John Meeker - Realtor®
Serving Monmouth & Ocean Counties
732-910-2593
John Meeker
Realtor / Associate
626 Highway 9 South
Howell Twp., NJ 07728
732-910-2593
fax 732-780-6205
JMeeker@weichert.com
Professional Credentials
•Licensed NJ Realtor
•Member NAR (National Association of Realtors)
•Member NJAR (NJ Association of Realtors)
•Member Monmouth/Ocean County Board of Realtors - MLS
•Member Weichert Million Dollar Sales Club.
Preparing to Sell Your Home
Here's how to be certain your home will be its most appealing to a potential buyer.
It's important to have someone take an unbiased look at your home's appeal. A knowledgeable Weichert Sales Associate will offer specific suggestions that let you add to its value without spending a lot of money. Here are some everyone should consider.
Make a great first impression. Well-cared-for lawn and landscaping
Seasonal door decorationMake all necessary repairs.Remove clutter to make your home more spacious. Neat closetsOrganized basementKeep things light and bright. Sunny, well-lit rooms look largerFresh paint makes them seem newHighlight your home's best features. Arrange your furnishings to spotlight a beautiful viewUse colors to draw attention to a charming fireplaceAdd special touches to create an inviting atmosphere Fresh flowersScented candlesOffer a Weichert Home Protection Plan – Beyond the cosmetic, this warranty adds appeal by assuring potential buyers that essential utilities and appliances won't present unexpected expenses. To learn more of the details, you can ask your Weichert Sales Associate.
Marketing Your Home
Here's what it will take to attract potential buyers for your home.
The process begins with getting to know you and your home. In an initial meeting, before you ever commit to hiring a Weichert Sales Associate, he or she will take exterior and interior photos, measure each room, and assess your home's key features. The Associate will also ask about any improvements you may have made over the years and listen to whatever concerns you may have.
Our Sales Associate will then return with a customized marketing plan based on everything learned in that first visit. This will provide you with a clear idea of what will be done to attract the most potential buyers to your home. Your plan will include such features as:
A schedule of marketing activitiesA list of advertising vehicles, including websites, that will carry the ad for your home Promotional materials with photos of your home and its special features to be handed out or mailed An explanation of how our Open House program can maximize the number of potential buyers who see your homeOnce you list with Weichert, your Sales Associate will immediately start putting the marketing plan into action to help you achieve a timely sale at the best possible price.
Bringing buyers in
Here's why we strongly recommend our Open House Program.
Consider this startling fact: almost 3 of every 4 homebuyers visit at least one open house*. Although not everyone decides to hold an Open House, our commitment to our industry-leading program has turned it into an especially powerful marketing technique. Weichert Open Houses lead directly to thousands of home sales each year.**
Weichert holds more Open Houses than anyone else because we understand how to make them work so well for our clients. More than just an Open House, in fact, our Open House Program is a 3-step process. We've learned that what's done beforehand and after are just as important to selling your home as the Open House itself.
Step one: Use every means to drive customers to attend.
Online and traditional advertisingDirect mail and phone callingThe familiar Weichert signsStep two: Don't just "show" the home, conduct tours.
Explain your home's benefits using detailed highlight sheetsEmphasize its affordability by presenting several mortgage optionsStep three: Follow up
Contact every visitor who signed your guest registryUsually with a phone call within 24 hoursSetting the right price
Here's a pricing strategy that, because it's sensitive to market trends, is more likely to result in the best selling price.
Naturally, the location, property size/features, style, age, physical condition, special features, and recent enhancements must all be considered in assessing your home's value. As a starting point, though, your Weichert Sales Associate will thoroughly research comparable homes in your neighborhood and town. Recent sale prices, the current prices of similar homes, and even homes that didn't sell and were taken off the market will all be reviewed for you.
To analyze the data, Weichert has developed a unique tool called a Price Trend Analysis*. It goes beyond the capabilities of a typical Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) by projecting local price trends. With our method, your Sales Associate can factor in the many market influences that impact price – including supply of homes versus demand, how the local economy is faring, and home appreciation rates – to determine your home's Fair Market Value.
An attractive initial listing price, based on Fair Market Value, is especially important. As you can see from the chart below, pricing greatly affects the number of buyers your home will attract. And homes almost always gain the most attention when their listings are new to the market.
* This document is not an appraisal and should not be considered to be the equivalent of an appraisal.
