Level Up Group Seller's Guide

SELLERSGUIDE

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STEP ONE PREPARATION CREATES OPPORTUNITY

“I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been lucky.”

– Oprah Winfrey, American Media Executive

Make your home easy to buy, and it will get sold. Any home in the Bay Area will sell in a given range, regardless of its condition or presentation. The key to a wildly successful sale, meaning you sell at the highest end of that range, is to eliminate as many objections and potential objections that a buyer may have about your property.

Do a walk through

This requires you to take off your Owner hat for a few minutes, and put on your Buyer hat. Walk around. See what a buyer would see. Make a list.

The most common cosmetic improvements we see that generate the highest return on investment (ROI) are:

s Paint interior walls and trim

s Paint exterior

s Refinish hardwood floors

s Replace/remove carpet

s Add new light fixtures

s Add new hardware on cabinets

s Landscaping

s New light switches

s New door knobs

s New appliances

s New countertops

Be sure that all of your major systems are working, including heating, plumbing, electrical, windows, roof, foundation, appliances and water heater. Make sure there aren’t any mold problems and any pest issues (rot, termites, fungus) are minimized or ideally eliminated.

Decide where to invest

Once you’ve taken an inventory, address what will yield the highest ROI. All of the improvements above should return between 2-4x your investment. Money spent on your property during these last three months of ownership are some of the best investments you can make. Your agent can guide you on what will deliver the greatest bang for the buck.

Be selective

Don’t use this time to start a major remodel, expansion or demolition project. If your idea for improvement involves moving walls, raising the roof or rebuilding the foundation, it’s probably better financially to do this in your next property, and limit your scope of improvements to cosmetic enhancements.

The Level Up Group has full time project managers on our team to handle all of the details involved with getting your home ready for sale. You can hand us the keys and we’ll take it from there.

209 Montcalm St, Bernal Heights

Sold for $2.505M

Four offers received

STEP TWO

HIRE THE BEST AGENT YOU CAN AFFORD

Most Real Estate Agents work on straight commission - the more your home sells for, the more they make. And they don’t get paid if your home doesn’t sell. Your interests are perfectly aligned.

Unfortunately, the barrier to entry for Real Estate agents is incredibly low, which makes it difficult and critical for you to apply a rigorous process to your hiring decision. Personality is important, but so is experience, skills and the resources to get the job done.

When interviewing for an agent, please consider calling one of our Level Up Group listing specialists. We are a highly trained, expertly staffed team of professionals focused on listing real estate. We encourage you to compare us against other agents, too.

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little”.

– John Ruskin, British Writer and Painter

There is no other Bay Area real estate team as experienced, qualified and connected as the Level Up Group. Schedule a non obligation consultation by emailing hello@ levelupgroupsf.com.

Choose someone you’ll be comfortable working with for 3-6 months

Here is how we recommend you evaluate us and any other agent. Be sure your candidates:

s Outline their scope of services to you, including their marketing services, open house schedule, vendor resources and team structure.

s Understand the market and can help you determine the ideal list price.

s Present a comprehensive online, email, print, social, and snail mail marketing plan.

s Schedule vendors and bids and manage any improvements to help you prepare the property for sale.

s Provide feedback from showings and open houses.

s Update you on market changes that could affect your property’s value.

s Have a process for pre-qualifying potential buyers.

s Promptly present, evaluate and compare offers with you.

s Negotiate the highest possible price and best terms in partnership with you.

s Manage contractual, title and transaction details to ensure the deal closes.

s Ensure that all legal and compliance documentation is handled prior to close of escrow.

s Ensure your funds arrive to your bank account on time and in full.

s Assist you to arrange for a moving company and relocation agent.

Once you’ve found an agent with the right mix of professional expertise, proven track record and personal chemistry, hire us! 6

24 Montezuma Ave, Bernal Heights Sold for $1.125M Tenant Occupied Duplex

STEP THREE PRICE IT RIGHT

The Level Up Group completes a rigorous ten step analysis of your property to ensure it is priced to sell at the highest price in the shortest time.

