Top Selling Real Estate Agents Case Study: Getting the Highest Sale Price for your South Beverly Hills Home

I’m Jodi Ticknor, and this is my Top Selling Real Estate Agent’s case study to getting you the highest sale price for your home.

I’m a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills. I service Beverly Hills and Los Angeles Counties. 

This is part 5 of my exclusive series on South Beverly Hills real estate and lifestyle. If you need to catch up on the first 4 parts, here are the links:

Part 1: South Beverly Hills, CA is a Thing… and it’s a good thing!

Part 2: The South Beverly Hills, CA Lifestyle… it’s fantastic!

Part 3: Restaurants, Shopping, and Hotel Bars and Spas in South Beverly Hills… oh, the places you’ll go!

Part 4: Top Beverly Hills Realtor’s Guide to South Beverly Hills Real Estate… what types of properties are there and what are they worth?

Top Selling Real Estate Agents Case Study: How I Get The Highest Sale Price for You

In this post, I’ll be sharing a case study with you to demonstrate how I work with my clients to be one of the top selling real estate agents in Beverly Hills. Specifically, how I work to get you the highest possible selling price when you’re ready to sell your home.

My mission is to be considered one of the top selling real estate agents in Beverly Hills

The way I go about achieving my mission every day is to get you the highest price for your property and the smoothest transaction possible.

I believe that a big part of providing for you the smoothest transaction possible, is being a transparent, ethical, and communicative realtor. That means I’m a realtor who is responsive to you and your needs.

Being responsive to your needs ensures that you are knowledgeable and well informed throughout the process so that there are no surprises.

No surprises means there is a smooth transaction.

My #1 goal as one of the top selling real estate agents in Beverly Hills, CA

Of course it’s true that any real estate agent in Beverly Hills can get high prices for their clients in Beverly Hills proper (the flats north of Wilshire) and in Trousdale (the enormous mansions north of Sunset).

My specialty as one of the top selling real estate agents in Beverly Hills is getting my clients the highest prices for their home sales in South Beverly Hills.

South Beverly Hills has historically been considered an afterthought to Beverly Hills, with much cheaper homes.

Getting the highest price in South Beverly Hills takes a special set of skills that I possess. I use a multi pronged approach to sales which includes:

• Marketing
• Being responsive to every agent
• Responding quickly to every buyer that calls; and of course
• Optimizing each showing to potential buyers.

Because I live and work in Beverly Hills, it’s very easy for me generally within an hour to arrange and execute a showing.

Importance of being available quickly to show a home upon request

One of the most recent properties that I sold in South Beverly Hills provides a good example of how I am uniquely suited among Beverly Hills realtors to get the highest price for my clients.

Because I live in the area, I was able to be at the property immediately and show the property to an interested buyer at a moment’s notice. I was also able to show the property separately to the buyer’s spouse, all within a record breaking, short period of time.

Timeliness and personal availability is critical for any realtor who wishes to be one of the top selling real estate agents in any market, and especially in South Beverly Hills.

When somebody is hot to buy, and you can arrange a showing without delay, chances are much greater you will get that sale for a higher price.

My goal is always to get you the highest price that the market will bring. To that effect, all my marketing, all my energy, is directed towards that goal throughout the entire process.

It’s also my goal to make sure that you understand the process throughout and that nothing falls through the cracks.

I take extra efforts to make sure you understand and feel confident that your transaction is going to close, and that you feel that you’ve received excellent customer service.

All these factors contribute to getting you the highest price for your home.

Case Study: How I Get the Highest Prices for South Beverly Hills Home Sales

Recently, I sold a couple’s family home. They were in their early 70s. They built this house and lived in it for about 30 years. They were moving to a condo that they completely gutted and remodeled.

The home they were selling is in a great part of South Beverly Hills. It’s close to Beverly Hills High School which makes it convenient for families.

Theirs was a beautiful home over 4,000 square feet, with 4 bedrooms.

The home hadn’t been remodeled since the 1990s, but it was very livable. The couple kept their house well maintained and clean.

This couple was referred to me. The husband was a savvy businessman, and they were a very thoughtful couple.

The husband had a price in mind that he wanted to sell that home for. It was a very high price for the area.

The home hadn’t been upgraded, yet it was clean and meticulous, and in a desirable area.

