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Four Pillars of Real Estate Success

The Casey Samson team, experts in the four pillars of real estate success.

Selling a Home in 2023

Although inventory is low, and buyers and sellers trade off in control in 2023, 45% of the homes on the market withdraw or expired unsold.

It is more important than ever to focus on the 4 Pillars of a Successful Listing.

 

Compare, model, value and more.

Pillar #1: Pricing

The CST Pricing Model is the gold standard of real estate valuation.

In 2022, our model produced a 97% accuracy rating, with homes selling in an average of 7 days at 9% above market. Our competitors had a 55% success rate with homes sitting on the market for an average of 140 days on the market.

Online pricing engines had a accuracy rating under 9%!

Here is how we did it:

We appeal to the largest buyer pool.

  • Sell within 10 days
  • Stay under major thresholds
  • Attract multiple contracts
  • CST Pricing Model is the most reliable indicator of value

We select the proper comparables.The following attributes are used to determine “Qualified Comparables”:

  • Similar size
  • Similar age
  • Similar style
  • Within 1 mile radius
  • Sold in the last 180 days

We also compare:

  • Above grade price per square foot (Sale price/Square feet) adjusted for size and age
  • We adjust the PPSf to account for age and size
  • Percentage of assessment of like kind (Sale Price/County assessment)
  • Upgrades and condition

We compare your home to:

  • Your Neighborhood
  • 1 mile radius of like kind size and age
  • Sales of similar age and size within 1 mileof your home
  • Sales of similar price range within 1 mile of your home
  • 10 year growth rate of homes of similar size and similar age

Thresholds matter. A $710,000 home, listed at $700,000 is seen by 3 times the buyer pool and generates the most contracts, highest price and provides sellers leverage throughout the transaction. We also compare our listing to the other homes in that threshold.

True value is only obtained when the maximum amount of interested buyers have an opportunity to see the home and bid on it.  Homes must remain on the market for at least 4 days and have one open house to provide the maximum price.

Other factors:

  • School District
  • Lot
  • Traffic pattern
  • Upgrades
  • Market conditions
  • Condition
  • Basement

For more information, see Casey’s discussion on
What is my home really worth?

Two Traps Sellers Face When Pricing a Home

 

20% of a homes value is determined by condition.

Pillar #2: Preparing the Home 

Simplicity & Style

Traditional Style is OUT, transitional is what buyers are looking for.

Cosmetic improvements pay $7 for every $1invested and there are many thing a seller can do that are free.

Younger homes appeal to a larger buyer pool. By the time a homes is 30 years old, it’s value can by vary 20%. The determining factors  for its value are the type of upgrades the homes has, and the way the home is presented and its overall condition. Homes are expected to receive “generational updates” every (x) years.This means after (x) years if the home is not properly updated and maintained it is seen as dated.

Today’s buyers are online and searching for your home.Your home will catch their eye or be eliminated within 15-20 seconds.Remember, according to the U.S. Census, an average commute is 30 minutes.This means a prospective buyer has to like what they see to get in their car and drive 30 minutes to come see your listing. De-aging your home ADDS tens of thousands of dollars in value.

For more information, see Casey’s discussion on
Preparing the home

Internet marketing is #1 with today’s buyers.

 

Pillar #3: Marketing

Professional Photography

Buyers will find your home online so state-of-the-art pictures are critical. The photography used by The Casey Samson Team is a west coast technique and only used by a handful of Realtors on the east coast. Most use Fusion photography as you see on the right.

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Each home has a custom website all presented in a spectacular format. Each website features the following:

  • Layout displaying each level of the home separately with picture displays
  • Defining characteristics
  • Hot sheet with age of systems
  • Sellers favorite things about the home
  • Surrounding area with distances to major employment centers and local attractions
  • Schools listed and linked to their websites

Click the image below to view the website and how we will show your home in the very best light.

Sophisticated online marketing tools place your home in the lap of potential domestic and international buyers

We target buyer pools online who are most likely to fit the profile of our potential buyer. We also target Realtors with stored searches, renters who live in the school district, and even neighbors who are the neighborhood’s biggest advocates. Online traffic is analyzed to see what cities, states, and countries our buyers are coming from, as well as, how old they are, male or female, how long they stay and whether they love, or like the home. Realtor buyer traffic is analyzed to see how big the buyer pool is, who is looking at the home and if there are enough people favoring the home to generate a contract.


Here is our protocol for EVERY listing:

  • Market heavy during the coming soon period
  • Identify the buyer pool
  • Market to :
    • Buyers: social media, geofencing and google ads
    • Realtors: stored search emails
    • Renters: within school district
    • Neighbors: moving up or down

For more information, here is Casey’s discussion on
 The Power of Marketing

We can predict the price BEFORE we launch in the Coming Soon period!

 

Pillar #4: Predictive Analysis

Game Changer for 2020

We can predict contracts and pricing before we launch the listing, in the coming soon period.

Our team uses predictive analysis to help our sellers predict whether or not we have arrived at the correct price to list their home. In today’s market, being ahead of the curve is imperative to selling your home in the first weekend. Our coming soon protocol allows us to make sure we make the highest profit for our sellers. We monitor buyer interest in the coming soon period. A few days after the coming soon listing goes live, we send a custom email detailing the top features of the home to all interested realtors. This puts your home top of mind while also making sure we have a successful first weekend.

1.Home Buyer Buzz: We can bring your home to market earlier with social media marketing designed to generate interest

2.Market Analysis: Take advantage of the coming soon period by previewing your home to a high interest audience. It’s the perfect time to assess pricing and gather buyer feedback, with out accumulating days on market

3. Maximum exposure on Zillow and our website caseysamson.com. This puts your home top buyer lists while also making sure we have a great first weekend.

In today’s market, being ahead of the curve is imperative to selling your home at max value. Our success rate in 2021 is 97%. Two Recent Examples of Success:

  1. On a $1.6M listing, Realtor controlled buyers were light, inventory was high and days on market were in the 115-day range. Our online traffic was impressive so we launched the listing at $1.6M. A New York buyer was looking at similar homes in a target “feeder city”. Our system fed him our Vienna home and put it in his Wall Street Journal feed. He went to the website, fell in love and came down and bought the home even though he was not looking in Vienna.
  2. A London buyer was looking at homes in a “feeder city” when our system began feeding them our listing via social media. They were so impressed by the website and home, they bought the home, at a premium, sight unseen.  This is not your parent’s real estate market.

For more information, here is Casey discussion on our
Predictive Analysis

Results Count!

Although this was the best seller’s market in 15 years, only 50% of the homes over $1M sold. Based on sticking to these 4 pillars, The Casey Samson Team sold

97% of their listings (72 out of 74 homes listed)

9% above market

9 Days was our average days on market. Industry standard 100

$161M in total 2022 production

$88M in Vienna and Oakton 

Contact Casey at 703-508-2535 or email him casey@caseysamson.com to schedule a consultation.