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Listing to sell NOT signing to fail!

Hi folks. I wrote a post this week titled "My Poinciana "Peeps" Need Me!". It was basically about the things I do to get my listings sold in this more difficult market or any market for that matter. There were two questions that were asked in the comments that I want to address in this post. The first one was asked by Bridget McGee. "How do you get the sellers to get it?" And the second was "How do you get people to price their homes aggressively?" asked by Kevin & Sherry Spengal.

These folks are really asking the same thing "How do we get Sellers to agree to our pricing?" Let me see if I can give you some insight on this and maybe help you in your business. One thing is for sure, if you want to be a successful listing agent you have to get the pricing right and you have to get the Sellers to agree with you. The quickest way to fail, as a listing agent, is to not sell it once you list it. I know from experience that if you have a successful closing you are the hero and if you don't get it sold you are mud. That's just the way it works. Sellers are hiring us to get them to closing, anything short of that, is failure.

Number one rule for a listing agent: If you don't know for sure you can sell it, don't take the listing. This doesn't mean take it overpriced and then work on them. It doesn't mean take the listing because the Seller said they would clean it up. It means, the price has to be right and the property has to be ready from day one. If you follow this one rule ALL of your listings will sell and you will be the go to guy in your market. Sellers will be calling you to come over and list their property NOT to interview. I don't do interviews. The listing is mine before I even go over to meet them. My reputation precedes me.

OK, so here are a few steps, that will help in getting a property priced right and getting the Seller to agree with you.

Know your market: Folks you have to know your market inside out. What's on the market. What's selling and how long it takes. You also have to know what direction the market is heading in. Are values declining? Will next year be better? And you have to be able to explain this to your potential Sellers with confidence. Look them in the eyes and give it to them straight. If it's going to be difficult to sell their property than tell them this. Do NOT sugar coat it. Our job is to tell them what they need to hear NOT what they want to hear. If you sugar coat it or are trying to fake it you will lose credibility and the game is over. This is one of the reasons I work a very limited market. I know Poinciana Fl better than anyone and my potential Sellers know this. They know because they see me selling stuff and they know because I tell them.

The most important step is to build trust: Sellers MUST trust you or you do not take the listing. No exceptions. Without trust you will fail in getting the property priced right. Trust is built by listening to them and then sincerely trying to come up with a strategy to help them achieve their goals. And of course, you have to know what you are talking about.

Folks, when I talk about "getting the price right" it's important to remember I am NOT talking about what the property is worth. I'm talking about what it will take to sell it. This may be considerably less than what it is worth. That's why a recent appraisal means nothing to me. One of my favorite lines, that I start every listing with is, "I'm not here to tell you what your property is worth I'm here to tell you where we need to price it to get it sold."

Once you've told then this you can keep going back to it. When they say "My house is worth more than that." Agree with them. They are probably right BUT "I'm not here..................". See how that one phrase overcomes their objection? AND it's true. I too do not want to under price their property. I want to get them as much money as I can BUT I'm not going to do that by overpricing. In fact, if I overprice it, it will end up costing them more money in the long run. The best time to sell a property for the highest amount of money is in the first couple of weeks. The price needs to be right from day one.

OK, so we have built trust and we know our market and we know where the pricing needs to be. Now here comes the biggie.........choose who you are willing to work with. If they don't need to sell (in a slow market) then walk away. This means they have other options or are in no hurry and have no motivation to price it right. They are testing the waters or hoping to get lucky. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's just they won't be doing it with me.

I only list properties for Sellers who need to sell. And you want to find this out quickly. I normally find this out over the phone. I need to know their motivation. If they are having financial difficulties, getting a divorce, job transfer, need to downsize due to illness, retiring and moving out of the area etc.....then I will meet with them and do everything I can to help them through this situation. They need me and I will be there to help them get their home sold. We will become friends and I will be successful.

OK, this post is getting really long so I'm going to stop. I promise to write another post if questions come up in the comment section.

So in a nutshell:

Know your market. Speak from a position of knowledge and confidence. Be honest!

Build trust. You must have genuine care and concern. If your only motivation is to get paid, you will fail.

Choose your customers and clients carefully. Your goal is to build lasting relationships with folks that will "talk you up" to everyone they meet who has Real Estate needs.

I hope this helps a little bit. Do you have any suggestions or questions?

Posted by Bryant Tutas Broker/REALTOR(R) Tutas Towne Realty, Inc on 08/26/2007 03:10 PM

Comments (77)

listing presentation, pricing, educational

77 Comments on Listing to sell NOT signing to fail!

AUG

2007

Reserved Parking For "The Lovely Wife"...TLW...ROAR!

Blog Boy...

Sorry. I forgot all about you and this post. Imagine that :)

I have to go play. This is waaaay too much like work :)

TLW...ROAR!

Excellent advice. I don't take overpriced listings. I am not going to be the guy they hate to taking a listing and chasing the market.

