The RayChel Realty Group's Seller Handbook explains what San Mateo home sellers can do to prepare their home to meet the San Mateo real estate market. The Seller's Handbook is part of The RayChel Realty Group's Stress Free Home Listing Market Program to sell your home for top dollar in the shortest time.

1. The RayChel Realty Group
Seller Handbook
What you can do to prepare your home
to meet the market...
Telephone (650) 655-2500
info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com
Blog: www.LivingWellinSanMateo.com
Dept. of Real Estate # 00657178

2. Helping YOU Sell Your Home for All It’s Worth!
Client Advocacy...
Technical Expertise...
Professional Advice
Factors Affecting Your Home’s Saleability
Location Price
No control Seller Controls
Market Conditions Condition
No Control Seller Controls
Marketing Accessibility
Agent Controls Seller Controls
Understanding Your Role...
Of the many factors that go into selling your home, there are a limited number that can be controlled.
Location and market conditions are unchangeable. Marketing is controlled by the agent, but three
factors: price, staging and accessibility are the responsibility of the seller.
In the next few pages, we will help you understand your role and provide you with the best-practices
that we have acquired in our over thirty years in the business.
And if you need more help, the entire team at The RayChel Realty Group are available to help you
understand what you can do to get top dollar for your home.
Let’s Get Started!...

3. Understanding the Importance of Pricing Right
the First Time
The most important time for your home is during the flurry of early activity...
don’t gamble your best opportunity to sell your home.

4. What Your Home Is and Is Not Worth
It is often helpful for sellers to understand what the
market value of their home is not.
The market value of your home is not:
1. What you have in it
2. What you need out of it
3. What you want
4. What it appraised for
5. What you heard your neighbor’s home sold for
6. What the tax assessor says it is worth
7. How much it is insured for
8. Based on memories and treasure Finally, take a minute to determine what you
9. Based on prices of homes where you are mov- want the buyer to know about your home.
ing
•What is the strongest selling point about your
home?
The true market value of your home is what a
buyer is willing to pay: •What are the features or amenities of your
home that you believe should be pointed out
1. Based upon today’s market to a Buyer? (i.e interior/exterior, backyard,
neighborhood)
2. Based upon today’s competition
3. Based upon today’s financing •What do you think would be the best title
line or opening phrase for any advertising or
4. Based upon today’s economic conditions promotional material?
5. Based upon the buyer’s perception of the
condition •Are you aware of any plumbing, electrical,
heating, or air conditioning system upgrades?
6. Based upon location
7. Based upon normal marketing time •What improvements have you made since you
owned the house?
8. Based upon showing accessibility
•What is it that you believe will make a buyer
want to buy your home?
Properties that sell in today’s market: on a scale
of 1-10. The 10’s are the ones that are selling. •What are the least appealing features of your
How can your property be a 10? home or property?
1. By improving the condition dramatically •What is the most objectionable condition
2. By improving the way the home shows about your property?
3. By offering good terms •What features of your home do you feel should
4. By adjusting the price not be advertised, promoted or necessarily
highlighted?
Remember... we’re here to help!

5. Some Tips on Pricing
Buyers Determine Value It’s All About Price
These are some statements we often hear from Price is the most important factor in selling your
sellers that really have nothing to do with their home. There are some general guidelines you can
home’s value: follow to help you determine whether your home is
priced right.
“Another agent said it was worth more…”
“People always offer less than the asking price…” The true If your house is not being shown, it
means the agents think our price is
“The buyers can always make an offer…” market too high for that neighborhood.
“My neighbor was able to get this price…”
value of Recommendation: A significant price
“We paid more than that for our house…” adjustment.
your home
Other Factors That Do Not Affect Value: is what a If your house is being shown, but
Your Original Asking Price buyer is we are not getting any offers, it
means the Buyers are finding nicer
Chances are you paid the market value at that
willing to homes for the money.
time. Markets are continually shifting, and today
we have to deal with the current market condi- pay... Recommendation: A moderate price
tions which may have changed significantly. adjustment.
Over Improvements
Improvements should be made for enjoyment If your house is in the running, but the Buyers
and personal use…not for resale. You cannot buy something else, or if the Buyers view the
add a feature to a home, select it to match your house a second time, but buy something else, it
lifestyle, use it, then expect the buyer to pay your means that we are close.
original cost. Recommendation: A minor price adjustment.
The Owner’s Need For Money
The owner’s need for money or the fact that the According to studies by the National Association of
owner is moving to a community where property REALTORS, if your house is priced correctly, it should
is more expensive has nothing to do with the get one offer for every 10 showings. In a normal
market value of the home. market, it should get 1-2 showings per week.
The Seller’s Personal Attachment to the Property
If your home has not sold in 30 days or been shown
The seller’s memories, recollections of the good in 2 weeks, it’s overpriced.
and sometimes even the bad times experienced
in the property have absolutely nothing to do As a client of The RayChel Realty Group, you will be
with market value. Market value is what a willing informed at regular intervals of these statistis and
buyer will pay for this home in this market at this we will work with you to understand the facts and
time. help you make adjustments as needed.

