Miranda Price & Brandy Farris (719) 888-9299 Office - PDF document

Miranda Price & Brandy Farris (719) 888-9299 Office www.FarrisPrice.com

Dear Homeowner, Thank you for taking the first step in researching whether you should use a Realtor to help you sell your home. As you will see on the following pages, not only is using a Realtor the safest, easiest choice, but can also bring you MORE money! Are you doubting these claims? To make it easy, we have compiled the top reasons you should work with a Realtor and some statistics about For Sale By Owner- “FSBO” vs. Selling with a Realtor for you to look at analyze for yourself. We have also included a full page of information on the dangers facing you, and Realtors when meeting strangers in your home. Finally, we are including a list of stats about the market, showing you why right now is the best time to sell. When you choose to list with us, you will be sure to sell quickly during this phenomenal Seller’s Market . Markets change, sometimes quickly and drastica lly. Please don’t let this optimal window pass you by! Thank you, Miranda Price of Farris Price Managing Broker/Owner

Top Reasons to Use a Realtor to Sell Your Home Reason #1: We can sell homes for more money. Per a 2015 study by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), houses that are sold by an agent sell for an average of $249,000, while houses sold without an agent sell for an average of $220,000. That is a difference of $39,000! In fact, most sellers net more money in their pocket, even after they pay the agent’s commission. ! Keep in mind, that doesn't mean that every agent is going to sell your home for more money; But, the numbers do show that agents do sell homes for more. Reason #2: The whole process is easier when you hire a Realtor. Let me give you a concrete example. I talked to a Title Company Manager who handles For-Sale-by-Owner Closings and Realtor Closings. He told me that when a For-Sale-by-Owner sells their home it takes about 45 days for the two parties to sign off on the sale contract. He said that sometimes they don't even sign it until they sit down for the closing. When a property is sold by a Realtor, the sale contract is usually signed in 45 hours. What is even more important- is you can just sit back, pack your home, and let me do the work. I will tell you when there is a task you need to handle- everything else, I will take care of for you. You will not mistakenly miss a deadline, rendering the deal void. Why does this matter to you? Using an agent will protect your interests if a buyer changes their mind. For example, we make sure we receive their earnest money within a few days of offer acceptance, to ensure they have “skin the in the game” and we have a negotiation tool to ensure they don’t just walk away based on a “feeling”. Now, this isn't to say that you can't successfully sell your house yourself. You probably can. But, unless you have sold a lot of homes yourself, then you probably are not aware of the many ins and outs of the contract- did you know that a real

estate contract gives a buyer a MINIMUM of 12 ways to get out of the contract? To protect yourself from these outs, it’s a good idea to have a knowledgeable Realtor protecting your interests. Reason #3: A good Realtor can save you 80-100 hours of your time. That is because we handle all the work for you. You will not need to screen every person who wants to come see your home. You will not need to be present at every showing- and it’s safer for you if you aren’t! Please see below for safety statistics. We are experts at financing, loan conditions, home inspections, surveys, title work, termite inspections, appraisals, negotiating, etc. Some people have estimated that there are 189-213 different things that an agent does to sell a home. Of course, that list is shorter or longer, depending on the property. I don’t know which items will exactly apply to your home; But, I do know from personal experience that selling a home does take a lot of time. . Reason #4: We solve problems. That is the most important thing a Realtor can do. After all, it's one thing to have a buyer that wants to buy your house. But, just because they decide at that moment to buy a house doesn't mean they will. As I mentioned above, there is a minimum of 12 outs for a buyer to get out of buying your home. It is my job to anticipate these issues, help you work through them as they arise, and protect you at all times. Here is a story that illustrates this perfectly. A seller put her home on the market. The perfect buyer came along and made a full price offer for the home. The seller and the buyer signed a contract and the buyer started working on financing. The buyer ran into a problem with the financing and cancelled the contract. Later, the seller told the story to an agent. It turns out that the problem the buyer had was completely solvable. But, the seller didn't know how to solve it. Thus, the buyer couldn't obtain financing to buy the home and the house didn’t close. Unfortunately, the seller had to put the home back on the market. It took another 5 months to sell. The seller had to pay an additional 5 months’ worth of mortgage payments, property tax payments, and homeowner's insurance premiums.

In addition, she had to maintain the lawn, pay the electric bill, and maintain the property. If we add up all of those expenses, we can easily say that the lost sale cost her $9,575. This reminds me of the old story of the importance of "Knowing Where to Tap." Have you ever heard the story? I'll retell it for you: "A huge steamship boiler system was not working properly. The steamship captain hired a top boiler expert to fix it. After hearing about the problem the expert asked a few questions and inspected the boiler room. He looked at the pipes that twisted and turned every which way, listened to the boiler and all of the machinery. He thought for a minute, reached into his tools, and grabbed a small hammer. He gently tapped one valve and "Voila" the problem was fixed. He sent a bill for $1,000 to the owner of the steamship. When the owner saw the $1,000 invoice he was mad as a hornet's nest! He called the expert and confronted him about the bill. "You were only there for 15 minutes! How dare you charge me $1,000!", he said. The expert heard him out and told him that he would send over a new bill. The owner received another bill the next day. The bill was itemized as follows: Tapping the valve: $.50. Knowing where to tap: $995.50 Total: $1,000.00. Specialized Knowledge is one of the most valuable resources in the world. Fortunately, for you, I have specialized knowledge. I know how to sell homes for more money. I know precisely where to "tap the valve" and to solve any problems that come up. In fact, you will usually make money when you hire us to sell your house.

I know that sounds crazy. The fact that I can sell your home for more money is usually enough to pay my commission. Here is how you make money hiring me. I save you countless hours chasing down surveys, handling inspections, etc. I also handle all the communications with the other side, saving you stress. I ensure all deadlines are met in a timely manner, I do it all- and only come to you with updates or things you need to handle. Please read on for more information about safety and current market conditions making NOW the best time EVER to sell your home for top dollar!

Selling Your Home Is Dangerous, As Shown By The Statistics Below:  13 Realtors were murdered in 2012, the last year for which statistics were available.  470 Realtors were attacked in 2012.  153 agents were raped in 2012.  The most common time for an attack? Thursday Afternoon!  You would think most attacks would be at night. Unfortunately, that isn’t true. Most attacks on Realtors were during daylight hours.  Most of the Realtor’s that were attacked were female.  Most of the victims were alone . A common guise to get the Realtor alone was wanting to see a home for sale.  Most of the attackers planned out the attack! Several used fake names.  Over half of the attackers used a gun. What are you going to do when someone is sticking a gun in your face?  The most common reason for an attack was robbery.  Many of the attacks started out as robbery but ended in murder. Do you remember the Movie, 'Home Alone ?' Do you think the thieves would have tried to rob the home if an adult had been there? You and I both know the answer is "No." We all know the statistics above. But, the vast majority of those crimes wouldn't have happened... if the person showing the home had someone else with them. I am not telling you this to scare you. Realtors must understand the risks associated with their business. They are the ones who are the most likely to be robbed, assaulted, or murdered. But, For-Sale-by-Owners are not always aware of the risk. I want to make sure that you and your family are safe, whether you hire a Realtor or not. When you put your home up for sale, you are inviting complete strangers into it. You are usually more than willing to invite them in because you want to sell your home. Some may take advantage of you. Most won't. But, it's better to be safe than sorry. You don't have to put yourself, or your family in danger.