Previewing Leavenworth Houses: The Life of a Leavenworth Real Estate Agent
I thought it would be fun to start a new series of posts I’m tentatively calling The Life of a Leavenworth Real Estate Agent. I realize that most folks don’t see a lot of the behind the scenes work that we do throughout the week, so here’s a peek.
Previewing Houses
We don’t make it every week, but Allyson and I try to go preview on a regular basis. From comments that other agents have made, I think it’s clear that we tend to preview more homes than any other agents in the Leavenworth area.
What is previewing?
Previewing is touring a house without clients. We are generally looking for three things.
Location
Condition
Price
These are the same things our clients are looking for. We are looking for all the things that are missing when you look at a home on the internet or the listing sheet.
What are the neighbors like?
How close to the road is it?
How is the view? Which rooms can you see it from?
Does the floor plan make sense?
Are the rooms generously sized?
How is the natural light?
What’s missing in the photos? Train tracks? Power lines? Highway noise?
After we look at a house we have a two part discussion. The first is about price.
Is the house priced well?
What should the price be?
How does it compare in price to similar homes for sale in Leavenworth?
How does it compare to recently sold homes in Leavenworth?
If it is priced well, we ask ourselves if it will meet the needs of any of our current buyer clients. We may also decide to share it with those folks signed up to receive our Deal of the Week emails.
Why Preview Houses?
Previewing is probably one of the most important things an agent can do. It’s how we become experts in the market. Surprisingly, most agents do very little of it.
We preview homes in Leavenworth to help our buyer clients use their time more efficiently. Most of our buyers are from western Washington and it is a two hour drive to Leavenworth. Most home buyers would prefer to see homes that fit their needs and not wade through a long list of junk. Previewing helps us filter the list for our clients.
Do have a question about a home in Leavenworth that you have seen on the internet? There is a good chance we have been in the home and can answer questions you may have.
We also preview homes so that we can effectively price our listings. Home prices should be based on recent comparable sales in the area. If we haven’t been in the homes that we are using as comparables, how do we really know how well they compare?
