Jennifer Chiongbian of Bark Avenue CBD Dog Treats On How To Get The Absolute Best Price When You Sell Your Home
An Interview With Jason Hartman
Timing your sale is also a good way to get more for your money. Spring is when the market starts to awaken and prices tend to do an uptick from the winter slumber.
How can you get the best price possible when you are looking to sell your home? Sometimes it’s a matter of timing, the right upgrades, or simply the right negotiation. In this interview series called “How To Get The Best Price When You Sell Your Home” we are talking to successful real estate leaders, who can share stories, insights and lessons from their experience about how to get the best price when you want to sell your home.
As a particular part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Chiongbian Freelance Real Estate Copywriter at ProRealEstatewriter.com/ CEO Bark Avenue CBD Dog Treats.
Passionate foodie, chef, animal lover, serial entrepreneur, social preneur who loves and is grateful for my awesome job!
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to your career?
I was a working professional chef for over 10+ years from the Culinary Institute of America and had a couple of hand surgeries. I needed to find a new line of work. I have always had a fascination for architecture and homes, making sketches of them since I was in middle school so doing real estate was shoo-in.
Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away, you took out of that story?
When I decided to go into real estate, I eventually went from a real estate salesperson license to a licensed broker. From there, I decided to get my appraisal license to help me be a stronger broker for my clients. The best part is it isn’t a feast or famine scenario, and you were getting paid as long as you had files to complete.
When the pandemic hit, I pivoted my career again with the skillsets that I built on. I made myself better yet again by getting another degree. This time in journalism/ PR. With a master’s and a bachelor’s under my belt I completed this degree in a year and am an honors member of Phi Theta Kappa. Now I write copy for clients in both the B2B and B2C space, specializing in the real estate vertical.
A key take- away in my life is that I always make sure to build on what I already have; make myself better, so it’s easy to re-invent myself when necessary for personal growth or when circumstance in life change. An added bonus to this is, you can always go back to past experiences and always work in those industries again if you choose.
Do you have a favorite “life lesson quote”? Can you share a story or example of how that was relevant to you in your life?
Your future needs you. Not your past.
I have always loved Europe and decided before the pandemic hit, I was going to make my way back there again in the very near future. Fast forward to today…with all the different careers I have had in the past, I never thought I would end up being a real estate writer. Two plus years later after starting my professional real estate copywriting company, I am poised to make that move back to Europe with a solid client base in my pocket.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
The fact that I have 20 years of brokerage and appraisal experience, as well as a master’s and a journalism/PR degree. Because of the thorough understanding of how the business works, I understand their audience, what their marketing goal is, the learning curve of trying to understand what real estate clients are trying to accomplish needs very little explanation. I can immediately hit the ground running, making it e3asy for them and furnish valuable insight to their projects.
While I was in journalism school, I had limited experience with press releases. I went on job boards to get my feet wet and even used one of the jobs I got paid for, to submit as an assignment. I decided to attended my first real estate convention to look for more clients. I ended up walking away with an $8000 retainer for a series of press releases for a top producing team, as well as random jobs for independent brokers at the show.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am grateful to my father who always had the resources to provide for any and all education I wanted, so I wouldn’t have to be saddled with various student loans. I am also grateful to my best friend who has always been my biggest cheerleader in any of my endeavors.
For the benefit of our readers, can you please tell us why you are an authority about the topic of getting the best price when selling a home?
I am an authority on the topic of getting the best price when selling a home due to my experience for both the sales and valuation side of selling a home. There are many real estate sales people. But you will be hard pressed to find one that has an appraisal license as well. Part of my client base are appraisers. I help complete their appraisal reports. I am well aware of market trends, inventory levels and how much properties have closed for. But most importantly, I know how to value the property and not just affix a sale price. Price is the marketing aspect of buying and selling property. Valuation is the analytical process that uses a series of techniques to determine the current worth of an asset.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Real Estate industry, as it is today? If you can please share a story or example.
