Real Estate Agent.  Realtor helping clients buy / sell Real Estate in Eastern Washington (Spokane, Fairchild AFB, Mead, Chattaroy, Nine Mile Falls, Newport and surrounding area) & Northern Idaho (Post Falls, Hayden Coeur d'Alene and surrounding area). Licensed in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. I help clients buy/sell residential homes, luxury homes, acreage, farms, ranches (cattle & horse), new construction, waterfront (Long Lake, Lake Spokane, Newman Lake, Liberty Lake, Lake Coeur d'Alene, Hayden Lake, Priest Lake and Spokane River) and investment / commercial property. Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR).
Eastern Washington And Northern Idaho... selling a home?

My goal is to provide the best possible marketing for your home to increase your chances of selling it in this competitive market. If you like what you see below, give me a call at 509-217-3380 or e-mail me at genesmith9@aol.com (Subject: Selling A Home).

Eastern Washington Housing Market

Northern Idaho Housing Market

My Marketing Plan...

The key to selling your home is to find the right buyer. To find the right buyer your home needs to be advertised in places a buyer will look. That is called marketing. Realtors that say marketing is fluff don't understand the concept of marketing or don't want to spend the time or money doing it. You be the judge. Do you want your home to receive this much exposure?

11 Steps to give your property maximum EXPOSURE and sell it FAST!

1. Put your property in the MLS (I put up to 9 pictures, most do 1).
2. Put your property in the local newspaper as a new listing.
3. Put a For Sale sign on your lawn (my signs are personalized and reflective (you can read it at night like a highway sign) with contact information, and web address where to view the photo tour).
4. Attach Flier Box to For Sale sign post (I put multiple pictures on the flier, contact information, and web address for the photo tour).
5. Have a Open House for the public. **
6. Develop a Handout for inside your house and flier box (fliers are color for inside the house and  black & white for the flier box).
7. Have a Broker's Open House. **

Most Realtors do the items listed above.
I do much more!

8. Have an Office Tour for Tomlinson agents. * Most companies don't tour their listings!
9. Put your property in up to 3 Real Estate magazines (I am the only Realtor who puts the home's price and address in the ad). The Coeur d'Aene The Real Estate Book (my full page color ad on the inside back cover), the Home Buyers Guide (my full page color ad next to the index) w/16,000+ copies/month and  the Spokane The Real Estate Book (my full page color ad next to the index). These magazines are sent all over the world in Relocation Kits.  I am the only Realtor in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho with a full page color ad in 3 Top Real Estate magazines! Since I am licensed in WA & ID, I can advertise your property in both states!
10. Put your property on over 75 Internet sites and over 150 sites if on acreage (ColdwellBanker.com, TomlinsonSpokane.com, Realtor.com,  GeneInSpokane.com, GeneSmith9.com, HomeDebut.net, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, HomesAndLand.com, Homes.com, HomeGain.com, CitySearch.com, Lycos, BellSouth, Citimortgage, Google Base, Yahoo! Real Estate, Trulia, Zillow, Homescape, MyREALTY, CLR Search, AOL Real Estate, Vast, Oodle, Hotpads.com, Cyberhomes and more). Click here for more sites. Since over 80% of buyers use the Internet to find a home, the Internet is extremely important! EXPOSURE creates more offers quickly thus a higher price for your home!
11.  I am licensed in Washington and Idaho.  I am the only Realtor in Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho with a full page color ad in more than 1 Real Estate Magazine.  I am the only Realtor in WA & ID that advertises in all 4 markets in this area. This gets your home in front of more potential buyers and agents increasing your chances of selling it in this competitive market.
 

Key To My Success...

1. Answering seller's phone calls & e-mails as soon as possible.
2. Keeping the seller informed about advertising, agent feedback & Internet activity.
3. Marketing seller's property...
     -  in 4 markets (Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Sandpoint),  not just 1.
     - on the Internet ( www.geneinspokane.com, www.genesmith9.com,
        www.homedebut.com,  www.realtor.com, and more).
       The Internet sells property!
     - in the Sunday newspaper.
     - in 3 regional homes magazines.
   
