With more than 3 decades of experience under her belt, Leesa is no stranger to selling homes. And she’s built a solid reputation as one of Oklahoma’s top listing agents. In fact, working with sellers accounts for 70% of her business and with almost a transaction a week, that’s no small feat for a solo agent and assistant.

What makes her such a go-to agent for listings? Her approach to pricing.  

From day one, Leesa studied the market, learning from appraisers, lenders, and industry experts. She made a commitment to knowing her market inside and out. And this helped her to develop a real understanding of how homes are actually valued. While many agents focus on lead generation, Leesa focuses on knowing her market inside and out.

This attention to detail on what’s going on in her market has helped her to see shifts happening in her market before most people do. Take last spring, for example. She said she could feel something changing in the market: “the phones stopped ringing.” This seemingly simple observation told her something was happening in her market before the news caught up. This let her adjust her listings, and her pricing, accordingly.

In fact, she’s become so knowledgeable about pricing that appraisers occasionally call her for help.

Want advice from Leesa on staying ahead of the market so your sellers come out on top? Read on below.

• Look at Every Property Through Two Lenses Leesa doesn’t take any shortcuts when it comes to pricing her listings correctly. In fact, she starts by taking a look at it through the eyes of an appraiser. Early in her career, Leesa dedicated a huge amount of time to learn from a local appraiser. She did this by not only attending appointments, but also asking questions, and truly listening to the factors that influence value. She studies comparable sales, analyzes days on market, reviews concessions paid to buyers, and compares properties as closely as possible.
  Once she’s done with this step, she looks at the home through the eyes of the market. After all, a home may appraise for a certain value, but buyers ultimately determine what they’re willing to pay. Understanding both perspectives allows her to create realistic pricing recommendations.
• Stay Ahead of Sellers Instead of Behind Them One of the biggest pieces of advice Leesa shares comes from a mistake she made early in her career when she let sellers get ahead of her. Instead of leading the pricing conversations, she allowed the clients to set the tone. As a result, she found that her listings were overpriced, and sellers were unnecessarily stressed and frustrated.
  It’s a different story for Leesa today. She doesn’t tell people what they want to hear, rather, she helps them make the best decisions possible for the market they are in. This means telling them the truth, even when it’s difficult.
• Communicate Before Problems Become Problem While pricing a listing correctly from the start is important, it’s equally important to communicate about it. Leesa uses a system to make sure she stays ahead of her clients’ needs and provides them with an update every 10 days. In this update, she reviews what sold in the area, the new competition on the market and how her client’s home compares to other options that exist. Providing this information eliminates surprises and gives her a good way to explain why buyers may be choosing other properties instead of theirs.
• Understand Buyer Psychology Leesa also pays close attention to how buyers shop for homes and uses what she calls “buyer baskets” for this purpose. She describes buyer baskets as a way to better understand how buyers behave in ways such as searching online and comparing their options and involves the price ranges they use for their home searches. She uses these buyer baskets as a way to improve her sellers’ visibility as pricing in one basket versus another may attract a completely different pool of buyers even if the difference in the actual offered price is small.
• Know Your Market Better Than Anyone Else Not surprisingly, Leesa knows it’s essential to know your market on a deep level if you want to be the go-to expert on pricing listings. For example, study what is and isn’t selling, understand the trends around pricing, and pay attention to concessions being offered. Know how different people think who are involved in the transaction, from buyers to lenders and appraisers. After all, it’s those agents who truly understand their market that can accurately guide clients through difficult decisions with confidence.

Leesa’s expertise with pricing didn’t happen overnight. It came from her concerted effort to learn and pay attention to what’s happening in the market. And her status as the go-to pricing expert came from her ability to do the research and tell the truth about each home’s value. Her work helps sellers make smart decisions based on facts rather than emotions. And in an ever-changing market, this is a valuable skill that everyone should take the time to develop.