On many of my listing presentations, people ask me how Assist-2-Sell has had so much success selling homes when, seemingly, many other agents and companies are struggling. I don't really know if that is true or perception, but we DO have a deliberate method to selling homes. Nothing about our approach is "hands off". Here are the keys to a successful home sale that we have learned over the last few months:

Use Price as a People Dam" - Your objective with your pricing should be to regulate the amount of buyers that cross your threshold - similar to the way a water dam regulates the flow of water. A price that is too high will result in a people flow that is too low. A price that is too low will result in a high volume of people coming to see you home. This will include people that are less qualified buyers and those who are not really serious about buying. Your home will probably sell very quickly, but you will leave money on the table. You want a steady flow of buyers of a certain number per week. Your agent should know what a good showing rate is.

Don't make the mistake of pricing your home for "negotiating room". The only real relationship between your asking price and your final selling price is that the asking price usually acts as the ceiling.

Don't price your house trying to recover everything you have spent on it. Listen, it is only a myth that everything you add to a house increases, or even maintains its value. Improvements to a house depreciate in value the same way everything else does. You should not expect to raise your house $20,000 over close comparables because you spent and extra $20,000 in improvements.

Market Aggressively - Sellers need to be involved to really understand how their homes are being marketed. This is the time to talk DETAILS. It really doesn't matter what company you use or what agent you use. Buyers don't shop for homes listed by XYZ realty or listed by Agent 123. But, there are certain marketing techniques that have PROVEN responses from buyers. Sellers need to ensure their homes are capitalizing from that research.

Know the Market - You have to watch the market each day and understand where you are positioned. The value of a home moves similar to the value of a stock. It is heavily influenced by the movement of other homes on the market. You need to have a real-time understanding of how competing houses are moving. You also need to know where your buyers are coming from. You need to know what your feedback is and how it relates to other information about your home.

This is the key to selling homes in this market. We find that when our sellers implement these principles consistently, the sell. When they don't, they sit.

The question on everyone's mind is, "Has the market bottomed out?"  People want to know if now is the time to buy a home or if they should wait for further declines in home values. 

Many have heard the old adages, "Buy low and sell high." and "Buy when everyone else is selling and sell when everyone else is buying."  It's easy to forget this timeless advice, though, when every day there is another expert hyping the decline of the housing market.   

Remember: No one was able to predict the peak and no one can predict the bottom.  Stop waiting for the media to predict the bottom of the market.  By the time they do, it will be too late for the average person to take advantage of the situation. 

A sound and easy real estate investing strategy is to sell before the peak and buy before the bottom.  This is easy to understand but harder to apply because the tendency is to get greedy.  The desire to sell at the absolute peak and buy at the very bottom distracts most investors.  Unfortunately, most people end up selling for much lower than the peak and buying much higher than the bottom.

So what happens if you buy now?  You'll take advantage of low interest rates and a lot of inventory, and since there is little competition, you will probably be able to negotiate a great bargain. 

What if the market goes lower?  Chances are it won't, but even if it does, it probably won't go significantly lower.  The bigger risk is in the market improving.  Buyers who are sitting on the sidelines will jump in, and the increase in competition will mean less opportunity to negotiate a great deal.

This is the best home buying opportunity of the past several years.  Don't get caught missing out.  Take the deal!

It's been over 20 years since Assist-2-Sell® began it's "Full-Service with $avings!"® program, saving consumers a significant amount of money without eliminating any of the service and support they need.

Although we are typically a Seller's best friend, it's impossible to escape the competitive nature of our business and we are constantly hearing misinformation put out by our competitors.  I just laugh when people say we aren't "real" real estate brokers because it's simply not true. We do everything "traditional" real estate companies do, we simply charge less. It feels great offering excellent service at an excellent value.

Assist-2-Sell's experienced brokers and agents handle everything throughout the entire process of selling a home, including:

• Helping price the home accurately;
• Implementing a targeted marketing campaign aimed at reaching active homebuyers directly-online and offline;
• Utilizing the MLS, as appropriate, as a marketing tool;
• Taking all phone calls;
• Showing the home to prospective buyers;
• Arranging for other agents to show the home;
• Pre-qualifying homebuyers;
• Helping the homebuyer obtain financing;
• Negotiating the purchasing agreement;
• Writing the sales contract;
• Handling all paperwork;
• Meeting with appraisers;
• Arranging for all inspections; and
• Supervising the closing. 

Home sellers pay a low, flat fee, instead of a percentage of the home's sale price, only after their home has sold.