Still, his price was fairly exorbitant for the market.

I nonetheless told him I had no doubt we were going to get that price.

I was able to tell him this with confidence because of my understanding of the market at the time. Any of the top selling real estate agents in any market should have an intimate knowledge of their market at any given time. 

In this case, inventory was quite low in Beverly Hills at the time.

The house was in South Beverly Hills; very South Beverly Hills in fact, and even though the house hadn’t been upgraded, I knew I could get his asking price based on the low inventory at the time and some other factors.

This particular sale was even more interesting because we didn’t have any Open Houses. The entire sale process was done with appointments and private showings.

For instance, one interested buyer emailed me, and within 24 hours of getting the initial inquiry, I was able to arrange to get that person in to see the property.

The buyer brought his wife later that afternoon and again, I was able to accommodate them at a moment’s notice.

Within 36 hours, I had sold the house and got the full asking price. At that time it was among the highest sale prices for any South Beverly Hills residential property in history.

Communication is Key in Getting the Highest Sale Prices for South Beverly Hills Real Estate

I always do a lot of hand holding throughout the entire sale process.

As I mentioned above, personal accessibility is a key element in being one of the top selling real estate agents in Beverly Hills.

For instance, in this particular case, I helped the interested buyers go a step beyond to stand out to the seller. 

They wrote a letter to the seller at my instruction, and their letter was very personal and touching.

And then the seller also wrote them back a letter.

The process of the sale started out on a very good note because it was personal. It was a business transaction but there was a personal element and there was an emotional connection from the seller’s end and the buyer’s end to this property.

Believe it or not, although selling a home is first and foremost a financial transaction, a personal touch and connection between buyer and seller often makes the difference.

These sellers had not sold property in a long time. Although they did recently buy, they had not sold. So there was some potential confusion.

I helped hand hold them throughout the process so that everything would go smoothly, and it did go smoothly.

I went through each and every document with them.

• I highlighted where their signatures needed to go
• We discussed the specifics of the sale
• I explained to them the big, broad stroke, picture of the sale.

I walked them through it all.

Moreover, I was in contact with the seller every day.

He wanted an update every day, so every day I made sure to send him an email, or a phone call, or a text message so that he never felt left out of the process.

The seller had many questions, and I made sure to answer every question he had quickly and completely.

I was very responsive to all the seller’s needs.

Primarily he wanted to know that his property was going to close. He was concerned, and I listened carefully to every one of his concerns and explained everything in detail.

These are just some of the things you should expect from any of the top selling real estate agents in your market. It’s certainly what you can expect from me as your realtor in Beverly Hills.

Knowing the process inside and out can yield a higher sale price

Properties fall out of escrow all the time. When we always know where the buyer is in the process, we can minimize the risk of this happening.

Here are some indicators that the sale is going to close:

• The buyer is doing everything the buyer is supposed to be doing
• The buyer seems happy
• You’re not hearing any drama from the buyer
• There are a minimum of concerns being expressed
• You’re answering any and all concerns with prompt communication
• If it’s a smooth process

If you’re seeing all or most of the above indicators during the process, then it’s a good bet the sale is going to close.

Monitoring the process is a key element in getting the highest sale price

I’m in touch with the lender. I’m in touch with the buyer. I stay in regular contact with all parties during every transaction throughout the entire process.

I can monitor the progress of the transaction.

This level of communication and knowing the process has proved to be a critical advantage time and time again in my ability to command the highest sale prices for my clients.

Demystifying Escrow is a key element in getting sellers the highest price for their home, because they need to understand what escrow is and how it works.

Escrow withholds the funds.. this is something the sellers are not prepared for. The seller has to interface with escrow in order to close.

There’s a lot of hand holding with the seller about escrow, and what documents they’re sending. It can get confusing for anybody not intimately familiar with the process.

This particular seller found mistakes with the escrow, and we were able to clear those up quickly.

The takeaway: Clear communication, knowing and monitoring the process, and personal accessibility are all key elements in every real estate transaction. 

Next Up: Guide for First Time Home Sellers

In the next and final post in this series on South Beverly Hills real estate, I’m gonna give advice to first time home sellers and talk about the most important things to do when you’re getting ready to sell your home.

Click here to go to the next post —>