1. Mission
1.1. Truth
1.1.1. Defeat the Sales Weasels
1.1.1.1. Weasel words
1.1.1.2. High pressure
1.1.1.3. Commission breath
1.2. Competence
1.2.1. Danger Report
1.2.2. 49% did 1 or none transactions in 2023
1.3. Maximum Profit
1.3.1. Home equity is the foundation of family wealth
1.3.1.1. Maximize perceived value
1.3.1.2. Minimize transaction costs
1.3.1.3. Avoid costly mistakes
2. Plan in a Nut Shell
2.1. Example: $700,000 home can range from $725,000 vs. $675,000
2.1.1. Home Story Branding
2.1.1.1. Unique vs. commodity
2.1.1.2. Prep: Think CarMax
2.1.1.3. Staging
2.1.1.4. Price it right
2.1.1.5. Luxury style marketing materials
2.1.1.6. Marketing process
2.1.2. Negotiations
2.1.3. Proactive to avoid potential problems
2.1.4. Reasonable Flat Fee
3. Does the system work?
3.1. Reggie and Jeannie
3.1.1. $925,000 Sandy Springs
3.1.2. Sold 17 days. **full price**, $5,000 closing costs
3.1.3. "Tim sold our home quickly and for the asking price. He used an app to create a **floor plan** for online listings and had an **excellent videographer / photographer**. He used AI to enhance our home’s online description and **held an immediate open house that got it sold.**"
3.2. Brian and Susan
3.2.1. $565,000 East Cobb
3.2.2. Under contract 2 days , **$585,000**, $10,000 closing costs
3.2.3. "Tim did an outstanding job selling my house and helping me find my new house. I really like his methodology of **flat rate fees**, much more reasonable than other agents that are not flexible in their fee structure. In addition to paying less, he actually **provided MORE services than I've had before**. He hired top notch photographers and **staging** people as well as a **nice multipage brochure**. He even hired a **drone operator to video the house**, but it sold so fast we didn't even get a chance to load the footage!"
4. Who is Tim Maitski?
4.1. 1999: Real estate agent who started with mother-in-law
4.1.1. Aspired to be the "Clark Howard of Real Estate"
4.1.2. Commissions are too high and they gouge high end home sellers
4.1.3. Wanted to defeat the sales weasels
4.1.3.1. My mom got ripped off buying life insurance on her 7 kids
4.1.3.1.1. Nice old cigar smoking gentleman came every two weeks to collect the premiums
4.1.3.1.2. She was so proud to be able to give us what she thought would be $10,000 when we grew up.
4.1.3.1.3. When I was 27 years old and I told her it was only worth $775 it was like a punch in the gut.
4.1.3.1.4. Most of the premium goes to pay the saleman
4.1.3.2. Sister in Florida
4.1.3.2.1. Bipolar
4.1.3.2.2. Running out of money so had to sell home quickly
4.1.3.2.3. She needed every penny to survive long term
4.1.3.2.4. Low ball investors
4.1.3.2.5. She listed with a trutsted agent and ended up with $50,000 more than the investor offers
4.1.3.2.6. That will be life changing
4.2. 2000: Created HomeAtlanta.com website
4.2.1. Allowed users to search the MLS by themselves,
4.2.1.1. 7 years before Zillow
4.3. 2000 -2014: Worked mostly with buyers
4.3.1. Observed what made buyers buy
4.4. 2015: Had "aha" moment
4.4.1. Took notice of sellers telling stories at the closing table
4.4.2. As listing agent, why not use those stories upfront to create more perceived value?
4.5. 2017: Read "Building a Story Brand"
4.5.1. Those principles inspired me to develop "Home Story Branding" protocol
4.5.1.1. Sell homes for more with the power of story
4.5.1.2. Get buyers to sell themselves
4.6. 2018: Started writing "Home Selling Truth"