We participate fully with area real estate agents and we thank the hundreds of agents that have shown our homes in return. Yet, we are completely aware of the pressure our powerful program puts on our competition. But, we are here for the Sellers. In fact, our Co-Founder, Mary LaMeres-Pomin, once stated that the Assist-2-Sell model was born out of frustration with the way real estate was being practiced. "Home sellers had little choice but to pay high commissions with no assurance they'd receive high value. Because so many agents were struggling to secure their next listing, they spent less time marketing homes and more time marketing themselves." Consumers were unhappy and a lot of agents were unhappy as well. We wanted to create a system that not only produced satisfied customers but also helped agents be more successful."

I meet with several people each month to review our seller-friendly marketing programs and to discuss their real estate needs. In some cases, depending on the seller's motivation and what they need to net from the sale, I have to recommend the seller stay put and not sell in this market. The truth is that this is not the market to put an overpriced home up for sale.

But in cases where the seller is selling their home to buy a larger, more expensive home, I say Go for it! It's simple math that shows that this is generally a good decision and, if managed properly, such transactions could actual profit the sellers - even if they take less than originally desired for their home. Consider the following example:

Seller A owns a home on the south side of South Bend. Two years ago, this home may have sold for $135,000. But, they receive an offer today of only $120,000 - a whopping 12.5% less than the going price a couple of years ago. At first glance, selling for $15,000 less than desired is not very appealing.

But, the sellers have identified a larger home they would like to buy. Two years ago, this home may have sold for $249,000. But, since this is the same market, we assume the same 12.5% depreciation on this larger home and the going rate is only $217,875 - a savings of $31,125.

The seller gained $31,125 in savings on the new home and lost $15,000 to depreciation on the original sale. The seller's total gain is over $16,000 compared to sales two years ago. Although the seller may have gotten more on their sale in 2006, they would have more than likely paid more for the new home.

Of course this is a hypothetical example that does not apply across the board. Several factors go into determining the overall profitability of any real estate transactions. However, this is an illustration of a concept that is possible in this market and sellers should be aware of it.

So if you are considering upgrading your current home, get in touch with your realtor, (that should be ME), and have a good dialogue about your situation. Now may be the best time to make your move!

MISHAWAKA, Ind. - Jan. 21, 2008 - Charles and LaVondra Coleman didn't start the New Year vowing to exercise more and lose weight. Instead, the owners of the Mishawaka Assist-2-Sell office made a commitment to raise as much money as possible for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is dedicated to finding cures and saving children with pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.

"When a young boy in my son's school was diagnosed with cancer, we decided to do something to help," explains Charles. "We donated some money personally, but we wanted to use the growth of our real estate business to help other children in need."

The Colemans have challenged themselves to save area home sellers at least $150,000 in real estate commissions in 2008. At the end of the year, they will make a donation equal to 2.5 percent of the total seller savings to St. Jude. The donation will be funded by the company, but made in the name of sellers that sold their homes with Assist-Sell in 2008.         

Continues LaVondra, "Last year-in our first few months of operation-we saved our customers more than $56,000.[1] We started thinking about what our customers were doing with the money they saved. Many mentioned that they were making some type of charitable contribution. This sparked our thoughts."

In addition to donating a portion of their proceeds to St. Jude, the Colemans will also encourage their customers to match their donation.

            If you would like to help the Colemans in their fundraising efforts, call Assist-2-Sell Buyers and Sellers Smart Choice at (574) 258-5377 or e-mail management0762@assist2sell.com.

Assist-2-Sell Buyers and Sellers Smart Choice is owned and operated by Charles and LaVondra Coleman. They opened the Mishawaka, Ind., office in April 2007. Assist-2-Sell, North America's Leading Discount Real Estate Company^SM, provides home sellers with full brokerage services for a low, flat fee, saving consumers more than $800 million in commission.[2] Homebuyers also have access to a full range of services, including Assist-2-Sell's exclusive listings databases. All brokers and agents are fully licensed and REALTORS®. On the Net: http://www.4indianahomes.com/

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Charles and LaVondra Coleman are available for interviews and can provide additional information about Assist-2-Sell and discount real estate. Call (574) 258-5377 or e-mail management0762@assist2sell.com.

[1] Savings based on statistics between Apr. 11, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2007, for the Mishawaka, Ind., office compared to paying six percent. Six percent used for comparison purposes only. Commissions may be negotiable and are not fixed by law.

[2] Savings based on statistics since January 1, 2000, for all Assist-2-Sell offices in North America compared to paying six percent commission. Six percent used for comparison purposes only. Commissions may be negotiable and are not fixed by law.