How to Sell Your Miami Condo for Top Dollar

Miami, Florida
December 21st, 2008

How to sell you Miami or Miami Beach condo apartment for the most money in a buyers market!!

This is a question that I am asked daily. Let’s think about where the buyers are coming from and how best to attract them. Currently, the majority of buyers are from somewhere else, Canada, Europe, South America and, of course, the snowy, blowy, icy…Northeastern United States.

Here are several absolute requirements to get the top dollar for your condominium but they only work for people who really want to sell their property:

1) Have your broker put the maximum number of pictures allowed in the Multiple Listing Service…that would be sixteen (16)…remember the buyers are not here and are looking at your property online…no pictures, no lookers. This seems rudimentary but currently only twelve percent of the listings in Miami have 16 pictures posted. Over 25% have none at all!!

2) Have your apartment accessible for showings – Again this sounds simple enough but imagine the following scenario, the listing broker has a key to your apartment BUT the showing broker must pick it up at the listing brokers office and return it later that day….this practice went out with the invention of lock boxes but it still happens all the time. What if your condo association won’t allow lock boxes? Again simple, REQUIRE YOUR BROKER TO ACCOMPANY ALL SHOWINGS.

2A) Have your apartment available for showings – Do you have a tenant? Have your tenant sign an addendum specifying exactly what your broker must do to gain access for showing, specify times and notice required. Consider amending your lease to include a kick out
clause that says that your tenant will vacate if you sell the property. You may have to pay them a fee to agree to this.

3) Price your property at or BELOW market price
– This seems counter intuitive to most people. Why would I price my property below the market price? Here’s why – Most real buyers become very knowledgeable about the price range they are planning to buy in. If you offer better condition, better location and better amenities for a lower price than the competition then your property will STAND OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB and may get multiple offers…what… a bidding war, in a buyer’s market, you bet, we see it all the time with bank-owned foreclosure properties. It works. BTW, if you are not having three to four showings of your apartment each week then you are over-priced…simple as that.

4) Choose a listing broker who will market your property to the world – Remember buyers are somewhere else so your broker must attract them for you. Every real estate agent on the planet has a website BUT NOT ALL WEBSITES ARE CREATED EQUAL. Your brokers’ website should appear at the top of Google search results for terms like (” insert the name of your building” and “condos”). Probably, their site should be in several languages…we recommend English and Spanish for Miami sellers. and finally, they should have actual traffic to their site and be able to prove it with a screenshot like this from Google Analytics!

Miami Condo Lifestyle

Miami Condo Lifestyle.com Google Traffic

The current Miami real estate market is challenging but, believe it or not, every month hundreds of properties are bought and sold. If you are considering selling your Miami condominium,
please visit www.MiamiCondoLifestyle.com for a complete analysis of your property and the market.

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