Selling Your Vancouver Home?

Selling a Vancouver home is simlilar to its construction. Selling Vancouver real estate involves many interdependent people and actions that must be managed. Like a general contractor oversees construction, a Realtor oversees and manages the sale. Whenever real estate is sold certain steps must be accomplished.

If we choose to work together to sell your home, you can expect swift action and marketing to ensure your Vancouver home for sale is sold in less than 12 weeks.*

The Sutton Group brand is a recognized and competitive brand which is amongst the market share leaders through out the Lower Mainland. Sutton Group - West Coast Realty is the market share leader in Vancouver East to date this year. See the Real Estate sales data here, Sutton 2nd Qaurter

How We Will Sell Your Home

Communication between the Realtor and Client

I understand having your Realtor frequently communicate with you and be available when you have questions is a priority. I make myself available to my clients, other agents and prospective buyers 7 days a week between 9am and 9pm in person or by telephone.

I am also available electronically (email, Facebook, Twitter) during the same hours. You can be assured that I am available to you when you need me, I will provide you methods to reach me after hours for urgent matters. My office and my electronic communications ensure that I am quick to respond. I commit to respond to messages within three hours at the most. This commitment to communications saves you time and stress.

A professional who believes the process is to be one of teamwork, loyalty, shared ideas, thoughts and results. I will do my very best to ensure you are listened to and your communications are responded to and/or acted upon.
Reliable timely service Monday to Sunday 9am to 9 pm including call backs within 3 hours when unable to answer your call.
Available online through email, FaceBook.com, and Twitter.com. I do my best to balance social etiquette and customer service when replying to electronic correspondence. When using electronic communications you can expect a reply within 90 minutes.
I will schedule an hour of time a week specifically for you. While I prefer to provide my clients face to face meetings, meeting by telephone is also an option for your convenience. During this time we will review the showing activity and feedback, current market data and determine if any changes in strategy are needed.

Real Estate Is A Team Effort

There are a lot of steps involved in selling a home. To manage these steps and ensure that each client is given equal high quality service a large portion of my marketing efforts are based online. This allows me to make efficient use of my time. I also utilize various ‘web workers', professional photographers, home stagers on a contract basis along with our office staff to complete a portion of the work. I consider these people part of my team. This team includes:

Randy Book; Office Manager; Sutton Killarney
Dave deBruyn, Web Developer, Photographer
David Miller, Web Developer
John Eby; Photographer and Motion Tours
TBD: Home Stager
Other professionals that are available to me to assist in the sale of your home are:
David Watts, Notary
Winfield Liu; Manager; TD Mortgage
Chris Lemay; Mortgage Specialist; Dominion Lending
James Dobney Associates, Home Inspectors

Marketing Your Vancouver Real Estate For Sale

Until recently almost all properties shown to home buyers by their Realtor were found by the agent, by searching the MLS system. Now, it is estimated, that up to 84% of home buyers start their home search on the internet. Odds are very high the Vancouver home for sale they buy will be first seen on the internet or in an automated e-mail generated by the Realtor via the MLS system. Often times the buyer informs their Realtor of homes for sale they would like to view which they found online. This is a major change.

To create maximum exposure for your listing, the listing must have an high qaulity precense on the internet and within the MLS system.

I place your property on MLS.ca, our company website, my website(s), RealtyLink.org, HouseHunting.ca, Craigslist.ca, Bargaincity.ca, Kijiji.ca, UsedVancouver.com, Jeanza.com, Canada.Oodle.com and Zoocasa.com*.

Most unique of all, I create a website address just for your property using the actual address of the home for sale.

This strong online presence attracts the interest of home buyers and keeps their interest longer, which increases the likely hood that we will get a showing. And that must happen for your home to sell.

Your property will be listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) promptly. All required information will be delivered in person to the MLS department of the relevant Real Estate Board within 24 hours.
Your property will be listed on Realtylink.org within 48 hours of the property being listed on MLS. The opportunity to include up to 20 pictures is available and will be utilized when possible.
HouseHunting.ca, Craigslist.ca, Bargaincity.ca, Kijiji.ca, UsedVancouver.com, Jeanza.com and Zoocasa.com*. See an example of the advertising here, Craigslist Sample Ad and Bargain City Sample Ad.
Your property listed on this website, which includes: the ability to add unlimited photos, the video tour, a downloadable printable feature sheet, a mortgage calculator preloaded with the data for your home, the ability to email the property information to others, and an online form to book a viewing.
A website address created exclusively for your property containing all the pictures, video tours, marketing materials and any other features that may provide additional benefit to the timely sale of your home.

Photos Sell Real Estate

A key component in marketing real estate listings online is including pictures and video. Point2Agent has released a study measuring the impact of photos in terms of marketing listings online. Affect of the Number of Photos Marketing Real Esate for Sale.

Listings with no photos performed poorly in the study, generating little home buyer response and sales. Those that had one picture performed better, but not nearly as well as the sites that had 21 to 36 photos. In fact, those listings that had no picture generated 0.02 percent of the number of listing views as compared to those with 21 or more photos.

Compared to listings with only one photo, those with 21 or more photos generated more than triple the number of ‘Detailed Views', more than double the amount of interest, and double the number of leads.

