After hundreds of conversations with home owners over the years, a few things stood out to me: Sellers felt locked-in, uninformed and over-charged. No wonder only 23% of seller's used their previous agent to sell their current home! 

With cancellation fees, seemingly fixed commission rates, elusive agents and stodgy "rules", I put myself in the seller's shoes and created the following three home selling options along with some guarantees:

     The Step-Down:

This program was designed for the traditional seller that wants performance. Sure, every seller wants their home sold for the most amount of money in the least amount of time with the least amount of hassles but many tend to lose sight of that when an agent tells them their house is worth more than it really is. Who isn't seduced by the potential to sell their $400,000 home for $440,000? This is called "buying" a listing and happens far too often.

See if this sounds familiar: By starting too high the seller gets some showings in the first week but no offers after 30 days. The agent suggests lowering the price (yet the agent's commission rate stays the same). They lower the price yet it's still too high. The listing becomes stale followed by another few price reductions, then these 4 dreaded words are uttered: "the market has shifted" and, finally, after another round of price cuts, a bottom-fisher swoops in and offers you $380,000. It's death by a thousand cuts....

The seller has lost $20,000 off the original "realistic" value of $400,000 not to mention months worth of interest payments and potentially higher interest rates. The agent? Down $600 bucks!   

There's a better way!

We start by determining the average days on market for similar homes in your area. Then we calculate annual and seasonal absorption rates to create EDOM (Estimated Days On Market). Starting at 6% (REMEMBER, WE'RE PAYING THE BUYER'S AGENT 3%) my commission steps down in pre-determined increments based on my performance. 

Days on market during which a bona-fide offer is presented and associated commission rates: 

Zero - 17 -- 3%

18 - 30   -- 2.5%

31 - EDOM -- 2.0%

EDOM +   -- 1.5%

If your property's EDOM is 30 days or less, step 2 will be eliminated.

Clearly this plan creates a partnership between us and better aligns our interests.

Some agents will tell you that buyer's agents only get 2.5% in this market and that's true for the most part. But, when there are three houses in the same area for sale and one of them is paying 3%, which one do you think will be shown first and more often? We want that agent working for US! That said, you're free to pay them whatever you decide is fair.

      The Combo:

I created this program for the following reasons: 1) every seller does the math, 2) I'm honored you chose to work with me and 3) I'd much rather you keep the extra thousands of dollars in your pocket and refer your friends, family and co-workers to me instead. 

Simply sell your house with me, buy your next one with me and I'll reduce my listing fee to 2%. If I don't present you with a bona-fide offer before your property's EDOM, I'll reduce my listing fee to 1.5%. 

The rationale here is simple; you can do business with anyone and providing you with a discounted listing commission is my way of showing you I appreciate it's with me. 

      The Skinny:

I created this program for the well connected, non-traditional seller that wants to be involved and doesn't mind taking some risks. This program is not for everyone but it does have a lot of merit for the right folks.

You can rent a lockbox from us for $125.

You can access our professional photographer for $175. This gets you 36 professional photos.

You pay $500 upfront and only .0075 of the sale price at closing.

I'll put the listing in the MLS, manage/review all of the paperwork, provide strategy advice, provide full contract negotiation and support, plant a sign in your yard and handle escrow. You're definitely NOT a FSBO with this plan but you do have some responsibilities.

You handle all of the marketing and advertising, schedule and attend open houses, schedule showings and attend inspection appointments. If you find a buyer on your own that's not represented by an agent, you can even save the buyer's agent commission and sell your house for less that .008 of the sale price.

This program is ONLY available for homes valued above $300,000.

Whichever of these programs best suites your needs is up to you. If you want to talk more about any of them or just have general questions, I'm here to help. Call/text me directly at 916-995-1622 and schedule a time for us to get together. Prefer email? reach me at patrick@greensideprops.com.

Many sellers have told me their agent was all over them with phone calls, texts and emails during the courtship of the listing but, shortly after the house hit the market, their agent was AWOL. Many fewer calls, rarely returned calls and emails, less stopping by etc. They felt trapped since most listing agreements are for 6-9 months and many have heavy cancellation penalties. I created the following guarantees to ensure none of my sellers ever feel this way.

A lot of work? Sure, but you're paying me a lot of money.

     Communication Guarantee:

• All calls/emails texts will be returned within 6 hours (typically 1) or I'll pay you $100 every time it doesn't happen.
• Weekly status reports on marketing efforts, showing feedback, market conditions and transaction progress.*
• Need a face-to-face consultation? Call me, I'll be right there. 

     Easy Out Guarantee 

• Most companies lock you in to long term listing agreements then heavily penalize you if you want to break up. Not us. Look, if you list with me and later decide you want out, let me know. All I ask is you give me up to your property's EDOM. After that, if you're unhappy for any reason, we can break up and you won't have to pay a penny.

* Doesn't apply to The Skinny.

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