KNOW OUR MARKET. For me...this is first in my book. No one can fortune tell (just read Kaye's) and predict was "may" happen but we sure have the ability to do some straightforward talking with the info we do have. I keep seeing a lot of agents here not doing their homework or just hard up for a listing and overprice it too.

I have such a hard time getting this across to my partner/Dad, that I DO NOT WANT the listing if it is overpriced. He wants it, he'll try to talk them down later. I'd rather walk. They'll call again later or they won't, but I won't have their overpriced house hanging around my neck weighing me down. I'm hoping that with our new team, this becomes less of an issue. I find that they feel like me about this, thank goodness.

This is not the first time I've heard these remarks - but you state it so succinctly and straightforward. Thanks, I needed that!

I love good "hard core" real estate talk.

"Know your market" and "price is everything" are two truisms that cannot be denied.

I would no more take an overpriced listing that I would put someone in my vehicle to look at $750,000 homes when I knew that they were qualified for only $500,000.

Yet, day after day, month after month, homes stay on the market that are priced 5, 10, 20% over market. They are encourged to "get the listing" by their brokers who push and push for market share. If the house is listed with them, they have market share and advertising clout. Even if it isn't selling, it isn't selling for anyone else either.

The same agent that take those overpriced listings are the same ones who brag that they "don't put anyone in their car unless they are pre-approved.

You gotta love it.

Hi Fived and Flagged. I can only hope that every listing in my area reads it and pays attention. Sure.

Very well written. I completely agree. Maybe in the sellers market you could list at a higher price and hope for good results, or work on getting the price down. But not in this market. You're just going to waste your time and money. Not to mention the frustration, and most likely the negative hit to your reputation when your listings don't sell.

My first day in the business I heard an agent say, any listing is a good listing. It didn't take me long to figure out that philosphy is not mine, but it does ring true for many agents. I'm with you, Bryant; look your client straight in the eye and tell them the reality of the situaion then let the seller choose an honest agent who will get the job done, or the agent who tells them what they want to hear.

I have one overpriced listing that I took when I first started...as much as I try not to stress about it, I do.

Fran, Do you still have that listing? Maybe it's your good luck charm:)

Lisa, Nothing is worse than not getting the listing sold. I know. I go behind other REALTOR(S) all the time and the Sellers ALWAYS bad mouth them. "That realitor did nothing to get my house sold". And the seller is 100% correct! They priced it too high and it IS the REALTORS(R) fault.

Lenn, What a great market it would be if folks just did not take an overpriced listing. If the seller is not realistic let them go FSBO. It's not going to sell anyway so what difference does it make?

Thanks Marti.

Sarah, Tell dad(the other one) to listen to you. You're right!!!

Sally, I know you get it. Good job!!!

Adam, Stick to your guns Adam. It will pay of greatly in the long run. Our reputations are everything in this business.

I high fived and flagged too Bryant. I think this is the most honest and to the point information that I've seen on how to list. I preach to the gals that I mentor "you cannot be all things to all people" and "prequalify a listing". Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't.

I hope everyone understands what you wrote here and doesn't have to learn this over the course of many years in the school of hard real estate knocks.

Great stuff as always!

Hi, BB- terrific advice for those of us that have decided that listing is the way to go. In the absence of "subdivisions" of any quantity, our market is hugely diverse. We have to rely heavily on the vacation mindset of buyers, so explaining why a 2300 sf house (nice condition but nowhere near the beach, and no neighborhood- busy street) is worth less than a 1300 sf house in a historical neighborhood steps from the beach can be challenging. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather lose a listing that I was wrong about than take 10 at at time that I KNOW that I'm wrong about- talk about money down the drain. Maybe I'm just a bit...lazy. I don't need the aggravation, just the closings. How's THAT for input? I'm shooting for fewer, but sold.

Those are powerful suggestions that need to be incorporated into each associates personal listing repertoire. I would only change "know your market" to "be the expert in your market". Thanks, Broker Bryant!

I love the sentence, "I am not here to tell you what your home is worth, but where it needs to be priced to sell." A golden nugget that I will adopt ASAP. Thanks !

Applause!!! Applause! You said it so much better than I. I recently did a post with a poll on overpriced listings and got some interesting feedback. One said it was arrogant to expect customers to put their faith in us and trust us. I personally can't imagine working with a client who didn't trust me. If they can't trust me, they shouldn't hire me!

Hi Ginger, Thanks for stopping by. With out trust we have nothing. Arrogant? Ridiculous!

Missy, It's a great a line. Go for it! It sets the tone for the entire presentation.

Kevin, Yep you're right. I bet your market is brutal right now.

Laurie, You're not lazy...you're smart. Solds are the only stats that matter.

Tracey, Well thank you. It really is a simple thing. Not sure what folks make our job so difficult. Choose who you work with. Price it right and sell it. It's certainly not brain surgery.

This is such a powerful post, Bryant. The way you phrase things for the sellers clearly makes the right impression, or should...and if not, NEXT. We need to get in the habit about not talking about the CMA telling us what your home is worth but what it needs to be to sell. Thanks for sharing this valuable advice.

