That is not to say that the sign in of it self has no value, but rather I am stating that it is not enough to guarantee a sale. Unlike booming markets like Alberta, Toronto or Vancouver, your agent must spend a lot of energy, thought and more importantly resources advertising your listing if you hope to sell. The average length a time it takes to sell a home in Summerside is 3 months. Roughly 6 months if the residence is located out of town. This is based on a generalization from MLS statistics. Obviously some homes spend less time and others more. Most clients like the less time factor and worry about the more aspects. There are many factors that affect a homes ability to sell quickly in our market but a few of these are absolutely fundamental to success.

PRICING

I usually use an absurd example here to get my point across. If you list your house for $1, I will guarantee it will sell within 24 hours (worst case scenario I'll buy myself!). However if your home is worth $150,000 and you ask your agent to get you a cool $1,000,000...then don't pack up the kids just yet. The point is simple, you have to be priced according to the market. Again this being a smaller market, no two homes are identical. However, your agent can help you by providing you with a CMA. A comparative market analysis. It will show you what is on the market in your range, what has sold recently, what they got and what is still sitting. The hardest part for home owner is to settle on an asking price. We (myself included) always think our home is worth more. Your agent is objective and can guide you but in the end you have to be happy with the price also. Most agents will give you a range, the lower end will sell faster the upper end will take a little more time and effort. Some agents will walk away from a house priced to high and recommend some else take your listing. Why? Your agent runs a self employed business. His/Her paycheck will come from selling your home. Until then they will incur all advertising costs...and they mount quickly. If there is no hope of selling; then all they would be doing is throwing money out the door. Experience agents understand this principle, that's why they are still in business servicing their clients.

ADVERTISING

Ok so you've finally come to terms on price, now your agent can begin his or her work on your behalf. The paper work gets submitted, the property gets listed on MLS and a sign goes up. Wonderful! Now all the agent has to do is sit around and wait for the offer to come in to make a living...WRONG! There are many things a knowledgeable agent will do for you at this time. These steps vary from agent to agent or in the order they might execute them but this is all behind the scene stuff that makes the offer become a reality. This includes inviting the office to view the listing during their weekly meeting. Having other agents familiar with your property will help sell it. How? Because when their buyers give them a list of what they want and your house matches most of those criteria's, they will not hesitate to show it so they can achieve the sale part of the deal. (For those of you who aren't that familiar with MLS, that is how it works. Agents split commissions between listing and selling side. One agent from one company can list your home and another agent from another company can sell it and they both get half the commission). MLS helps other agents from other offices know about your listing. Sometimes an agent will hold an open house 'for agents' only from all companies. Now every agent on the Island knows your house is for sale, great it is bound to sell now. Well maybe. It does not hurt to notify the general public that it is for sale. After all it will be someone from the public that will eventually make the offer. How do we do that? Depends on the agent/office. Now I will focus on what Century21 Northumberland does for their clients. I encourage you to ask your prospective agent prior to signing a contract what they will do for you in specific terms, after you sign it is kind of late. Century21 Northumberland uses the following methodologies for moving properties. Locally we advertise your property in the newspaper, and on the Home Show on Cable TV channel 9 (check it out if you haven't seen it). In addition, we operate over a dozen individual web sites with different focus (some more on the local market and others design to get the attention of the "Away" market). Our Island coverage also includes running offices out of Borden, Kensington and Summerside. During the spring you can visit us at the 'Home Show' & in the summer you can see us at Spinnackers' Landing. Century21 Northumberland agents currently run 4 pages in every issue of the Real Estate Book that covers the Island with a classy real estate magazine. We cover the Island with print, TV, web, and locations. In addition; to attract potential off Island buyers; we list your properties on large multi national web sites like BobVilla's, Living Choices, Earthlink, and many more. There are many more methods that we use to help sell listings for our clients. They include email marketing, direct marketing, agent handshaking, we've even sent agents out to Alberta, Toronto, Las Vegas and China this year alone to help establish relationships with potential buyers. During the course of the year you can find the Century21 Northumberland properties advertised in single issue national publications, here national radio and TV ads or any multitude of venues. Individual agents also have their own methods of marketing your property that simply enhance your opportunity to find a buyer. The equations is simple, the more people that know your property is for sale, the better the chance of finding a qualified buyer.