Should I Sell or Should I Hold?

When people ask me the question "Should I stay or should I hold?", I really can't answer without asking a few questions up front. What's your objective? Where is the property? How much do you want for it? Unfortunately, hard conversations are had more today than in the past several years but for us agents, we deliver or we inherit a life long listing and being listed forever has never been an objective of a client or for that matter an agent. At least none that I've met. So here it is...if your property is listed, first and foremost talk with your listing agent. Find out what's going on. Don't be upset if they tell you it's time to drop the price. Do you think they want to lose commission? You're probably paying a percent. They lose when you lose. Maybe not as much but they will lose money too. In fact, they're losing while you're losing. While you're carrying costs who do you think is paying to advertise your property? If you haven't checked into it. It doesn't take long to run up big advertising bills. What's funny about it is if you don't sell your property, you typically don't owe your agent any money. Do you think your agent gets a refund from the Naples Daily News or N Magazine for the full spread ads they ran? If you're not getting any showings it's because of 1 of 2 reasons most likely. Nobody knows about it or your property is listed too high. Think about it this way. If it were listed for one hundred dollars and I knew about it. I'd probably give you a full price offer on the spot, cash close end of story. But if you were going to sell your property for one hundred dollars and nobody knew about it, no offer...right? Right! Think like a buyer! Since 74% of home buyers are looking for property at some time on the Internet...is your listing there? Run a test right now. If you can't find your property on the Internet, do you think a ready, willing and able buyer can? Now, if you found it....do you like the way it looks? Would you buy it again if you didn't already own it? If the answer is yes...you're in business. If the answer is no...talk with your agent. Internet marketing is more important and productive today than it has ever been before and if you think that Internet buyers are just purchasing lower ended properties think again. I sold a $3,250,000 condo. to a family who found me on the Internet this year and get calls and emails all the time from buyers preparing to come to Naples to purchase property. Friday I have an appointment with a couple from Pennsylvania who will be spending up to $700,000. We have three neighborhoods identified as possibilities and she hasn't even stepped foot on Naples soil yet. How did they find me? I spend a lot of time making sure people who are surfing the Internet for Naples real estate can find me easily. I also make sure I provide as many property and community details about my listings and include as many pictures, tours, graphics etc. as I can to capture a buyer. Time is money and lots of Naples buyers have the money but not necessarily the time to drive around town all day looking at properties that don't fit their needs. Besides that, they'd rather be sitting on the beach, playing golf or toasting to a new vacation property purchased while dining at one of our fabulous restaurants. Maybe that's why according to Alexa.com I have the most popular Naples, Florida Residential Real Estate Website. http://www.alexa.com/browse/general/?&CategoryID=5825937 To see more information about me and my listings: www.ShannonLefevre.com Back to the original question...Should you sell or should you hold...if you're listed, ask your agent. If you're not listed but you want to know what's best, give me a shout. You'll get a straight answer. 239-595-6223