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Adventures in Real Estate – Part I

Nobody ever said that selling and buying a home was easy. Our home was fully loaded and showed really well. As a result, we decided to list our home FSBO. After all, with my husband in the advertising industry and me in home staging - who needed a real estate agent, right?

With our first open house scheduled, my husband built a great website, we had a lawn sign made, two signs on the main road and several "Open House" signs, all sporting the website address. We placed ads in the local paper and I emailed over 200 agents inviting them to our Open House and letting them know that we were paying a Buying Agent Commission.

The emails brought curious results, some agents felt compelled to email me back slamming us for listing privately, some agents were out-and-out rude while other agents let us know that if we needed any help to feel free and contact them (guess they missed the point about bringing buying clients to our home!).

Our reasons for contacting agents were 2 fold. The first being to help find a buyer and the second was an indirect way to "interview" agents. Although we were FSBO we were also realistic and had a "Sell by Date", that perhaps could only be met with the help of an agent.

The newspaper ads initiated a flurry of calls from agents wanting to list our property. We asked these agents to drop by an Open House to view the property first hand and to give us a chance to meet them, and again a chance to "interview" them. No agents showed up.

Unknown to us, one agent that I had emailed was quietly watching the progress of our sale. One day during the week he had dropped by (unfortunately we were not home) leaving a quick note and a business card. We decided to give the agent, Terry Annis, a buzz and made an appointment for him to come out a couple of days later.

During our meeting the agent did a lot of listening but he also asked the right questions. These questions made us really evaluate what our selling goals were. We made a second appointment for him to come back to discuss his marketing plan with us.

There was another potential agent that had also come by, however we were already fairly certain that we were going to list with Terry. The final decision would be based on marketing plans.

Needless to say Terry's presentation was excellent and the decision to list with him was easy. We signed the papers on a Thursday morning and by lunch time we were already getting calls to book viewings. Luckily we planned to be out of town for the weekend because it was over whelming the calls we were getting. You just can't beat the exposure that MLS can bring!

After seven days and two offers, the house was sold for 97% of the asking price. Terry did an excellent job handling the offers and getting us the price and closing date that we wanted.

Although we had sold our home, we had yet to buy a new one. Again, thanks to MLS we found an agent in Halifax and short listed over 20 properties. Buying the next house should be a cinch, right?

Posted by Lucie Quigley on 06/14/2007 09:28 AM

Comments (9)

fsbo, selling your home

Post is included in group: Nova Scotia Real Estate

9 Comments on Adventures in Real Estate – Part I

JUN

2007

Excellent story and congrts. You found the right agent. I like his style.

Great Blog! I am a Realtor, you provided great advice to me. I have pursued FSBOs from time to time and found when I show interest and follow up, sellers have been appreciative. From what you said, it looks like many agents want an easy listing without putting much work into (like previewing the home), but I find it unfortunate that they would actually "slam" you for your decision. There is one more reason Realtors have a bad reputation!

Lucie, your story illustrates both why some in our industry give agents a bad name, and also why a good agent is well worth his/her fee.

Good and interesting story.

A couple of things that you may not be aware of.

Most companies drill it into their agents heads that if they are going to go out and try to meet FSBO's the worst time to do it is during a FSBO open house, even if you are invited. The reason, you don't get one on one time with the home owner, anyone else that happens to be there or come to the open house will get the home owners full undivided attention and the agent is shoved out the door or into a corner to wait and wait and wait. I personally try not to visit during FSBO open houses.

You many say that I am not a strong agent but I only approach a certan number of FSBO's in a given month becouse most of them are so negative, and harsh in their approach and opinion about Realtors that it can really bring your mood down and that affects you in the rest of your business.

Also, especially in this market, it is particularly difficult to get a buyer for a particular home unless you have a listing that is similar to that home in price, or type of home, usually the listing that generates the buyer you are looking for is about 10% higher priced or more so you have to take the buyer to another home, such as the FSBO, but how many Realtors have that listing. The other thing is that many buyers have this strange idea that they will get a better deal if they work though the listing agent of a home, and with a FSBO you don't have that so getting a buyer for that FSBO home is unlikely.

I am happy that things worked out well for you, I also wish that more people who do choose to FSBO had the same attitude as you do, rather than the attitude of being insulted becouse we the Realtor did not read every last word of their newspaper add which said that you were willing to pay a commission to a buyers agent which is to mean you are unwilling to hear anything that a Realtor who does not have that buyer for your home, has to say.

Jim

Wow... this is despressing kinda of a depressing story of what lengths somepeople will go to.

Many people decide to go FSBO because of high agent commissions. I had some agents who contacted us that were new and hungry BUT had no plan to market our home. Given the cost of some homes today 5% (or higher) can be a large chunk to sign away. If my home sold in 7 days and my nighbours sold in 30 days and both agents were earning 5% am I paying too much or is the other guy getting a deal? This is where the consumer gets confused and resentful towards today's comission structure.

Blue Ridge - just wondering if you could elaborate on "kinda a depressing story of what lenghts some people will go to." Are you referring to me the seller or the agents that were not so friendly?

Hmmm Lucie Quigley, I think you have that turned around, If you had your house listed with me, and it sold in 7 days and you paid the full commission wouldn't you think you got a deal. After all in order for you to have accepted the deal it had to have been a good offer right after only 7 days? Likely there was enough excitement amongst the buyers and enough showings becouse of the marketing I did right. Or would you rather be that home seller who had to wait 30 days and accept a offer with a discount becouse your still on the market and that buyer knows that any excitement for your home that may have been there has now faded away.

Which home seller would you rather be?

It is all in the way you present it. There are lots of agents who don't know how to market a home who can list yours and have it on the market for 30 days, heck I bet they could even have it out there for 180 days. Is that what it takes for you to think you got a fair deal on the commission?

Jim

JUN

2007

Jim you raise a good point. A good agent that markets the property effectively will have a quicker sale.

However, maybe it is time to consider selling a home a "partnership" between the agent and the homeowner. The agents responsible for getting the home marketed and the homeowner is responsible for making sure the home is the best it can be.

Let's face it, if my home was "unkempt" it wouldn't have sold as quickly, which means that the agent would have had to work harder and longer to sell it.

I know that my home is my single largest investment and I will do whatever is necessary to protect that investment and receive the best return on it. I know not all people think that way - that is why the home staging industry exists.

I am just presenting the "case" of the homeowner.

I understand your point Lucie,

Though keeping your house up should be something that is automatic, not a consideration of what value the Realtor brings to the process of selling your home. What many realtors fail to educate their sellers on, is the value they bring to the situation.

Before any home I list for say even hits the market I have spent several thousand dollars of my own money to make sure that house makes the biggest splash possible. I expect that house to sell in the first 7 to 10 days, and when it does, historically those home sellers walk away from closing with more money than their neighbors with similar homes who use realtors who do the traditional things and nothing more.

All that money I spend to make the house sell fast, is at risk, there is no Guaranty the house is going to sell. I have had home owners who have changed their minds before we were under contract, and even had one who backed out of a deal after we were under contract. I could go after them for the marketing expenses, but the courts are not real friendly places, and doing so also kills your reputation so it just is not done.

I guess the issue I have with the points you have made above is, If I work hard as your realtor and I get you a good deal in a short amount of time, why should I earn less, after all I preformed better.

Thanks for listening.

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