Welcome to 2018! This is the time of year to lift our heads out of survival mode and reset that compass and tweak our life course to match our goals. What is success to you? The definition of success is clearly not the same for everyone, and I can attest, they change over time.
I’d like to share a simple model that I’ve used to achieve business and personal goals in the many challenges I’ve faced throughout the years. My success invariably has been directly proportional to my efforts. Whether it’s starting a new business, learning a new musical instrument, getting stronger or even just getting to a meeting on time, the concept is the same. Here is the pearl of wisdom: Make it probable that your goal will occur.
For example, if your goal is to become an Olympic skier, and other than watching ski documentaries on Netflix, you procrastinate on buying skis, taking lessons and training daily, the odds of you representing USA in any Winter Olympics would be pretty slim. Reaching a goal rarely involves magic, but generally involves a lot of prep work to achieve the final product. Examine your every waking moment critically. Am I making a move now to improve the probability of my goal’s success, or moving away from it? How can I stack the deck to make my goal almost a certainty?
What does this have to do with real estate sales in Flagstaff? Everything.
Is it time to sell your home to move, downsize or upgrade? Find that realtor with the time, interest and skills to guide the competitive pricing, marketing and negotiation of your property during a transaction. Anyone can look at properties that have sold in your area, but an experienced expert can hone in and give you truly comparable sales that will help make your home the next house in the neighborhood to go under contract.
Your realtor will be the most important key of your probability of success equation. Once you’ve teamed up with your seller representative, listen to his or her advice. Realtors literally live the market daily. They know what price point is selling in your neighborhood, what’s not yet on the market, what buyers are looking for, and are truly experts on how to best market your home to qualified and interested buyers. Let a professional guide you with everything from staging for success to making minor improvements that may make a world of difference to your potential buyers. Don’t take offense when they ask you to store some furnishings or pare down personal items, or give you suggestions about sprucing up your home prior to listing. Your agent will team with you to make it probable that a buyer will want to offer and eventually purchase your home.
You can put a sign up yourself, but statistics show that you will get a lower price overall and wait longer to sell your home if you take the “For Sale By Owner” route. Again, go with the numbers.
Are you ready to purchase your new or first home? Are you dreaming of more space for your family, or are you thinking of downsizing to that smaller single level with less yard maintenance? Are you an investor looking for the right income property before the interest rates move higher still? Your first step to make your goals a reality is to again find that expert realtor who can listen to your priorities and help you plan your course.
Need financing? Listen to your realtor’s recommendation for a local lender with the knowledge and experience in Flagstaff, increasing your odds of successfully funding your new purchase. Our local lenders and title companies are great resources for information you will need to learn in order to see if a purchase of a home is possible now or in the future. Prior to viewing properties, it’s a good idea to meet with a lender to discuss your long- and short- range plans for home ownership. If you are ready to start looking, your lender will issue you a prequalification letter (PQF) that describes your buying power. Knowledge is power, and once you know, and are comfortable with your potential mortgage payment, it’s more likely that when you see “the house,” you can respond quickly and make it probable to get an accepted contract!
Bottom line? Statistics show a professional team approach in real estate will provide you with a higher price and shorter number of days on market if you are a seller, and will help you find, negotiate and finance the right property for you, with the least amount of stress as a buyer.
Ready to have the happiest New Year ever? Stack the deck this year to make your success in everything almost a certainty. FBN
By Paula Mack
Paula Mack is a realtor with Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty. She can be reached at 928-699-6837 or paula.mack@russlyon.com.
Paula Mack Dec 15, ’17, 2:48 PM