A Custom Guide for Selling
287 Camellia Circle, LarkspurPLEASE VIEW ON WIDER SCREEN
By Craig Ackerman, Certified Residential Realtor®, MBA Author, Selling Grandma’s House Trust administration and International Marketing Specialist
Contents
Summary
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Custom Plan to Sell Your Home
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- This 1,423 SF home will sell for $999/SF to $1,055/SF, or $1.422M to $1.501M.
- Preparation is the key. To arrive at the above sales price range, I advocate for these preparation steps:
- Comprehensive interior painting in a designer color, including closets, excluding ceilings.
- Staging the home as 2 bedrooms with contemporary finishes.
- Professional window washing, carpet cleaning and cleaning/ polishing of all finishes and fixtures.
- Total listing commission is 5%, split equally between listing and buyers agent.
- 5 days – Bring home to market (paint, clean, stage and photograph).
- 14 to 20 days – Marketing exposure time period before “Advertised Bid Date” to allow for maximum exposure and greatest likelihood of competitive bidding. Buyers in this age range may move a bit slower.
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Full support and services
My team and I bring you guidance and resources every step of the process. Ask about my proven vendors who, because of our longstanding relationships, offer you excellent service and rates for moving, painting, inspections, staging and more.
Marketing
Syndication across the internet, plus strategic contact via email and my extensive personal network of individuals, professional and real estate agents
In the next section, let’s review your goals.
Your Stated Goals
(we’re listening)
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Your Goals and Considerations
Timing
- Trustee’s mother has vacated. Once prepared and staged, the home it to be immediately marketed.
Vital Considerations
- Absolutely seeking the highest sales price, balanced with marginal benefits analysis so investments are made intelligently, with prudence. Sellers are open to all suggestions and not emotional about recommendations (i.e.: willing to accept and evaluate resurfacing objectively).
Home preparation goals
- Staging, painting and cleaning only. Further modifications upon site visit scheduled for the week of November 9th.
Before we move forward, we’re waiting for…
- No specific budget has been established for selective resurfacing.
- Listing agreement sent upon acceptance.
Sales Plan of Action
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Custom Sales Plan of Action
for 287 Camellia Cir, Larkspur
What to Expect
We provide you with an organized, effective plan for selling your home, with each step customized to your goals, timeline and preferred level of participation. You can do as little as you like and leave the rest to us.
You’ll get expert guidance, data to back up our recommendations and full communication so you always know how your sale is progressing. My customized plan for each client has resulted in 500+ successful closings.
Cost-effective home prep
Need a hand getting ready to sell your property? If you don’t have vendors you can rely on, ask us about our trusted on-site service teams for your project.
How we speed the sale and boost your sale price
- Deliver the Ackerman difference – from an as-is sale to a comprehensive cosmetic transformation, I’ll present you with best options for a successful sale. You’ll receive a timeline, costs and estimated profit on recommended repairs, resurfacing and upgrades. My custom program has proven to dramatically enhance marketability, draw more offers and boost value.
- Attract maximum number of qualified buyers – actively promote your property and conduct tours until your home is sold.
- Communicate regularly – report results of our activities to you in a weekly email which includes the interest in your property both with in-person, scheduled showings as well as through our online marketing efforts with Redfin and Zillow, to name a few
- Negotiate – pursue the highest possible sale price on your behalf by promoting competition for your property.
Custom Guide to Increasing Your Sale Price
Optional resurfacing, not remodeling
We’re looking at strategic resurfacing to enhance the look and perception of your property. Simple, quick projects that don’t require permits. And make a big difference in buyer interest and sale price.
Time-saving turnkey services
Our network of repair, resurfacing and inspection vendors is extensive. We’ve worked with these providers for years and trust their integrity and quality of work. And because of our longstanding relationships, they’ll serve you at wholesale rates.
Let us do the legwork—gather vendor quotes, provide them with access to the property. No need for you to be there, just hand us the keys. Simply sign the contracts* and we handle the rest.
Our property sale packages
We’ll help you choose the best option for your timeline, budget and sale price goal:
- As-is sale – do nothing to the property, knowing it won’t qualify for financing and must be a cash sale
- Minimum repairs – correct only deficiencies that prevent buyer loan approval
- Not-to-exceed budget – Tell me what you can spend and I’ll recommend the top priority resurfacing projects, within your budget, that yield the highest return. (Trustees and fiduciaries like this choice.)
- Comprehensive resurfacing – I’ll provide a proposal advising you of the cosmetic upgrades that will maximize your sale price.
*Contractors’ terms vary. Property owner is expected to make on-time payments directly to suppliers.
