“At the end of the day, the property has to stand on its own!”

It takes the Agent and the seller working together to get the property sold and the property stands on it's merits.

An over priced property only has one buyer and they already live in it.

Don't forget the appraisal...  Last two transactions had all the 'hard parts' over and done with, that was until the appraisal came back.  Unfortunately at that point it doesn't matter how the home does on its own because it gets lumped in with all the other foreclosures, short sales and other distressed property transactions.

Another great photo, Richard ~

Well said, Richard.

Hi Richard -- Your post is so right on and it reminds me of an old saying:

I might be a genius but I'm not a miracle worker!

  price is 80% of marketing, no?  so i can guarantee a sale if the sellers are willing to sell at a market price.  if they have a reason to sell - if they must sell because they are moving - i guarantee i'll sell their home - guaranteed if they understand what the market is and they're willing to sell

Richard,

The house will stand on its own or the price reflects why it doesn't.

It's true - never make promises you can't keep but with all the tools we employ hopefully the right buyer is out there.

Laurie

Reblogged this. It is a price war and a beauty contest and you have to win at both. Even the Redskins Cheerleaders out front will not do the trick...but it would sure be fun!

You are so right, even with everything up to speed, each house has a particular buyer. And I have a couple now that are really needing that ONE buyer to step up and do the deal!

Richard, you are so right. We can't guarantee it will sell, but we can guarantee we will do our best to market the property.

Richard, you are dead on with this one!  (Of course, you usually are).  We are not really selling anything -- we are only marketing the property to the best of our ability.

Richard, so so true!  We know that the home must not only be marketed very very well, it should be priced competitvely and be the shinest penny in the markeplace. We can control the marketing end, suggest strongly the pricing, but in the end, the seller has great responsibility!

As with any product, the more appealing the packaging, the better the chance at success.  Great post!

Great post.  The house really does have to stand on it's own. I've got one right now that is absolutely baffling me.  It's gorgeous, priced right and getting showings.  No offers.  It is hard to foresee what will happen here, but it's certainly not for lack of marketing.

Hi Richard!  I read this post and am just now getting over here to comment!  I agree--there are no guarantees in life so, why would anyone stick their neck out to say that they guarantee a sale?  Just blows my mind.  The sellers' ability to help with the presentation, do everything on their end to sell AND to price it right, sometimes still takes hard work to find that right buyer.  Our job is NOT easy oftentimes, that's for sure!

Price is the key. Buyers aren't buying flyers, images on TV or websites, or open house balloons. They are buying a house in a price competitive market. If it's priced right the buyers will show up up through IDX's and automated searches from their Realtors.

We cannot guarantee the seller's motivation is adequate to make a sale happen. Every house will sell at the "right" price. Not all listed houses will reach the "right" price.

Yep,  finding just the right buyer is the hard part of the job. Both from the buyer’s perspective (finding a buyer who really wants the home) and from the seller’s (finding a buyer who really wants the home AND can actually close the deal).

It is definitely a team effort to sell a home and seller cooperation with both condition and pricing is essential.  All the marketing in the world does not matter if the price is too high or the condition is not up to where the buyers expect.  Great points!