk through the front door?

When they near the home what catches their eye first? Does the home present as one that is well care for and well maintained? Are the colours appealing? Is the yard dull, cluttered, and unappealing, or is it inviting? Does the approach to the front door leave them with a spacious feeling or does it leave them with a feeling of being claustrophobic? Does clutter detract from the home? Are there any bad smells or annoying noises? When they open the door, does the home offer a warm and inviting feeling?

Many different things have the potential to create a bad first impression and turn off a potential buyer. Having a home properly prepared and presented will help to minimize negative influences and maximize those that are positive. It may not matter if you have a great kitchen and bathroom or updated features throughout the home if the first impressions are negative. I have been with buyers who approached a home and drove away without even getting out of the car based on first impressions. Others have opened the front door and then closed it without entering the home based on bad first impressions.

Negative preconceptions and bad first impressions are things that a seller needs to avoid during the sale of their home. Effective online marketing, and proper preparation and presentation of a home will help increase the number of potential buyers who choose to visit and walk through your home. Your home may only get one chance to impress online or in front of a buyer. It is important that your home makes the most of each chance it is given! If you are looking to sell your Comox Valley home, contact me to discuss how I can help you do this effectively in today’s market.

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• Comox Valley Real Estate – You Get What You Pay For

You Get What You Pay for in Real Estate

There a number of truisms in life and one is that you generally get what you pay for in the extensive number of listings for the City of Courtenay real estate market.

When considering the purchase of a product or service, how many times in your life have you thought any or all of the following?

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is;
• There is no such thing as a free lunch
• Nothing in life is truly free;
• There is a cost to everything;
• Cheaper is generally not better;
• It is worth the money it cost me;
• At these prices, there is always a catch;
• What glitters is not always gold;
• Buy it right the first time or buy it again;
• Lowest cost does not mean best value;
• You generally get what you pay for.

How many times in life have you found these expressions to be true? For me, they were true more times than not. In the same context, when you think about the purchase of a product or service, what is the one question that you most commonly ask? Perhaps the following question comes to mind often.

Comox Valley home sellers often ask how much is it going to cost me?

This is a fairly typical question but when asked the focus is generally on the price of the Comox Valley real estate service. While price is an important consideration, what about some of the other elements of cost such as time, effort, effect, and risk? Time is money to many people. If the acquisition of something takes a great deal of time, does it not make sense that time is also important? What about effort? Does the acquisition of something require skill sets or knowledge that need to be obtained through additional education or training? What is the effect on you, either good or bad? For example, does the acquisition process involve stress? Does the stress adversely affect you or others close to you? What about risk? Is there a risk involved that could come back to you and bite you? A premium Comox Valley real estate service costs more than a discount real estate service.

The cost of acquisition is only one side of the equation. We usually have to give something to get something. Cost is what we have to give up. The benefit is what we get in return. Does the benefit outweigh all of the cost? In the case of the real property market it takes time, effort and money to sell Comox Valley homes. If the home takes a long time to sell the monthly real estate expenses can add up quickly.

Value = Benefit / Cost

Benefiting from something is important. Perhaps more important is the end result. What was the end result? Was it what was desired? Real estate services are no exception to this discussion. Take, for example, a person who wants to sell their home. They have several options that can include:

• Try to sell it themselves;
• Hire a discount brokerage/agent;
• Enlist the services of a full service brokerage and agent.

Some Comox Valley home sellers consider the first option as a means of saving money. This comes back to the earlier discussion about price only being one factor in the cost of doing something. When considering this option, consider whether or not you have knowledge and skills to effectively market the home in the current market. Should you receive an offer, consider also if you know what is required to write a legally enforceable contract consistent with current laws, regulations and practices. What methods will you use to sell your home? What must be disclosed by law? What if your home does not sell? How well do you know the current Comox Valley real estate market? Are you planning to cooperate with brokerages/agents who work with buyers? If so, will you offer adequate compensation to get them to work with you? In addition to being adequate, the money must be paid in accordance with the law. Do you know what this means? I recall listening to a seller and her plans to sell her home herself. What she discussed as her plan to compensate a real estate agent who brought her a buyer was in violation of the law.

Next is the “discount” option. While the discount brokerage and real estate agent may choose to accept less commission for the services that they offer, they also expect that other brokerages/agents offering higher levels and types of service with greater expenses will accept less for the services that they offer their clients. It costs more to offer more. When two comparable oceanside luxury properties are listed for sale and one offers adequate compensation to cooperating brokerages/agents and the other does not, which home do you think will be shown? Real estate agents operate businesses. Like any other business, they must cover their expenses, and make some money to stay in business. As an aside, what is interesting about the discount option is that these types of agents readily accept full commissions on the buying end of transactions when they bring a buyer to a seller who is represented by a full service agent. As discount businesses, why are they not accepting discount commissions on this end of the transaction as well? Also interesting is the following question. What does the discount brokerage/agent do when they cannot sell the home? Do they refer the seller to a full service agent and ask for a significant referral fee from that agent? Is the referral fee comparable to what they would have received as a “discount” commission on the selling end of the transaction? With such a business model, how much incentive would they have to sell your home?

