Sheri Dettman's exclusive in-house marketing team is unique to desert real estate. They'll work for you in promoting your property, and they embrace all available media to get the message out about your property. Consider that not every Palm Springs area realtor offers equal marketing, services or experience.
Sheri's marketing team will create a distinctive, effective, and results-oriented marketing campaign for your property utilizing our professional marketing and advertising staff, technological resources, and extensive marketing budget. And since today’s homebuyers can come from anywhere, your property will be exposed both locally and globally.
According to The National Association of Realtors, the average agent invests just $1,500 annually in advertising and marketing. And the top 10% of Realtors nationwide invests just $10,000 annually in marketing. In contrast Sheri Dettman & Associates will invest over $350,000 annually in what Sheri refers to as "Smart Marketing."
So why settle for average when it costs you as a seller nothing more to gain so much more exposure for your property?
The days of simply listing a home on the Palm Springs Area MLS® and running ads in the local paper are long gone, or at least they should be. You can use these eight questions to help qualify prospective agents before listing your home for sale.
You can often get a good idea of which Palm Springs area real estate agents are the most professional by looking at their promotional materials and their real estate websites. If their own materials aren’t professional and stand out, how well are they going to be able to market your home?
Also, be aware of how long each agent takes to respond to your request and how quickly they follow up. If they don’t respond efficiently to your listing requests, imagine how they’ll handle inquiries from potential buyers or other agents.
By employing specialists to handle the details of their business including marketing, advertising, and administration the agent can spend more time servicing your needs, looking for buyers, and being available when you have questions or just want an update.
Without a written marketing plan you won’t know how effectively your property is being marketing. A written plan also helps you keep track of any marketing promises that were made.
You’re looking for a professional marketing presentation of each of the agent’s properties and the community where your property is located. Agents who cast a wide net by exposing your property on multiple websites both locally and globally, can expose your property to a wider pool of qualified buyers.
Today’s top agents provide excellent communication and feedback, keeping you informed at all times of your marketing results and property showings.
The more active buyer clients your agent and his/her team have, the better. Top agents have a good mix of representing both buyers and sellers. If they don't have a record of finding and selling to buyers, then that agent is likely a listing agent.
You're looking for experience in negotiating and closing sales, not just showing a lot of properties. Only 8% of the active agents completed more than 4 transactions in 2023. The average agent in the U.S. only completes twelve transaction per year! It’s hard to stay on top of things professionally if you only work at it just a few times each year.
Agents who are innovative and offer new methods of attracting buyers will measurably outperform agents who rely on outdated methods of the past such as newspaper ads or open houses. Marketing Palm Springs area homes effectively today requires progressive strategies which add value and service for both buyers and sellers and reach the largest pool of qualified buyers possible! Informative real estate blogs social marketing and online video are just three examples of media that today's top agents utilize.
If you find an agent that meets all of these qualifications, consider yourself being served by a true real estate professional. Your home will be marketed to the largest possible audience and allow you to get the highest price for your home!
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by Sheri Dettman, Realtor
Would you like to sell your home faster and for more money? Hopefully your answer is yes, and in that case you’ll want to follow this time proved strategy. We call it getting ready to move! The National Association of Realtors reports that a staged home sells 50% faster and for 17% more money then unstaged. While hiring a home stager is an option, you can stage your home yourself very effectively by following the five key steps below. These tips can also improve your upcoming magazine quality photography and/or professional video shoot of your home.
When you list your La Quinta or Palm Springs area home for sale, people will begin looking at your home, and they’ll be comparing it to other homes they also want to visit.
To each of these prospective buyers your home is now a product. Say to Yourself: “I’m selling and moving so this is not my home it’s a product to be sold much like a color TV on display at Costco.
Decide to let go of your emotional attachments to the house because someone else will buy it, and you’ll be moving soon. Picture yourself moving into your new home and saying goodbye to every room.