6. The Importance of Presentation
In our thirty years of experience, we have found that the most important step you can take in marketing your
home is learning to look at your home through the eyes of the buyer. As you do this, you will probably find
some ways in which you can improve your home’s presentation. In the business, it’s known as staging.
Studies show that homes that are staged sell in about half the time of unstaged homes and sell for 1% - 6%
higher than similar unstaged homes. So, thousands of dollars are to be gained by spending a little time,
money and effort. How you decorate and accessorize to live in your home is very different than how you
decorate and accessorize to sell it.
There are two ways you can stage your home – professionally and do-it-yourself. While there is no shortage of
excellent professional staging companies, you can achieve solid return on investment by just exerting a little
elbow grease yourself.
Here are some no-cost or low-cost improvements which we have found to be most beneficial:
• Organize and declutter your home - making it generic is important to allow a buyer to envision their home
• Neatness and cleanliness counts- most home buyers are looking to buy a home that doesn’t require a lot
of work or repairs prior to move-in
• Hide your personality - remove your family photographs and religious articles so you can appeal to the
larger audience
• Kill the odors - if it smells, it won’t sell
• Add flowers- they brighten most everyone’s day
• Create spaciousness- remove at least half the clothes from the
closets, keep room corners visible, push furniture to within three
inches of the walls
• Accessorize to make a room visually interesting- use it sparingly,
but well
• Light & bright- allow as much light as possible to enter your
home
Think like a buyer and you’ll have your house sold in no time!

7. Accessability
A Faster and Easier Sale...
People don’t often think of a home buying decision as an emotional purchase, but it is. A buyer
needs to see, smell and absorb
how your home makes them feel
before committing to the purchase.
People buy homes on emotion and
justify their purchase decision with
reasoning.
That’s why accessibility is so important
- we can’t sell your home if we can’t
show it.
Making your home accessible at
reasonable times to agents and
potential home buyers is a vital part
of maximizing its exposure. Like you,
today’s buyer has a schedule with
limited availability, so keeping your
home ready-to-view at all times is a
must. By doing so, you will maximize
your home’s exposure and increase
interest - which drives up its value.
To facilitate showing your home,
we use a device called a Key Safe - a
secure lockbox holding a key to the
house. It can be accessed only by
agents who have a special handheld
keypad encoded with a unique access
code, recording who and when opens
and closes it. This provides a record
for us to identify the names of the
agents who previewed your home
and monitor the showing activity to
keep you informed.
Make it easier for agents and their clients to see your home and you’ll have a faster, easier sale.

8. It’s Just This Simple...
Selling a house is not a mysterious process. You can sell nearly any home with the right price,
staging, accessibility, terms and incentives. That’s right it’s just this simple...
Price It Right
Stage Your Home
Make It Accessible
Offer Incentives to Agents
Offer Good Terms to Buyers
And as one of our clients, you’re never alone in the process. We’re here to ensure your house is on
the way to sold, even before it hits the market.
My staff and I work diligently to improve our systems, processes and services to go well beyond the
standard level of service provided by most agents.
I hope that you have found the information here to be useful and informative and I look forward
to working with you.

9. The RayChel Realty Group
Telephone (650) 655-2500
E-Mail: info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com
Blog: www.LivingWellinSanMateo.com
Department of Real Estate # 00657178
©Copyright 2009 Raymond Stoklosa • The RayChel Realty Group • (650) 655-2500