Finally, there is the full-service option. Some full-service agents work part time and some work full time. What is meant by full-service varies between agents, including ones who are licensed through the same brokerage. Each provides a minimum level and type of service but what services they will provide and how will vary. This should come as no surprise. The education, training, and experience of individual agents will vary as much as the knowledge and skill sets they possess. They all have their own levels of competence, and they all have their own character. Assuming that two full-time, full-service agents work for the same brokerage and that they charge the same commission, but provide different levels of service, which offers the most value?

Planning to sell your Comox Valley home? Contact Brett Cairns of REMAX Ocean Pacific Realty to discuss the real estate services that he offers his clients, and the strategy and plan that he will use to sell your home in the current market.

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• So Why Hasn’t My Comox Valley Home Sold?

Recently, a fairly common question from home sellers in the Comox Valley real estate market is “Why hasn’t my house sold?” At the end of this week, I had these types of discussions with several sellers. After spending time explaining why this was the case, we jointly agreed to a plan and it was implemented. Four sales in the past few weeks is not that bad.
 
Before focusing on this specific question, let’s discuss our Comox Valley real estate market. Today’s featured and market priced Comox Valley homes for sale market is not the market of 2006 and 2007 when many sellers who are selling today purchased their homes. We are living with a significantly different market now compared to then. This is borne out by comparing any number of statistics such as inventory levels, sell to list ratios, time to sell, and price. Back then the real estate market was robust and active and homes were selling at all price levels. Today this is not the case. In fact, today’s market is also different from that of even a year ago. While statistics will bear this out, there is nothing like first-hand experience. A RE/MAX Ocean Pacific Realty realtor colleague recently remarked to me that this past spring was the worst that he had experienced in the past 20 years. While we could debate how accurate his observation is, the fact that he made it at all is telling. I could go into a lot of detail and provide a number of statistics to illustrate what I am talking about but, perhaps more useful, is to discuss what can be done about it.
 
Comox Valley home sellers often do not want to hear that their home is worth less than they think it is. Who does? Sellers also often believe that their home is better than other comparable homes near theirs. This is to be expected. Sellers bought, own, and live in the homes that they are now trying to sell. Many have some emotional connection with their own home. This is perfectly normal and to be expected. When emotions are involved, a purely objective and logical approach is made more difficult. You have probably heard the expression “don’t confuse me with the facts”. This expression can often have relevance to the real estate market when a seller is trying to sell in a buyer’s market.
 
The downtown core element of the Courtenay property market continues to be a buyer’s market but the market has changed since last year. To be successful in this market, it is important to be as objective as possible and make decisions based on the facts that are present in today’s market. Preparation and presentation continue to be important to a home sale. Price is also very relevant.
 
Let’s discuss a hypothetical example;

• Point 1. A seller wants to sell a home and thinks that their home is the nicest in the neighbourhood. Problem 1. Nice is a relative assessment made subjectively. What would a typical buyer think of the same home?
• Point 2. The seller has a predetermined price in mind to list the home based on what they paid for the home and what they have invested in the home. Problem 2. If the home purchase was made in a different market the purchase price may not be entirely relevant. As well, investments in a home can and do realize significantly different returns on investment. Money invested in a kitchen will generally realize different returns than money invested in a laundry room or patio area.
• Point 3. The seller has spent a lot of money on their home and thinks that all of the money spent counts towards its current value. Problem 3. Money spent to maintain a home (property taxes, maintenance, etc) have no bearing on the value of a home other than how well it is maintained from a “saleability” perspective. A well maintained home will generally be easier to sell than a comparable home that is not well maintained.
• Point 4. My friend (or family member) says my home is worth XXXX. Problem 4. Well meaning friends and family can often give bad advice when they do not know the specifics of a home selling situation and the local market.

 
The market value of a Comox Valley property and does change over time. A seller who puts a home on the market at a specific list price needs to be open to adjusting the price as the market changes if they truly wish to sell it. Real estate agents should tell sellers what they need to hear to sell their homes and NOT just what they think the seller wants to hear to obtain the listing. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
 
As a seller, if your home is not getting any showings, this generally means that your list price is above the current market. Remember that the market is driven by what Comox Valley home buyers are prepared to pay. Anyone can ask whatever they want for something but if nobody is prepared to pay the asking price, the item will not sell. If your home is getting showings but no offers, price is often a factor. Some other things can also play a role in why this is happening.
 
This short blog just scratches the surface of a very important topic. If your home has not sold perhaps it is time for a change. New price? New approach? New Realtor? One thing is often certain. If you continue to do the same thing time and time again and get no results, you should not expect a different result if you elect to continue to do the same thing. Contact me if you decide to change realtors and let’s discuss why your home has not sold so that we can develop a plan to get it sold.