Tag Archives: save time

Headache or Hire?

By T. Toomey

So, you decided to sell your home, now what? Do it yourself or hire someone? Think carefully. As your grandfather’s wise words echo in your ear, “you can’t beat a man at his trade.” You brush it off and ask yourself if you are truly up for the task to retain more of that hard-earned currency between your fingers. As you’re pondering, consider this:

How will I know how much my home is worth? You can price according to the Smith’s next door and by what popular websites say but is that your best guess? Realtors compare active listings, recently sold and expired homes comparable to yours to form the predictive values as to what the market will pay for your home. Accurately pricing your home is imperative when you first hit the market, as you gain the most visibility from buyers and realtors with buyers.

How will I market my home for the right buyers to find it? Will you add a yard sign and post it to your favorite social media site and call that an online presence? Next time you pass a FSBO sign, challenge yourself to write the phone number. Is your social media circle big enough to find your buyer? A Realtor will post it in the MLS, which rolls into tons of other sites in seconds. It’s quick, broad and targeted marking to the masses specifically for the target home shopping audience. Marketing starts with a yard sign and the MLS but it doesn’t end here, if you are the Realtor.

Do you know the process well enough to help your future buyer through the transaction? If you get a buyer, will you know what to do next (ex. contracts, repairs, inspections, closing, etc.)? Realtors maintain continuing education to know what to do & not to do. Your home is often your biggest investment, do you want to gamble with doing it wrong?

Do you have time? Time to design and order all the neighborhood mailouts. Time to research and call the same neighbors receiving the postcards. Time to design and pass out flyers? Time to answer the phone for curious (probably unqualified) buyers interested in seeing your home and may wonder if you will consider owner financing or investors that want to pay a portion of your homes market value. Do you want to donate your time to answer questions, schedule showings, and meet with potential buyers? Hiring a Realtor will let you gain control of your time.

Can you afford to do it yourself?  Do you want to risk…leaving money on the table (inaccurate pricing), not finding a qualified buyer (limited marketing), not reaching your sales timeline to move on (extended days on market), costing yourself more money rather than saving it (due to extended holding costs for mortgage payments, utilities, yard maintenance, etc.) and wasting all that time??!!

Hiring a Realtor will help you move on to your next chapter of life!  Ultimately you want to focus on your net profits and hire a professional to do all the steps to get there.
Keep life simple & Get’re  SOLD!

5 Business Tips to Save Time and Money

Several years ago, I ventured out into the soap making world. I started an LLC, registered with the State of Florida, the Department of Revenue and did the local business license. If I knew back then what I know now, I could have saved several thousand dollars.

Tips to save you time and money:
1. Buy Small in the Beginning. There are so many trial and errors that all new business ventures need to learn, buying too much too early can cost you tremendously. My lessons included: locating vendors for better ingredients to purchase in bulk and utilizing better tools or equipment. Early on I purchased good ingredients from high-end vitamin and health stores, whereas later I learned to buy in bulk high quality from a wholesale food company. In the beginning, I experimented with different soap molds, but learned the do’s and don’ts. Trial and error is important in the beginning of any business, but you want to minimize your losses. Win big, lose small.

2. Build Your Business Customers. Believing in your product is great and letting others catch that vibe is good but ultimately the heart of your sales should probably come through other businesses. My challenge was that I could sell my product to anyone I spoke to, but I had to speak to them for them to see the importance. Since most new businesses cannot be everywhere all the time, there was no way to get past the initial conversation for each returning customer. While referrals from friends and family are great, your product/service needs to be able to market itself to the majority, to survive.

3. Recapture Your Focus. There are so many different dynamics involved in building a business. Initially, you will try to do everything yourself because the money may not be available to do otherwise. However, you need to fully embrace, “You can’t beat a man at his trade”, is true. It’s your responsibility to know your trade inside and out, so invest in yourself. Take time to attend classes, go to conferences, talk to other professionals etc. All the other tasks associated with operating the business, such as; building a website, cutting the grass, cleaning the building, etc., forward it to someone else in that profession. Realize your time is valuable, so hone your focus to the heart of the business. Rest in letting others help you succeed.

4. Take Time to Breathe. Assembling motivators to keep you moving and on task is good. I posted a saying in a visible location that read “Don’t be upset with the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.” However, anyone with the passion and drive to start/run a business is very much work oriented. The problem is they realize all the things that need to be completed and get overwhelmed. Make yourself take time out/off. Take time to hit the reset key for yourself, before you get up to move forward for another full throttled day. Remember your real motivations for everything you do, don’t sit them on the sidelines day in and day out. Take time to appreciate what matters most.

5. Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses. We all have them; the key is utilizing them in the right manner. For example, if you are a bookworm but not a people person, hire a sales person. If you are great with building a product, but you procrastinate completing accounting tasks until after the deadline, hire a bookkeeper or accountant. This will free your time, lower your stress and empower you to manage your business more effectively.

Thank you for reading. I wishing you much success, less stress and more money!

man-and-dog
Artist and dog arrive by Melbourne Express (taken for J.C. Williamson), 10/12/1937 / byTed hood