I wrote a post a while back explaining “Range Pricing” and how it works. There are still many Realtors who don’t understand this technique and are hesitant to use it. But that’s ok, it is definitely not for everyone and quite frankly, if more Realtors used it, I probably would not have the same success with it, that I do. I have found over the years, that most Realtors do not want to think out of the box and are happy to stick with the status quo. This is actually one of the reasons why successful people do not mind sharing their “trade secrets”. The truth is, only a small amount of Realtors will take a good idea and run with it, anyway.
When “The Lovely Wife” and I opened up Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. we knew we were going to have to do things differently in order to compete with the “big boys”. Not only was it just the two of us, working from our home, but we chose a very small and difficult market to work in. At the time, Poinciana, Fl. only had about 6,000 people and was way out in the boonies. Not very many Realtors or Buyers were even willing to take the drive out there to look at properties. But that was ok, too. We didn’t have much competition and there was enough business to keep us busy.We started by marketing to Realtors. Since we knew we didn’t want to work with Buyers, we had to find ways to get Realtors to make the drive. Se we were very active in the local Board of Realtors and spent a lot of time networking and making friends with other Realtors. Our slogan at the time was “Come on down to Tutas Towne, your Realtor friendly Realtors”. This was on all out marketing pieces and in all our MLS listing comments, MLS books of course, for those that haven’t been around that long. Our strategy worked, as Realtors started showing our listings and wanted to work with us.
We never thought of other Realtors as our competition, we always thought of them as our customers. This was an excellent strategy. I don’t think any other Realtors had this mind set, back then, so it really helped us to stand out in the crowd.To add to this, we did things differently with our Sellers as well. One being “Talking Houses.” We were the only ones in our area that used “Talking Houses” and secondly, we were the only ones to use “Range Pricing.” These two things gave us the edge we needed when competing for listings. We could offer Sellers something different. We were thinking out of the box and it worked.
Now, ten years later, I (since “The Lovely Wife” has retired) still think out of the box. I still want Realtors to show and sell my listings. They are still my customers. My goal is, and always has been, to make their job as easy as I can. If they have a choice of similar homes to show, I want them to chose my listings first, knowing they will be treated fairly and compensated well for showing and selling my listings. This is why I participate in forums and why I blog. I want to help Realtors. Knowledgeable Realtors are easier to work with.I don’t use “Talking Houses” any more, not quite sure why, but just moved on I guess. So, I gave them all to Jonathan Greene, to hopefully help him in his business. I hope he uses them and I hope they help.
Now “Range Pricing” is still my ace in the hole. When I take a listing, I only have two initial goals, get Buyers through the front door and encourage them to make an offer. I have found no better technique to achieve this than “Range Pricing”. Now that the market has slowed, there is no better time, than now, to get out of the box and give it a try. I can assure you, that if this technique is used properly, your listings will get showings and Buyers will make offers. Now I don’t know about your market, but in mine, that is the whole point.So folks, if you have listings that aren’t getting showings, try it. What have you go to lose? Maybe, just maybe, you’ll get showings. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll get an offer. Maybe your Seller will accept it. Maybe you will get paid. Or maybe, like most Realtors, you’ll just continue on with the status quo. Status quo? ActiveRain? I think not.
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