4. Yes, designations do matter. Only agents without them will say it doesn't matter. The more designations a Realtor has, the more advanced education they have had in Real Estate Law and marketing of Real Estate. I have taken advance Real Estate courses and have an  Associate Broker license. My designations are: CRB (Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager) , CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute), ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative) and e-PRO (Internet Professional). In the Spokane MLS there are between 1.950 to 2,000  Realtors. According to the local MLS only 383 Realtors have one or more designations. There are only 3 of us with 5 designations.

My Guarantee:

1. I will be responsive to you.
2. I will keep you informed on everything from advertising to feedback from other agents.
3. I will give your home more exposure to the buying public than any other Realtor in Eastern Washington or Northern Idaho. Your home will be marketed in "4" markets (Spokane, Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene & Sandpoint), not just 1 and in all types of media. EXPOSURE creates more offers quickly, thus higher price!
4. I will keep current on the market & laws affecting the Real Estate market.
5. I do what I say I will do. 
6. I am successful due to all of the above.

My Goal & Your Goal:

I want to be known by my clients for delivering exceptional service. Also to sell your property with as little hassle as possible, in the shortest period of time and for the most money possible.

Did You Know?

Did you know all Realtors are independent contractors? The company they are associated with has very little control over how they run their business (marketing of your property) or how they interact with their clients. They have no control over the designations a Realtor should have to keep current with the many changes in Real Estate.  They have no control over the continuing education classes they should be taking to keep up with all the changes in Real Estate especially Real Estate Law. This is very important to know when selecting a Realtor.

Did you know you shouldn't blame the Real Estate company if the agent you hired to market your property provided poor service. As independent contractors, the Real Estate company provides minimum supervision and guidance. You are selecting the agent, not the company to market your property. Ensure you select the agent that will market your property to the most buyers possible.

Did you know most Real Estate offices are not open 7 days a week to answer calls from potential buyers of your home? The Tomlinson North office is open 7 days a week!

Did you know there are over 3,000 Realtors in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. There are about 25 Realtors that actually do a good job at marketing property.  You, the seller, sets the price of your home with correct and honest information from the Realtor. Have you ever heard of buying the listing. Some Realtors will state the price of the home is higher than it really is to get the listing. They know it will have to be lowered at a later date.

1. Your home is overpriced.
Optimistic home sellers love to parrot the old adage, "There's a buyer for every home." But they often leave off the qualifier: "at the buyer's price." The fact is, buyers -- not sellers -- ultimately determine the market value of a home. You can ask for the moon and set your listing price well above comparable properties in your neighborhood, but at some point it will be up to you, the seller, to accept what the buyer thinks your home is worth. Overpricing is the most common reason homes don't sell. When you ask an unrealistic price, it sets in motion a process that often works against you. Here's why: Most real estate agents, and hence most qualified buyers, will see your new listing within 30 days. If it is overpriced by as little as 5 percent, it will be duly noted and interest in your property will wane, especially if you show no intention of coming off your asking price. You likely already priced out buyers who might have qualified for financing at a more reasonable price. Even if you manage to find a buyer at your inflated asking price, the property may not appraise at that figure and the financing will fall apart. Your real estate agent may have approved or even suggested the inflated asking price to secure your listing (more on this in No. 4). Conversely, other Realtors often use overpriced properties like yours to help sell their own listings ("Here's what they are asking. Now would you like to take a second look at that first house I showed you?"). "If you have a house that really should be priced at $200,000 and you've got it listed at $260,000, you are trying to compete against homes that really are worth close to $300,000 and all of a sudden your home really is not competing well," says Jeri Fisher of Jeri Fisher Real Estate in Missoula, Mont. "You want to compete with what is available out there among homes similar to yours." If your home remains on the market for too long, agents and buyers may begin to wonder if there are other, perhaps more serious reasons why it isn't selling. "It becomes shopworn, the same as a jacket hanging in the store week after week," says Fisher. "People are aware that it has been on the market a long time and agents stop showing it."