Hide everything—family photos, awards, trophies, your collection of antique teacups—that might interfere with a buyer feeling like your home could be theirs. People get distracted when they’re surrounded by someone else’s personal stuff. Make your bathroom look like a hotel’s; no one wants to see your soggy loofah and half used bar of soap. Put all your beauty products in a shower caddy that can easily be stowed under the sink before a showing.
Clutter can lower a home's sale price and can make a home sell slower! Since you want to move now, it’s a great time to start packing! Most people have too much stuff, whether its tchotchke or paperwork or furniture. The goal is to create a sense of space in a room—and in all of your closets. Fight the urge to shove all your stuff in your closets, since many prospective buyers open every last one and love to examine nooks and crannies. An organized closet can send the message that, as an owner, you’re a person who doesn’t slack on any aspect of maintaining your home...
No one wants to walk into a dirty house. Bathrooms and kitchens, in particular, should be sparkling. Pay attention to hidden corners like the nook behind a toilet or the inside of your refrigerator. You never know where people are going to look. Since only about a third of Americans live with pets, be sure you’re not alienating the other two thirds of the population. Remove all traces (leashes, litter boxes, dog beds, pet food bowls) of animals.
And since outdoor living is so popular here in the desert, be sure to make your patio, outdoor furniture and barbecue area appear ‘entertainment-ready.’ Adding a color bowl or two full of seasonal annuals is an easy and inexpensive way to brighten up your patio, as well.
You want to have as much light as possible filtering through your home. Start by cleaning the windows. Prior to a showing or open house, make sure your shades are open. Check to see if all your bulbs are working, and replace low-watt bulbs with high-watt ones to maximize brightness.
After accepting an offer for your home we will open an escrow account, and during escrow most buyers will order a home inspection. You can avoid any potential surprises during escrow by having a pre-listing inspection completed by a qualified home inspector.
Taking care of any needed repairs before your home is listed and before opening escrow removes a potential roadblock that buyers could use to re-open negotiations by asking for concessions during their due diligence period.
Sheri Dettman & Associates suggests that your investment in a pre-listing inspection could prove to be of significant value prior to receiving an offer and opening escrow.
<<< Back to Information for Home Sellers
by Sheri Dettman, Resort Lifestyle Realtor
Many Palm Springs area home and condo buyers choose to live in their new property on a part-time basis. Others consider their desert purchase more of a vacation property and rent it out when not using it personally. Either way, you’ll want to make sure you discuss your property’s potential use and/or non-use with your insurance agent.
Many insurers will consider a Palm Springs area home vacant if it is not occupied for extended periods of time. But what is considered a vacant home? I checked in with local agent Richard Cox of Cox Insurance to get the scoop on this subject.
“Insurers know that vacant homes have a much higher occurrence and possible severity of damage,” Richard said. “Most companies want the homeowner to be in the home every 30 days, but they will accept a visit from friend or even a hired property watch-type service.”
“There are many official and unofficial services of this type offered in our desert. Most carriers will accept this type of service. Many of these services will feed cats, walk dogs, flush toilets and even run sinks and water plants. Some will even send or email a ‘property check report’ to the homeowner at a very reasonable cost on a regular basis. These documented reports are perfect for showing insurance carriers that the property was not abandoned in the event of a claim.”
Short-Term Palm Springs Area Vacation Rentals Are Often Miss-Categorized
“Short term rentals are often the most miss-categorized property. Second homeowners really need to let their insurance agent know if they are renting their property for periods of less than six consecutive months. There is almost nothing worse than finding out there is a problem when you are filing a claim,” Richard said.
Local property watch services charge as little as $30 to $35 per visit to check a property and then send you a report. Rental management companies can also include this service in addition to booking rentals of your property.
One of the great things about living in the Palm Springs area is the great proximity to a many popular destinations. You could literally be in the mountains in the morning and then enjoying southern California’s beaches that same evening. Below is a list of some popular destinations within a few hours drive. Mileage is listed from La Quinta which is near the valley center:
Palm Springs Adjacent Airports
Attractions To Consider