“Come on Down”

– The Price is Right, American Game Show Tagline

The list price can make or break your sale - without being too dramatic, the list price is everything. Price it too high and the property will sit for months. Price it too low and you have overly crowded open houses, discouraging the properly funded buyers from participating.

Pricing is as much art as it is science.

A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is a document, drawn from a local Multiple Listings Service (MLS) database, that presents pricing information, property details and photos of homes similar to yours (often referred to as “comps” in Realtor lingo) that have recently sold, failed to sell, or are currently on the market in your area.

Your agent should provide you with a CMA as part of the listing presentation. It’s during this analysis, you and the agent should be able to draw some conclusions about what the right list price should be and where sale price will likely end up.

Generally speaking, a comparable home is within the same vicinity (as close as possible), with similar square footage, lot size, bedroom/ bath count, condition and features. It rarely works out in a way that there are multiple homes nearly identical to yours, but we start with homes within ¼ mile radius, and work out, and look back 6 months up to one year. Once we have 4-6 homes, we can analyze the differences and start to draw some conclusions.

Consider your marketing strategy

Most homes in the Bay Area are priced below the market in order to generate multiple offers and sell for more. This works for most homes, but not all. Depending on the property, market conditions, your timeline and risk tolerance, and timing, it may be wise to follow this auction pricing strategy, or shift to a more conservative market pricing strategy.

STEP FOUR

PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING

“It’s showtime, folks!”

– Joe Gideon, American Fictional Character from Bob Fosse’s “All that Jazz”

Putting your home on the market is a lot like producing a Broadway show (unless you live on Broadway Ave and then it’s exactly like it). Everything needs to be perfect - the lighting, the music, the staging, the guest list - all working in unison to create a fantasy experience that tells the prospective buyers “this could be your new life”.

Staged homes sell for more

Unless your furniture looks like it came out of showroom last week, it probably has that ‘lived-in, super comfy’ look to it. That’s amazing when snuggling in for the evening to watch TV, but not so great when you’re trying to sell the property. A staged home should be bright, well-designed, neutral and make the home look expensive.

Your agent can help you find the best designer for your budget. Good SF designers cost between $5-$7/sqt. You can certainly pay less, and far more, but this is a reasonable budget for a high-quality presentation.

Clean up and clean out

If you can’t have your property staged, then paring down is in order. Systematically address each room in your house, including closets and storage. Thank anything unnecessary for its service, and send it packing. Rid your home of clutter, extraneous objects, and mess.

Homebuyers are more likely to see themselves in the property if they aren’t reminded that someone else lives there. It’s wise to neutralize photos and momentos such as framed photos, your kids’ drawings on the fridge, or your collection of ceramic Boston Terriers.

Potential buyers will be checking out the closet and storage space to judge if it’s sufficient for their own stuff, so you don’t want them crammed to the brim. Instead, find a place for it all ideally off-site in a storage facility.

Boost your curb appeal

Tips For Showing Your Home

s Add touches of color with accessories, pillows and artwork

s Place fresh flowers where they’ll stand out

s Open all doors and windows beforehand to circulate fresh air

s Pick up toys, remove all clutter, ensure beds are made, put clothes away

s Floors should be clean, carpets and rugs vacuumed

s Trash and recycling bins should be tidy and odor-free

s The kitchen and bathrooms should sparkle

s If possible, bake cookies or put a pan of cinnamon in the oven to create a warm and inviting aroma

s Ideally, pets should be unseen. Pet areas should be clean and odor-free. Not everyone may share your love of animals, and some may be allergic to them

s Remove all cash, jewelry and small valuables from view

Our presentation strategy is designed to make your home the fantasy pictureperfect space that every buyer wants to see themselves in.

First impressions don’t get second chances. The exterior and entrance to your home sets the tone for what the buyer may expect when inside.

Check the condition of exterior paint, your lawn and landscaping, your front door (especially the hardware and doorknob), the driveway, the house numbers and even the mailbox. If any of it appears neglected, damaged, dingy, or in disarray, fix it before it turns buyers away from the street.