Compared to listings with no photos, those with 21 or more photos generated more than 55 times the number of 'Detailed Views' and nearly 27 times the amount of interest.

The study seems to confirm that having additional photos on a MLS or a Realtor's site affects the stickiness of the home for sale, which leads to substantially higher lead conversion.

Images of your property and its key features taken by a professional photographer. I always place the current maximum 10 pictures on MLS for every property and at least 21+ on other sites.**
Narrated Motion Tour of your property. The video formatted MOSTour will contain images, music, and narration in an animated format superior, in my opinion, to other ‘video' or 360 Tours. You can find an example here, Sample Tour.*

Better Than Just A Real Estate For Sale Sign

After the internet and a Realtor the third most likely source of a buyer for your home will come from the ‘For Sale' sign. In fact 14% of buyers become aware of the home for sale they bought from the ‘For Sale' sign. I take this a step further and allow people to not only be aware the home is for sale but to also acquire the property information directly on their mobile phone. This information is then stored in their phone which they can refer to when they are back home and want to view more about the property online.

If prospective home buyers call my phone number on the sign I will provide them the property information and do my best to ensure they follow up online or with their Realtor. If they are unrepresented and want to view the home I will make arrangements with them for a viewing as soon as possible. Of course, in case they are not willing to call a ‘stranger' or Realtor, we have the electronic option above.

A For Sale sign positioned ideally for maximum exposure.
Included with the For Sale sign is a secondary sign providing curious buyers a five digit number to text message a provided code via their cell phone which will then send the property information directly back to their mobile phone.

Showing Your Vancouver Real Estate for Sale to Home Buyers

Accommodating showing requests is very important. We need buyers to see your home in order for us to sell your home. I will ensure all requests for showings are responded to in a timely manner and in turn if you can be as flexible as possible by allowing all showings along with having your home ready to show we should never miss a potential buyer.

In the case of condos and apartments I will have to provide access to the showing agent; in the case of townhouses and detached homes I will also be present when possible but will also place a lockbox on the property to provide access to the showing agent.

Place a lock box on your property to allow seamless access to Realtors showing your home to buyers increasing showings and reducing time to sell. A lockbox is a secure electronic device which only licensed Realtors can access. It tracks all openings and can have an additional code added to increase security. See more information here. ***

Open Houses, Do They Sell Real Estate?

Home buyers viewing your home for sale is required to sell your home. A traditional method of achieving viewings has been the Open House. During and open house we open your home to any prospective buyers for a window of time usually on weekends. Data is showing that Open Houses are not a prominent source of home buyers, Open Houses are actually is dead last amongst sources that produce a buyer (less than 1%). However I am more than willing to host Open Houses if this is a service you desire.

Home Buyers Receive A Detailed Flyer To Reinforce The Features Of Your Home For Sale

When potential buyers view your home for sale we want to provide them a lasting impression of your property's features and attributes. Home buyers will receive a multi-page color flier which provides pictures, property data and specifications, an aerial map showing the property in relation to neighboring properties, information about area amenities and businesses. Providing home buyers detailed lists of area businesses, restaurants, recreation etc helps them picture what it would be like to live and manage a household in the area. It will also help them determine how walk-able their neighborhood is and how much driving will be required.

As mentioned, included in the fliers is a "What I can walk to" page. How far away stores, restaurants, services and parks etc are is a common home-buying criterion. I use a service called Walk Score to determine and list nearby businesses and the distance to each. From their site "Walk Score's patent-pending technology calculates a Walk Score for any property and shows a map of what's nearby with reviews to help you find a great neighborhood." Why make buyers wonder what might be near by when you can let them know up front and eliminate any doubt about the proximity of your property to services, amenities and recreation they desire. This of course can be translated to driving as well, each individual will have a different tolerance for walking and they can use the same data to determine how much time they will spend in their car.

By providing them a multi-page high quality flyer which they are likely to refer back to we improve our chances of keeping your home at the fore front of home buyer's minds.

Multiple page color fliers placed in a flier box on the sign post and inside the home for buyers to retain after their viewing, keeping your home in the forefront of the buyer's mind long after the viewing. You can find an example here, Sample Flyer.

Showing Feedback - What Did The Home Buyers Think?

Understanding why buyers who viewed your home chose to not write an offer or return for a second viewing is very important. Uncovering obstacles to selling your home will help us adjust accordingly and get your home sold.

Our best source of feedback is from the showing Realtor. Realtors get hounded by telephone for showing feedback and may not put substantial thought into it depending on what else they are doing when they are called.

I utilize on online system that emails a survey to the showing Realtor making it easier for them to provide honest feedback in a timely manner. The results are collected and available for us to view online.

Also, within in this system I am able to journal all marketing activities. You will not have to wonder if or when something was done, you simply log on to your account and view the dates and activities. If you are not comfortable doing so we can schedule a time to sit down and I will help you understand how to access the site.

Showing Feedback^TM, an online service that provides a complete system to track showings, gather feedback from agents and buyers from these showings, communicate this information to the seller clients and report marketing activities on your property. See an example of the survey the showing Realtor will receive.

Let's Get Your Vancouver Real Estate Sold!

I am confident in my ability to serve and guide you in accomplishing your goal of selling your home and now you know how I will do it. Feel free to refer back to this page during our relationship and bring forward any feedback if you feel I am underachieving with any of these items.