The “Certified Pre-Owned Home” Program
Selling Homes on an Average - 28 days faster and for 4.65% more *
Homes that qualify for the “Certified Pre-Owned” Program sell faster and for more money than the “traditional” marketing approach because it adds certainty to the transaction and eliminates the buyer’s anxiety and uncertainty of purchasing your home.
To understand this marketing approach, put yourself in the Buyer’s shoes for a moment. You’re out home shopping one day and you discover two identical homes.
One of the homes has “Just Listed” on the yard sign and the other has “Certified Pre-Owned Home” on its sign. Which would be the first that either you or your agent would call on? If for no other reason than simply curiosity, the “Certified Pre-Owned Home” would probably be the first choice.
When you call, you discover that the “Certified Pre-Owned Home” -
* Has been inspected and all discovered problems had been repaired
* The home has been appraised for the full value
* The home comes with a Two Year Warranty
* And, it is priced at $272,000
When you call on the “Just Listed” house, you discover that is listed at $260,000, but with no warranty, inspection or appraisal. With this home, you need to have an inspection completed and then negotiate for any repairs needed and a home warranty. Also, will this house appraise for your loan amount or will you need to negotiate for a lower price or increase your down payment? This is the reason that many home buyers face uncertainty and anxiety during the process of purchasing a preowned home.
Going back into your Seller’s shoes, with a “Certified Pre-Owned Home”, you’ve increase your purchase price by $12,000. But, we all know there really is no such thing as a “Free Lunch”.
You may be asking - how much does it cost to market your home as a “Certified Pre-Owned Home”? Assume that the cost for the inspection and appraisal is $600. The home warranty has a cost of $480 and repairs to the home are $1,500. This means that you’ve paid out of pocket approximately $2,580.
But, out of this amount, the buyer will usually ask for a home warranty and repairs to be paid by the seller; so, in this example, the “Certified Pre-Owned Home” actually will only cost an additional $600. Thereby resulting in an additional $11,400 of income to you ($12,000 - $600).
Also, once your home has been certified as a pre-owned home, a Certificate of Completion is prepared that you can display at open house events and home showings.
