No matter how you look at it, Prudential Douglas Elliman is #1. We are #1 for the number of homes and condos sold, and for the dollar volume of homes and condos sold. This holds true for homes, for condos, homes and condos combined, Nassau, Suffolk, and Nassau and Suffolk combined.

We are in a challenging real estate market that is evolving every day. While our market share is increasing our competition is declining. Our position in the market allows us to keep our offices open and professionally staffed. Many of our competitors have been forced to close their offices and reduce their staffing levels. Our success in selling real estate just like yours allows us to continue to grow our business by recruiting the best agents, pursuing the best new technologies, increasing advertising opportunities for our clients, and providing continuous training for our agents. • We have THE LARGEST CUSTOMER BASE in the tri-state area. • Our reach allows us to find your buyer wherever they may be, locally, nationally or internationally. • Huge listing inventory attracts more buyers. • Our extensive training and technology programs keep us on the cutting edge . • Our targeted marketing and advertising helps display your home to the appropriate audience immediately. • Our award winning website showcases your home to millions, captivating buyers and delivering time sensitive information so they can make an informed decision. • Our all inclusive firm ensures you have a seamless stress free experience. We sell 33 homes each day or nearly 2 every hour, 365 days a year. In an independently conducted survey, Prudential Douglas Elliman was ranked the largest sales and rental brokerage among all residential real estate companies in Manhattan for the fifth year in a row. And according to the Long Island Multiple Listing Service, the company was #1 in both units and dollar volume for Long Island. If you would like to get a free no obligation consultation on what your home or condo is worth, and what your relocation options are contact Gary Baumann at 1-866-260-9822 . We are the leading real estate and homeowner service company stretching from Manhattan to Montauk, always exceeding our customers expectations. • We are the leader in all markets we serve • We lead our industry by providing the finest and most productive people and services supported by the most effective technology • We deliver a superior experience to our customers • Our agents are involved as leaders in the communities we serve • We achieve superior financial results for our clients We will not exaggerate the value of your house to try and get your listing? You see, by being priced right from the beginning you get the benefit of that first time exposure and actually are in a stronger negotiating position. Once you lower the price, you are advertising to any buyers that you are now getting desperate. Even if you aren’t, that is a common perception of most buyers. Also, the longer you are on the market, the more stale and lost you become on the market. All buyers ask how long a house has been on the market as a means of determining any competition to buy your house and their offer, if in fact they make one is usually much lower than if you were priced right and on the market for a short time. Plus, with prices still apparently on the way down, why would you want to wait longer and have the value of your home decline even more? By having experienced, knowledgeable and ethical agents list your home, you will maximize your income from the sale of your home. Getting the Best Price for Your Home Effective marketing is the key to selling your home quickly and getting the highest price. Aggressive, effective marketing of my Client's homes by every available medium is how I've become a top real estate agent in the Setauket area. It's my job to assure that you get as many qualified offers as possible, allowing you to extract the highest price the market will bear. One of the most important elements of marketing your home effectively is setting the price right. Set the price too high, and you won't get any offers and your home will take too long to sell. Set it too low and you cheat yourself by not getting your home's full, fair value. As an expert in Setauket area real estate, I analyze the market and set area home prices every single day. I'll work closely with you to assure that everything possible is done to get the highest price, in the time frame you need. The condition and appearance of your home are also critical factors in getting the best price for your home. I'll personally walk through your home with you and advise you of what you can do to properly stage your home most effectively. Some areas are much more important and more likely to pay off than others! Often, the buyer is motivated by emotional responses as much or more than financial issues. There are usually things I can point out to you that are easy and inexpensive, yet go a long way toward triggering those "buy" emotions. As your agent, I'll negotiate furiously on your behalf throughout the entire process to ensure that your best interests are protected. Real estate negotiations and contracts can be intimidating in their complexity. Most people have almost no experience in these negotiations. After all, how often do you buy or sell a new house? As a top real estate professional, getting you the best terms and prices in all negotiations is simply part of my job.

