ONE LESSON

One of the first listings I had was a small condominium in Chicago. The condo was not spectacular in any way. In my eyes at the time, it was an outdated box in the sky. After the seller agreed to work with me, I made a few notes on the listing and then worked to get it on the market. The photos came out okay, and I thought I did a decent job with the description and pricing to sell it quickly. Seven weeks went by, and I only had a few showings with no offers. I even reduced the price a little bit, thinking that was the issue. Finally, after speaking with multiple veteran agents about things I could do, I rearranged the photos to highlight the living space better and rewrote the description to point out the potential of the property. A few days after relisting it at the same price, I received a full-price cash offer that closed two weeks later.

LESSON LEARNED: If you do not gather enough information up front, your chances of selling a property quickly significantly reduce.

Before listing any property, take the time to find out as much as you possibly can about it. Not only the basics, but also the items buyers are going to ask about (ages of utilities, appliances, roof, etc.). Then, look at the property as if you were a buyer walking through it. Look for all the benefits the property would offer someone and make it a point to highlight these as much as possible in your description and marketing.

REMINDER: People buy benefits, not properties.