suburban city near Cincinnati, in southwest Ohio. One of them, 25 Cemetery Road (3 beds, 1 bath, 936 sq. ft., built 1957) was described as: “Neat as a pin and ready to go. Complete remodel kitchen w/SS appliances, breakfast bar, flattop stove, beautiful tile. Complete bath remodel. Hardwood floors, replaced windows. Great fenced yard, covered rear patio.” It was being fought over at $124,000+. Meanwhile, a comparable 3 bdrm/1 bath, 936-sq.-ft., single- family home located at 19 Cemetery Road, had the same 3 bdrms/1 bath, approximately 936 square feet, and was built in 1955. It sold for $111,800. That’s enough of a differential (almost $15,000!) for the owner of 25 Cemetery Road to pay the cost of his real estate agent’s commission and pocket some profit. Frankly, that commission was money well spent, because hiring the real estate agent and following the agent’s sales plan made all the difference. We’ll talk more about that as we move through this book; however, it was the advising, planning, staging, pre- marketing, marketing, negotiation, and professional know- how that sealed the deal.
THE BASIC HOME SALES PROCESS
Let’s begin with a practical examination of what the home- selling process is and how it works. We’ll examine how listing prices are determined and look at various ways that a listing price is set. I will discuss online valuation,
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