2 Las Palmas, Tiburon Sold for $1.7M Waterview luxury home in-waiting

STEP FIVE MARKETING

“Even when you are marketing to an entire audience or customer base, you are still simply speaking to a single human at any given time.”

– Ann Handley, Digital Marketing Writer and Speaker

Once the home is properly prepared and priced, it’s time to let everyone know about it. Social media, third party listing sites, mobile apps, and direct contact with a Real Estate Agent are the main ways buyers find homes.

Buyers are online

The Internet has revolutionized real estate advertising. Your Agent must have a robust online marketing strategy.

The main items buyers look for on real estate websites are:

• Property photos

• Detailed property information

• Virtual tours

• Real estate agent contact information

• Neighborhood information

The right neighborhood is half the decision Industry surveys consistently find that neighborhood quality is the most important reason why buyers choose where to live. In fact, experience shows that buyers usually “buy” an area first, and are often willing to pay a premium for homes in their ideal neighborhoods.

The Level Up Group Marketing Program is designed to enhance your property and make it both approachable and informative while highlighting the positive features of the home and the neighborhood.

It’s crucial to highlight your community’s amenities – like proximity to quality schools, restaurants and shopping, local parks and attractions, as well as other benefits that impact lifestyle. Your agent should have access to the kinds of detailed community and school information that buyers want, and are skilled at presenting the relationship between your community and home together.

1345 Green St, Russian Hill $1.775M 4 Offers

Take a multi-channel advertising approach

The internet is key, but it’s not the only tool in the marketing toolbox. To maximize demand for your property, it is necessary to deploy a multi-channel approach to advertising the home. Most agents have wide range of options for maximizing a property’s exposure, including:

s Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

s Consumer search sites like Zillow, Trulia, Estately, Hotpads, Movato

s Company website(s) like LevelUpGroupSF.com

s Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram

s Craigslist

s Local Real Estate paper

s Direct contact from agents

s Open houses

s Direct mail campaigns

s Email campaigns

s Brokers tours

s Top Agent Network

s For Sale sign

Open houses work

Open Houses are a great way for buyers to check out your home and see if it’s a fit for their family and lifestyle. Your agent will take care of this, but in general buyers should feel welcome in the space and it should be neat, clean and well-presented. Brochures and signage should be professionally designed and displayed. Inspections and disclosures should be available. Sign in sheets should be on hand and buyers should sign in for security and tracking purposes.:

340 Moseley, Hillsborough $4.78M International Luxury Marketing

STEP SIX NEGOTIATING

“Place a higher priority on discovering what a win looks like for the other person.”

– Harvey Robbins, Business Psychologist

Negotiations would be easy if it weren’t for the humans involved. In practice, most negotiations are pretty straight forward since the buyer wants to buy and the seller wants to sell.

When one party attempts to get more than their fair share, or an obstacle arises or perhaps new information is introduced that puts one side at an advantage over the other a negotiation is merited. Your agent should be well-equipped to successfully resolve the issue and help both sides arrive at a satisfactory outcome.

Strategy beats brute force

Effective negotiations are partially decided by the skill of the agent and their ability to influence the other side, and also by how buyers frame the home in their mind compared to other homes they’re considering. This impression is shaped by a combination of marketing, preparation, disclosures, and presentation. The right strategic approach can help frame potential objections in ways that address the buyer’s concerns before it becomes an issue.

The basic process

As you may recall when you purchased the property, a buyer makes an offer using a standard California Purchase Agreement (the contract). The buyer states in the contract what they’re willing to pay, and under what terms, which includes closing and possession dates, deposit amounts, contingencies and a variety of other conditions.

The buyer’s agent will deliver the offer to your agent, who should verify it’s completeness, confirm the buyer’s funding and lending situation and present it to you. It’s important to review the details of the offer together with your agent.

We earn our commission during negotiations because the more you make, the more we make. It is not uncommon for us to squeeze an additional $10k$100k or more out of the deal during negotiations.

Your options are to accept the offer, reject it, counter it or ignore it. Countering the offer begins the formal negotiation.

Successive counter offers, with deadlines for responding and for meeting various contingencies and special conditions (e.g. a home inspection, the buyer securing financing) will be exchanged between you and the buyer until either a mutually satisfactory agreement is reached or the negotiations collapse.