Reaching an agreement
Here's the help you can expect after receiving an offer.
When an offer is made on your house, it probably won't be for your full asking price, so you may want to counter that offer. That's where the negotiating skills of your Sales Associate will come in. Rest assured that Weichert Sales Associates are well qualified to negotiate on your behalf with your best interests in mind.
If the buyer counters your counteroffer, you'll need help to frame your next move. Rather than just going back and forth on price, introducing another issue can be a winner for you. For instance, your Weichert Sales Associate may suggest to the buyer that while your price is firm, you will agree to leave behind major appliances that the buyer would otherwise have to purchase out-of-pocket.
Your Weichert Sales Associate can negotiate favorable terms for you as well. A flexible or delayed closing date, for example, can give you the time you need to purchase another home. Conversely, an early closing date can have real financial benefit if you've already purchased another home and need to close quickly to avoid carrying two mortgages.
When you receive an offer, and especially if you receive more than one, you should consider how "solid" the offer is. Your Weichert Sales Associate can help you assess offers by weighing such crucial factors as whether the buyer has a mortgage pre-approval, how much they're putting down, whether they have a home to sell first, and so on.
Sometimes the most emotionally charged negotiating follows the various home inspections that come after the contract is signed. "Who pays for what" is strictly a matter of negotiation, and your Weichert Sales Associate will help you take a balanced stance that's tough enough to protect the home equity you want to walk away with, yet has enough flexibility to avoid alienating the buyer and jeopardizing the sale itself.
Real Estate Glossary of Common Terms
Real Estate has a language all its own. Here's some of the terminology you'll be hearing.
Adjustable Mortgage Loans: Mortgage loans under which the interest rate is periodically adjusted to more closely coincide with current rates. The amounts and times of adjustment are agreed to at the inception of the loan. Also called: Adjustable Rate Loans, Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs), Flexible Rate Loans, Variable Rate Loans.
Amortization: Repayment of a debt through monthly installments of principal and interest. The monthly payment is based on a schedule that will allow you to own your home at the end of a specific period (e.g., 15 or 30 years)
Annual Percentage Rate (A.P.R.): The A.P.R. shows the cost of the loan expressed as a yearly interest rate. It includes the interest, points, mortgage insurance, and other fees associated with the loan. The A.P.R. is disclosed as a requirement of the federal Truth in Lending statutes.
Buydown: A payment to the lender from the seller, buyer, or third party, or some combination of these, that causes the lender to reduce the interest rate during the early years of the loan.
Buyer's Agent: The licensed real estate salesperson who represents the interests of, and negotiates on behalf of, the buyer of a home or property.
Cap: In adjustable rate mortgages, the limit on how much the interest rate or monthly payment can change.
Closing: The final procedure in which documents are executed and/or recorded, and the sale (or loan) is completed.
Closing Statement: The statement which lists the financial settlement between buyer and seller, and also the costs each must pay.
CMA: CMA, or Competitive Market Analysis, is a comparison of homes similar to a seller's home in terms of size, style, features, and location that have sold recently or are on the market. A CMA is prepared by a real estate agent to help set a home's listing price; it is not an appraisal.
Contingency: Commonly, a stated event which must occur before a contract is binding. For example, a home sale may be contingent upon the buyer obtaining financing.
Deposit: A portion of the down payment given by the buyer to the seller or escrow agent with a written offer to purchase. Shows good faith.
Down payment: Cash portion of the purchase price paid by a buyer from his own funds as opposed to that portion which is financed.
Dual Agent: A licensed real estate salesperson who represents both the buyer and the seller in a transaction at the same time. Also applies to a buyer's agent (see above) when the seller's agent works for the same company. In either case, both parties must provide written informed consent to Dual Agency.
Escrow: A procedure in which a third (neutral) party holds all funds, documents, etc. necessary to the sale, with instructions from both buyer and seller as to their use and disposition.
FHA Loan: A loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration, a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA insurance enables lenders to make loans to borrowers who might not qualify for conventional mortgages.
Gold Services: Weichert, Realtors® expanding array of one-stop shopping services for real estate-related needs, from pre- to post-move. See full overview in Gold Services section of this web site.
Graduated Payment Mortgage: A mortgage initially offering low monthly payments that increase at fixed intervals and at a predetermined rate.
John Meeker
732-910-2593
JMeeker@weichert.com
All Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed--John Meeker Homes-2010