Real estate is so dynamic and I love that aspect of it. It can be an 18th century building with modern gut renovations featured inside, new green technology, to drastic changes in price per square foot in commercial due to the pandemic. I love the various microcosms that operate in the vast and varied real estate vertical. There is so much to learn within this industry, it seems like it operates in a whole separate galaxy where each niche is a star.
For instance, as a professional copywriter for the real estate vertical, my job is never boring and never the same. I get to do press releases, write up appraisal reports, work for mortgage brokers looking for marketing pieces, write B2B pieces on credit and debt, nurturing emails for real estate marketing software companies, broker bios, award submissions, feature pieces and the list goes on.
Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry as it is today? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest? Please share stories or examples if possible.
Ethics has always been such a huge concern for me. Most people do not understand how the real estate industry operates. It is shrouded in a dark cloak that most lay people do not understand. I believe this is why a lot of buyers don’t really 100% trust real estate brokers, and why clients are not often loyal, unless they have used the person previously or a close friend or family member referred them. Ethics is a tough one to reform or improve because this is how one’s values were formed from home early in life. Sure, you can require more ethics class hours, but despite doing this some people are still comfortable doing something they know is wrong or in the gray areas without any regard for their fiduciary duties to a client.
Education is another issue that concerns me. You only need a high school degree to sell a person’s largest purchase or sale in their life. I believe there should be a higher standard of education. People that work in the finance sector deal with a lot of money, selling a home is worth a lot of money. There should be a higher educational minimum requirement, which I believe will not only improve the quality of knowledge and service to clients but also a higher standard of ethics.
Based on your experience, what are a few of the biggest mistakes you have seen people make when they sell their homes? What must be done to avoid them?
Trying to save money by purchasing without an agent or selling without an agent. First off, it costs a buyer nothing to use an agent. The seller pays that agent. Why turn down free professional help to go it alone?
I understand why a seller would want to forgo the seller agent because the commission is one of the largest expenses to selling a home. You are gambling with the largest asset in your portfolio by going it alone hoping that the deal will go smoothly.
Another problem with this for sale by owner scenario is, the seller is likely to be unfamiliar with selling homes, unlike real estate professionals who do this for a living. The paperwork alone may not be complete, the owner may not know the sequence of events, how to put out fires from all the simultaneous moving parts in a real estate transaction, then it will be left to the buyer’s broker to do double the work for half the pay. Or worse, both buyer and seller go it alone and both have no idea what they are doing. I have seen deposits lost to these scenarios. Clients later backtrack to me and ask how can they get their deposit back.
I am honest and say, “I was not involved in the deal and do not know what transpired. Unfortunately, I am unable to help.” This is the perfect example of penny wise, pound foolish.
Engaging a realtor is costly. Should people use a realtor when they sell their home? Please explain why you feel the way you do.
I believe I answered this in the response above.
Ok, here is the main question of our interview. You are a “Real Estate Insider.” Can you please share five things you need to know in order to get the absolute best price when you sell your home? If you can, please give a story or an example for each.
Price it competitively. You can give a little extra wiggle room in the event the buyer wants to negotiate. From experience, the more back and forth there is on price, the more likely the deal will fall apart.
Another way to get the best price is to sell when the market is high and do a leaseback option with the new owner until you have to move. For instance, in Las Vegas February 2022, the inventory was at .7 months. A normal balanced market would have 6–7 months’ worth of inventory. If you sold back then and plan on staying even just 3 months after, you got top dollar for your home now that the market is starting to correct which can be seen in the uptick of the number of months’ worth of inventory available.
Another way to get the most for your money is to get an appraisal inspection. You know what the value of your home is so you won’t get taken in with a lowball offer. This is especially crucial when your eyes are flashing like big saucers from a cash offer.
Hire an experienced seller broker. They are in your corner and will work for you.
Timing your sale is also a good way to get more for your money. Spring is when the market starts to awaken and prices tend to do an uptick from the winter slumber.
Because of your position, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would be a sitting Supreme Court justice that teaches ethics to law students.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