Properties We Have Sold Near 287 Camellia Circle in 2020
2330 Oak Knoll Rd, Novato
Listed for $1,795,000
Sold for $2,200,000
6 Bids
$405,000 over asking
80 Corte Precita, Greenbrae
Listed for $1,999,000
Sold for $2,330,000
5 Bids
$331,000 Over asking
Optimal resurfacing
Here are the best choices for your property. Completing these will create excitement, competition and urgency among buyers, as well as provide the highest expected return relative to your investment. Color and finish decisions Don’t worry about devoting time to decision making. Our stagers create a cohesive design, from paint colors and textures to related finishes, they guide us in producing the light, bright and uplifted look we know will attract today’s buyers. Solid profits In my 500+ transactions, my resurfacing project recommendations consistently produce a 300% to 500% return on investment. I’m so confident you’ll profit from these upgrades that if you don’t have cash readily available, Ackerman Realty may arrange for financing. Next steps The resurfacing phase starts once your property is vacant. We arrange for everything from vendor quotes to completion.
Proactive Marketing
I take the following steps to expose your property to the largest audience and ensure the greatest likelihood of receiving the highest sales price:
Launch your property on the San Francisco/San Mateo/Marin County Multiple Listing Service (MLS) with all disclosures, professional photography, aerial drone, electronic floor plans and showing instructions linked electronically. Design and deliver a custom email blast to over 9,000 licensed Realtors® in the Bay Area.
Price your property competitively and strategically to produce the greatest exposure in the shortest period and build buzz in the market.
Create marketing material that emphasizes the unique lifestyle benefits of your property.
Design and deliver a custom email blast to over 8,000 agents and brokers in surrounding San Francisco Bay Area counties with links to property information, website and open house times.
Contact my posse, top agents who produce over 80% of closed transactions. I’ve earned close working relationships with these power Realtors®, some dating back to 2003.
Enthusiastically prospect 2 to 3 hours per day, speaking with 100 to 150 targeted people a week, seeking buyers for your property.
Tap my Certified Residential Specialists network. Members of CRS Northern California are among the most prominent regional agents. As their elected treasurer, I have the pleasure of trusted relationships with this prestigious group, guaranteeing your property will get plenty of regional coverage and attention.
Reach out weekly to my 5,000+ database, including buyer prospects, influential professionals, past clients and your neighbors for their referrals and prospective buyers.
Create additional exposure by posting professional signage and a secure lockbox. Establish self-serve calendar which allows the buyer and their agent access to the home for private tours.
Follow up with all sales agents and brokers who expressed interest in your property to gather their feedback. Gain maximum exposure by engaging prospective buyers and their agents that have shown interest both in person and online.
Perpetually update you on responses to private showings, market movements, and related conditions and perceptions. Prequalify all prospective buyers by speaking with their lenders to verify their qualifications and identify relative strength in comparison to other buyers.
Provide professional representation in all offer presentations and negotiations to ensure you the very highest sales price and favorable terms.
Handle all matters related to contingency removals, provide access for appraisal and property inspections, expedite removal of those contingencies, complete all missing signatures, coordinate addendum composition and signatures, etc.
Introduce you to our escrow officer to coordinate signing of closing documents, funding and recording steps. Submit closing terms to escrow officer.
Confirm your funds have been received after closing takes place.
I’ve performed these steps in over 500 successful closings. Please see “Where Buyers Come From” for more on why I use these marketing methods. They’ve proven to attract the most buyers and net you the most money on your property sale.
Where Buyers Come From
Proposed Calendar
Here’s a typical timeline. For about the first two weeks, we prep your property so it’s in its most sellable state. Then we go on the market for two weeks, with open houses, massive outreach and a bid date to elicit competing offers.
How We Support You And The Estate
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Trust and Probate Properties
Most of our real estate transactions are for properties in trust administration or probate. So we’re experts at guiding sellers like you, who act as trustee or the estate’s personal representative for probate. Supporting you, maximizing your performance We know you’re under pressure to perform. Sell it faster. Get a higher price. You may feel vulnerable and nervous because you:
- must make decisions that affect the beneficiaries’ proceeds
- have little experience in real estate, especially trust or probate
- are acting as peacekeeper and managing family dynamics
Our team is here to support you and help you deliver the best possible results. We’ve developed best practices that make the process easier and more effective for you. As trustee or personal rep, you likely have a long history with the homeowner and extensive knowledge of the property. We help you disclose that knowledge, on the right forms, to buyers.
Acknowledging liability risks
The leading litigators in San Francisco tell me that many real estate agents are unfamiliar with trust administration transactions. This leaves the trustee or estate’s personal rep exposed to risk (especially when it comes to property disclosures).
Our trust property best practices
We’ve developed a unique approach to guiding you through a trust property sale. Our program minimizes risks while providing direction, implementation and support. It includes the best practices we’ve discovered over hundreds of transactions:
- Memory triggering Buyers don’t like surprises. So we walk you through a triggering exercise to help you recall details about the property. This process uncovers forgotten or hidden information, improving disclosures and dramatically reducing lawsuit threats.
- A photo archive To thoroughly analyze the property, we take 70 to 80 photos of the site, often the only record of the home’s condition available to decision makers. This saves all of us time and money, including the contractors and stager.