89 Teddy Ave, Visitaction Valley Sold for $1.11M 8 Offers

Basic principles for successful negotiation

s Disclose everything. Smart sellers proactively go above and beyond legal necessity to disclose all known defects to their buyers. California has strict disclosure rulesfollow them.

s Ask questions. Offers may contain complicated terminology, and sometimes complicated legalese. Your agent can clarify any confusing parts.

s Respond quickly. When buyers make an offer, they are in the mood to buy. But moods change, and buyers are known to get buyers’ remorse. Don’t delay if you want the sale.

s Stay calm and be patient. At all times keep communication civil and agreeable.

s Be flexible. Consider giving something in order to get something you value more. Not everything is valued at its purchase price - some things are worth more than just money - time, certainty and risk tolerance, for example, are tools you have that don’t necessarily have direct dollar amounts tied to them.

s Be thoughtful. Once you’ve ratified with a buyer, you have a legally binding contract that requires both parties to perform or face consequences.

s Rely on your Agent. It’s your Agent’s responsibility to represent your best interests every step of the way. Your success is their success.

Congratulating you on your sale and handing the buyer the keys to their new home is one of the most satisfying parts of the job. It is an honor to be a part of this journey with you. 20

The sale closes once the Grant Deed is recorded with the county recorder’s office. Once the stamp hits the Grant Deed, ownership transfers from the Seller to the Buyer.

Provided you and the buyer have completed all of your contractual obligations, the close will go smoothly with few if any surprises.

Completing the transaction

The escrow officer manages the closing process, coordinating the Seller’s needs, Buyer’s needs, the Buyer’s lender’s needs and the Title Company’s needs to arrive at a closed sale. Escrow also:

• Determines the total amount due from the buyer and collects the check

• Determines all the adjustments (e.g. seller prepayment of taxes, utilities, HOA dues, etc) and ensures that they’re factored into the transaction

• Assures that the transaction costs (closing costs, legal fees, etc.) are paid

• Determines the seller’s payments, credits and adjusted net proceeds

• Witnesses the seller’s signing of the property title and all other documentation associated with the transaction

• Collects the keys and any other necessary items from the seller

• Provides the seller with the net proceeds as well as copies of the documentation pertaining to the sale

• Ensures that buyer’s title is properly recorded in the local records office along with any mortgage liens

In most cases, the buyer will get keys the day escrow closes and your proceeds will be wired to your account the same day and the process will be complete.

You did it! Congratulations!

370 North Ferndale, Mill Valley Sold for $810k Absentee Seller, Tenant Occupied

ABOUT US

About the Level Up Group

We sell more homes each year than 99% of the agents in San Francisco year after year. This gives us the tremendous market knowledge to know how to best price, position and prepare your home for sale. We are ranked #1 in the Keller Williams San Francisco Market Center, and consistently in the top 10 of all of San Francisco (out of 4,000+ agents) in terms of families served. But we are most proud of our 70+ 5-Star Yelp Reviews because, at the end of the day, client satisfaction is the most important metric.

Here’s how we compare to the San Francisco average agent:

We’re also the only Bay Area Real Estate team that is endorsed by Real Estate empire builder and Shark Tank superstar, Barbara Corcoran. Barbara selects only one team in each market for this honor and we met the production, service and marketing requirements to earn her trust.

Predictable Results Come from Following the Right Strategy

Every home and every client’s situation is different, but the process that we follow is not. We have a systematic and well documented method for preparing and marketing a home that consistently delivers exceptional results. We follow approximately 150 individual steps to make sure our listings are prepared, marketed and sold to our quality and presentation standards.

Our Team is Your Greatest Advantage

When you hire us to sell your home, you’re hiring a team of full-time professionals. You get a dedicated project management team that focuses solely on making sure all of the 150+ discrete tasks associated with bringing your property to market are handled capably and correctly. We also have a full-time lead generation team that calls, door knocks and networks for prospective buyers all day to bring them to your home. You get nine full-time team agents and an army of Keller Williams agents eager to bring you a buyer.