Setting the Sales Price Before we set the sales price of your house, I'll run a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that will show the listing price of similar houses in the area as well as the prices at which the houses actually sold. Additionally, the analysis will give us information about houses currently on the market and about houses that were on the market but never sold. Next, I'll ask you about your goals in selling the house. Everyone who sells a house has different goals that need to be factored in when calculating the selling price. Is your goal to get the maximum sales price for your house? If so, are you willing to have your house on the market for many months? Is your goal to sell your house quickly? If so, are you willing to sacrifice some of your potential profits to sell more quickly? Would you like to establish a balance between selling your house quickly and selling at the top end of market value? Market conditions will play a role in setting the sales price of your house. I'll factor in how quickly houses are selling in your area, interest rates, the strength of the school system, and finally whether it is a buyer's or seller's market. I'll then recommend a price at which to list your house to meet your goals in the local market. If you would like to get a free no obligation consultation on what your home or condo is worth, and what your relocation options are contact your Setauket Real Estate Specialist, Gary Baumann at 1-866-260-9822 . Reasons why homes don’t sell If you have had your home on the market for several months and haven’t seen much activity or any offers, chances are that one or more of the reasons below are to blame. Your price is too high No doubt about it, the most common reason for a home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high. The reasons for setting your price too high to begin with are many. Ranging from over enthusiastic listing agents to unrealistic seller expectations. Regardless of the reason though, if you’ve priced your home too high, you’ve set yourself up for a number of obstacles to selling your home. Even if you do get an offer for the overly high asking price, the deal may fall apart before closing because the buyer may have problems financing at too high a price. Look at other homes for sale, ones as similar and as close to yours as possible. If they are going for less than you are asking, you may be priced too high.  The fact is, your home is competing against those other homes, and what buyers are willing to pay is what will determine final sales prices.   The condition of your home There is a lot of competition out there to sell homes.  Your home has to compete against other similar homes for sale, as well as competing against shiny brand new homes.  The more you can do to make your home look appealing to a buyer, the better your chances for a quick sale.  Look at your home with a critical eye – put yourself in the buyers position.  A buyer doesn’t want to have to do anything except move in.  Your best “bang for the buck” in improving the condition of your home are paint and flooring.  Make sure that all of the paint is in great condition, both inside and out.  Repainting doesn’t cost too much, and will usually make the biggest impact on buyers.  Make sure all of the flooring looks good too.  You may want to consider putting in new carpet.  Again, it’s not that expensive but it sure does make an impact on buyers coming to look at your home.   Location, location, location It’s the oldest cliché in the world, but it’s true.  When it comes to real estate, it’s all about location!  When it comes to homes, things like how good the schools are, crime rates, visual appeal of the neighborhood and noise or the smell of pollution can all effect how desirable the location is.  If you’re in a bad location, a good real estate agent may help to minimize some of the impact by suggesting improvements to the house.  But the only really reliable way to overcome a bad location is with a lower price.  Simply put, an identical home in a bad location won’t sell for as much as the same home in a better location.   Your marketing campaign is out of steam The best listing agents all use an aggressive marketing plan to market their listings.  If your listing agent isn’t making sure your home can be found easily on the internet, isn’t actively touting his or her listings to other agents in the area, isn’t running ads in the local newspapers and real estate publications, then it might be time to change agents.  The best agents might even run radio or television ads for their listings.  If all your agent has done is put a sign in your front yard and add your home to the local MLS, then that agent isn’t coming close to doing all that can be done to effectively market your home.   The market is slow You’ll hear it described as a slow market, or a buyers market, or maybe a cold market.  But it all means the same thing.  That home sales in the local area, or market, are slow.  That there are too many homes for sale and not enough active buyers.  There are several things you can do to combat a slow market.  The most effective strategy is to sell at a lower price.  Buyers are expecting to find bargains during a slow market.  You can also help yourself by offering to pay some concessions to help a buyer that might not have a lot of cash.  The ultimate way to beat a slow market is to simply wait it out.  But that’s not always an option for many sellers.   Your home isn’t easily accessible To get your home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible.  When a busy agent is compiling a list of homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to show those houses that are easiest to gain access to first.  Many homes on the market have “lock boxes” on them.  The lock box is a device which holds a key to the home, that only qualified local agents can access.  Homes that are listed as being “lock box, no appointment needed” will get shown more often than homes listed as “agent has key, call for appointment”.  If at all possible, you should let your agent put a lock box on your home for easier showing.  If not, you should do anything else you can to make it as convenient as possible for agents to show your home.    You have an agent nobody likes Sounds almost silly, but it’s very true.  If your listing agent isn’t liked or respected by other agents in your area, it could slow down the sale of your home.  When an agent prepares to show properties to prospective buyers, the agent begins by talking to the buyer to find out what kind of home they are looking for.  Then the agent searches the local MLS and other sources for homes that fit the buyer.  If there are a number of good matches to choose from, and one of them has been listed by an agent that is hard to get along with, or arrogant, or has otherwise made himself unpopular, well…  It’s just human nature to tend to skip over someone you don’t like. If you would like to get a free no obligation consultation on what your home or condo is worth, and what your relocation options are contact your Setauket Real Estate Specialist, Gary Baumann at 1-866-260-9822 .