2. Your home doesn't "show" well.
Your home is competing against shiny new houses in those pristine subdivisions out in the suburbs with their attractive prices, incentives and community amenities. Face it: Even the best old house needs a little makeover if it hopes to attract a qualified buyer. The good news is most of the work will be cosmetic and relatively inexpensive: a new coat of paint, a few attractive window boxes, a thorough cleaning of floors and carpets. Voila! The place may look good enough to reconsider. A good real estate agent can advise you on where your time and money are best spent. "Price and condition are two things that the seller can do something about," says Fisher. "I always give people my 'honey do' list. I think paint is probably a seller's best friend because it makes things smell fresh and look fresh. If it's time to paint, it's time to paint. It's the best return on investment."

3. You're in a bad location.
Nothing has a greater impact on your home's value than its location. Your humble abode might be worth a king's ransom were it located in Palm Beach, Aspen or San Francisco. It might even jump thousands in value just two streets over in the next (and far superior) school district. "If you're in one of the higher-ranked schools around here, you're going to add $50,000 to $100,000 to the price of the same house," according to Lenn Harley, a broker with Homefinders.com Inc. in Maryland and Virginia.  The point is, location rules in real estate. If your home's location is less than desirable, your options are somewhat limited. A good Real Estate agent will do his best to help you accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative of your circumstances, say by using foliage to screen off offensive adjoining properties or dampen traffic noise. The best way to compensate for a poor location is to reduce your asking price or offer attractive incentives such as seller financing or a lease option with rent credit.

4. You have a lousy listing agent.
Yep, they exist: Real Estate agents who mislead, misfire and misbehave. Their bad advice can cost you plenty in time, money and the sheer hassle of keeping the place show-ready 24/7. The agent from hell will allow you to overprice your home ("Here's what I can get for you if you list with me!"), not market it properly (see No. 6), fail to screen for qualified buyers, be unresponsive to interest from other agents (if they sell their own listing, they don't have to split the commission) and keep you totally in the dark throughout the process. What's more, if your agent is abrasive, arrogant or otherwise difficult to work with, other agents may not want the hassle of showing any of their listings to prospective buyers.

5. You are battling competition or market conditions.
We've all heard the terms "buyer's market" and "seller's market." In real estate, market conditions are affected by any number of external forces, some of them predictable (the weather, sort of), some of them unpredictable (the local economy, interest rates, public optimism or pessimism). In a "hot" or seller's market, homes go fast. Inventory (homes on the market) may be low, meaning less competition for you. Chances are better that you will get your asking price in a hot market; in fact, it is not uncommon to even be offered more than your listing price. But in a "flat," "cold" or buyer's market, sales slow to a trickle, inventories grow and buyers can find bargains, especially when they know the seller is motivated (i.e., paying on two mortgages). If you're trying to sell in a flat market, you're not only competing against all that vacant new construction, but against rentals as well. In this case, be prepared to settle for less than top dollar, or wait to sell until the pendulum swings once again in your favor.

6. You have ineffective marketing.
Gone are the days when an agent could simply place your listing with the local multiple listing service, hold a halfhearted open house and wait for another agent to bring forth a buyer. Today's top performers launch a multilevel marketing plan that includes listing tours for area agents, newspaper and even TV ads, weekend open houses, listing fliers and placements in local real estate publications. Computers and the Internet also have changed the face of real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, today more than 65 percent of all home buyers use the Internet for house hunting. The best real estate agents are computer-savvy. They have your listing in color on their laptops to show clients and communicate frequently via e-mail, a particular boon when working with out-of-town buyers. Suffice it to say that if your real estate agent isn't listing your home online through the company Web site as well as with the local MLS, you may not be getting the exposure necessary to find a buyer. "There are those who just put the listing in the multiple and pray it will sell and those that put a lot of effort into marketing their listings," says Fisher. "Unfortunately, with this weird system of compensation we have, they all get paid the same, whether they know nothing or have many years of experience."

If a Realtor can market your property and give it more exposure to the buying public than I can, hire that Realtor. 
IF NOT, give me a call at 509-217-3380 or
e-mail me at genesmith9@aol.com. 
I will be waiting to hear from you!