4.6.1. Published on Amazon 2023
4.7. 2022: Became neighborhood expert on select neighborhoods
4.7.1. Within 15 minutes of my home
4.7.1.1. Provide better service
4.7.1.2. Time efficiency
4.7.2. Higher priced neighorhoods
4.7.2.1. Standard 3% rips off higher priced home sellers
4.7.2.2. Easier to sell the nicer homes
4.7.2.3. Flat fee creates compelling offer
5. The Home Story Branding Plan
5.1. Don't let buyers create their own story
5.1.1. Sellers will be seen as the villian
5.1.2. Buyers will piece together a bad story
5.2. Seller completes 23 questions on home questionaire
5.2.1. Why did you originally buy?
5.2.1.1. What were you looking for?
5.2.1.2. What were your concerns?
5.2.1.3. How did your home solve this?
5.2.2. Why are you selling?
5.2.3. How are the neighbors and neighborhood?
5.2.3.1. The neighborhood is as important as the home
5.2.4. What is it like living here?
5.2.4.1. How has it affected your life?
5.3. Strategic pricing
5.3.1. Comparative Market Analysis
5.3.2. AVM and past appreciation analysis
5.3.3. Tour the competition
5.3.3.1. We put our Buyer hats on
5.3.4. Possible appraisal
5.3.4.1. Use only if it helps
5.4. Clean, declutter, repair.
5.4.1. Think like CarMax
5.4.1.1. Free roof inspection
5.4.1.2. HVAC tune up
5.4.1.3. possible pre-listing inspection
5.4.1.4. Radon detector
5.4.1.5. Check attic and crawl space
5.5. Professional staging consultation
5.5.1. Story of cluttered vs. staged, $30,000 difference
5.5.2. Iris and Oak
5.5.3. Currie Rose
5.6. Show time
5.6.1. Photographer
5.6.2. Drone
5.6.3. Videographer
5.6.4. 3D tour
5.7. Name the Home
5.7.1. Don't let buyers come up with their own name
5.7.2. Book of home names
5.8. 20 page Home Storybook
5.8.1. The questions and answers
5.8.2. Centerfold spread
5.8.3. Floorplans
5.8.4. QR code sends to Flipbook website
5.9. Video
5.9.1. Voice-over. Just read the answers
5.9.1.1. Sellers can speak or I will speak
5.9.1.1.1. Humanizes everyone
5.10. Online Flipbook like Harry Potter newspaper
5.10.1. embedded Pixel
5.10.2. embedded video
5.10.3. embedded 3D tour
5.10.4. moving pictures (GIFs)
5.11. Giant postcard to neighbors and my sphere of influence
5.12. Social media marketing
5.12.1. Retargeting (ads follow you around internet)
5.13. Elegant yard sign
5.13.1. Primes the buyer emotionally
5.13.1.1. Home Storybook box
5.13.1.2. Solar powered light
5.14. Agent focus group
5.14.1. Can use feedback to optimize before putting it on the market
5.15. "Coming Soon"
5.15.1. Creates anticipation
5.15.1.1. Best buyer is the one waiting for the right home to come on the market
5.16. List it
5.16.1. FMLS
5.16.2. GAMLS
5.17. Agents make showing appointments
5.17.1. You get notified and you approve
5.17.2. Electronic lockbox
5.18. Open house
5.18.1. Creates urgency by FOMO
5.19. Agent open house
5.20. Agent feedback
5.21. Offer
5.21.1. Negotiations
5.21.1.1. "Never Split the Difference" philosophy.
5.22. Inspections negotiations
5.23. Appraisal
5.24. Final walk through
5.25. Closing
6. Fee
6.1. All homes get the same high level marketing and service
6.2. Choice of listing fee
6.2.1. $10,000 plus .0012 of purchase price for FMLS fee
6.2.1.1. Buyer agents use lock box to show after making appoinment
6.2.1.2. Listing agent shows unrepresented buyers
6.2.1.3. Paid at closing only if home sells
6.2.2. $20,000 if you want listing agent to be at every showing
6.2.2.1. Need two other agents involved to cover all times
6.2.2.2. Paid at closing only if home sells
6.3. Your choice of Buyer agent compensation
6.4. You write a review
6.4.1. Zillow
6.4.2. Google Business Page
6.4.3. Next Door Neighbor site
6.4.4. Video review