- Personal effects removal (this is a big one) No need to use your property as an expensive warehouse, a common problem in a trust or probate sale.Through our proprietary system, personal items are quickly and securely removed, and you are released from this overwhelming duty. Once the home is empty, we can resurface, stage and market the property.
The personal property team categorizes, labels and distributes everything in the home:
- items for beneficiaries
- storage (for distribution, appraisal, auction etc.)
- donations and trash
Pre-market inspections & disclosures Lack of disclosure is the primary cause of real estate litigation. That’s why we make it our business to provide comprehensive documentation. Our disclosure package for the home includes:
- a handwritten disclosure from your memory trigger exercise
- all receipts, work orders, bids and documentation
- inspection results
- nonfunctional furnace
- bars on windows
- active water leaks
- lack of hot water
- missing fixtures
- obvious noncompliant additions or repairs
If you’re selling a condominium, we’ll also assist you in handling any special requirements, such as resale inspections and HOA documents requested by the lender. The resurfacing goldmine As we review disclosures and inspections, we pinpoint top priorities for repair or resurfacing. The action list in Section 4 is a preview that’s personalized to you and your property. It gives you the best choices, based on your budget and what we know now, for generating the highest return. Our network of contractors and stagers make this step easy for you. Keeping you in the loop See our reviews to appreciate why we’ve been honored with repeated customer service awards, including Five Star Real Estate Agent, for five years running. It’s because we communicate regularly, foresee roadblocks and guide clients through every step of preparation. For instance, you get traffic details about how many buyers and brokers toured your property following each on-site hosted event.
Seller’s Estimated Net Proceeds
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Ackerman Track Record
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Transactions completed
Million sold in real estate
Years in business
Avg # of offers per listed property (150 sold in last 48 months)
Years of experience in international sales & marketing
5-Star Google, Zillow and Yelp reviews
About Craig Ackerman, CRS, MBA
Serving property owners, trustees, legal and financial professionals Established Ackerman Realty Group in 2003, with an entrepreneurial approach to delivering the highest price possible for each property. Author – Selling Grandma’s House Published in 2016, project stories and before/after photos of how to sell SF trust homes Available on Amazon.com or ask me for a copy Trust administration and probate specialty Closed hundreds of trust, estate and probate sales in Bay Area counties Teach continuing education trust and probate property courses to Bay Area attorneys Attorneys regularly refer probate and trust administration cases to me - Certified Probate Specialist
- Certified Residential Specialist, equivalent of a graduate degree for agents
- Licensed California Real Estate Broker (#01358899)
- Led resurfacing of 100+ Bay Area homes, dramatically adding to their value
- MBA, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York
Licensed contractor (CA State License #902071) Extensive experience remodeling Bay Area homes See your property’s full potential and can refer professional contacts to transform it Grew up flipping homes Flipped residential and rental/tenant projects in family business in New Jersey Developed an eye and aptitude for simple upgrades that enhance a home’s sales price
Why choose Ackerman Realty Group, an independent brokerage
An honest property assessment and action plan. I create a personalized plan based on the level of cosmetic upgrades you’re comfortable with, time- and budget-wise. Two weeks and $7,000? No problem. No permits required—this is resurfacing only. At our transaction volume, we can bring you top service providers at reduced prices:
- Home repair, painting, floor refinishing
- Moving, hauling, clean-up
- Power washing, landscaping
You don’t give up control, just allow us to advise you. We move ahead only with your approval and help you reach consensus when you have multiple decision makers. See videos of our home transformations and sales results.
Comparative Market Analysis
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| Date of Sale | Status | List Price | Sell Price $ | Sell to List Price % | Price per Sq. Ft. | DOM | Address | # of BD | # of BA | Sq. Ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/08/2019 | Sold | $1,449,000 | $1,515,000 | 105% | $1,044 | 18 | 51 Camellia Cir | 2 | 2 | 1,415 |
| 02/10/2020 | Sold | $1,450,000 | $1,499,000 | 97% | $980 | 18 | 265 Camellia Cir | 2 | 2 | 1,451 |
| 04/13/2020 | Sold | $1,410,000 | $1,495,000 | 94% | $972 | 3 | 30 Camellia Cir | 3 | 2 | 1,451 |
| Comp Average | $1,481,000 | $1,458,333 | 99% | $999 | 13 | |||||
| Your Home | 287 Camellia Cir | 2 | 2 | 1,423 |
Sample Marketing Materials
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Next Steps
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Here’s how to keep the ball rolling:
- Let’s schedule time to go over this proposal together, by phone or in person. I’ll answer your questions and offer insights about your home. Call (415) 730-3030 or email me at [email protected] and give me a couple of options for when you’re free
- Review the Ackerman Realty Group listing agreement in your client file
- See our website for case studies, newsletters and client reviews
- Ask me for a copy of my book, Selling Grandma’s House, a guide for selling trust properties in the San Francisco area
- Take a look at neighborhood housing trends
Thank you for your interest in working with a flexible, creative and proven local company.