Jeff

Bryant: Brilliant! I love it! I also heard early on that "every listing is a good listing" but I've since learned that some aren't worth the aggravation. My husband forbids me to take any listings from clients who are potential jerks. He says it's not worth the aggravation to him. Ha ha!

I just lost two listings and I couldn't be happier. One was a client that I helped buy his new house. He had sold his old house FSBO but of course the deal fell through in the 11th hour. He wanted to know if I would cut my commission and I told him no. He decided to go with a discount broker. It's overpriced, no photos, nothing. Some people just don't get it. The other one I lost also wanted to list high and refuses to do anything to the house to improve it (very dated). He also wanted me to cut my commission. I was stressing about this one because it was a referral and I felt obligated to take it but those red flags were going up and I really didn't want it. Luckily, he chose an agent who is a friend of his daughter. They only got a 90 day listing in a market with market times averaging 140+ days. I think I may have dodged a bullet.

The hardest part is having the confidence to turn down a listing and/or stick to your guns in a market where I may not make as much as last year.

Bryant- Excellent post, 5 stars and flagged. You said it in plain English and right to the point. We get most of our listings right over the phone. That is because we aren't wasting our time going through an interview process getting in line with other agents, that is when they are really seeing who is going to take their overpriced listing!

We like to speak about the reality of the market, especially now! We tell our sellers, if you don't have to sell don't put your home on the market. Keep your house. Only Sell when you have to sell. If they are not motivated we don't take the listing. Life is too short, we have been in the business for a long time and we enjoy our lives! Katerina

By the way...

I love that picture of you :)

You handsome 'Big Dog' you. Woof :)

TLW...ROAR!

BB- I like this one a lot...Pricing to sell has always been the key to successful marketing. It doesn't matter whether the market is on the upswing or downswing if it's not priced to sell it won't sell. Consumrs hire us for our knowledge of the market..that's what we get paid for... you can't work successfully with either buyers or sellers if you don't know the market.

There you are, you 'soooooo good-looking' broker!! What is that pink building in this picture? I've seen it before in other pics you use but can't figure out what it is.

I try to take all my listings at grossly inflated prices. I KNOW the market will change, at some point, and then I'll be the listing queen with all these great listings - yeah right, all those listings for a couple of years while waiting for the market to change.......

Great post!
Ann

Bryan, you rock! what a great post....that is why I subscribe...

Great post. Way to stick to your guns. There are way too many hungry agents out there that will just take any listing at any price and condition.(we all know several) They accept the seller's terms and later try to negotiate a lower list price.

Bryant, I gotta love a man who so quickly came to my rescue and answered my question. Thank you so much for the wonderful advise and new mantra: "I'm not here to tell you what your property is worth I'm here to tell you where we need to price it to get it sold."

Peace - Sherry

My broker just brought this up at our last sales meeting - don't take an overpriced listing! Let it expire once or twice with SOMEONE ELSE, then move in for the kill when the seller may finally be willing to listen to you.

BB - When can you and TLW come to California? So many of us here would sure make you guys feel welcome. A few of us got together and your names came up. That's how powerfully you are impacting people - you're a parties clear over on the left coast! Thanks so much for this wonderful, informative post. Thank you so much for sharing what make you and TLW so successful. You are so appreciated!

Fantastic post! Well written and you make excellent points, thank you for sharing!

AUG

2007

Great post. I am learning so, so much from you. Thank you!

Gave you a 5 and a flag. :-)

Great advice, it is hard for many agents to know when to walk away.

Excellent post! You hit the nail on the head with this one!

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

I think if you go in as Bertha..they might price it right...just because you gave them a good laugh and compared bolder sizes! Maybe get them to have a sip of the W-Russian first :)

BB- Great post. Knowing your market area and what it is doing is without a doubt the most important thing. In my area sellers are still thinking they can get top dollar for their home. I look at it this way I want to get them the best price in shortest amount of time.

TLW, this really is a great pic of your husband. I'm glad that you made the comment- didn't want to take away from the post by commenting to that effect. You'd better keep him in "costumes", or you'll be dealing with a HUUUUGE ego, right? Mr. Movie Star...

Nice post. I agree that we should only take listings that we know we can sell. Too many agents take listings just so they can have them...even if they know they won't sell.

Great insight Bryant! This will be really helpful to marketing to my FSBO's in explaining to them why they need to partner with a GREAT realtor, and have a lovely (to be named later) loan officer who is able to help them with some strategic financing options to set them apart from the 50 other houses for sale in their neighborhood.

I think that a lot of Realtors are learning the hard way, losing listing after listing, then watching a new Realtor come in to a beaten down seller and finally do all that the original realtor suggested from the beginning. I am thinking that being the HERO beats being the Whipping Post!

Bryant-

You speak the truth! Overpriced listings will only hurt us as agents. Your insights to the market in general are so valuable. Please keep posting...

Best,

Scott

Great post, as usual. Sellers don't understand the difference between a property's worth, and what somebody will pay you for it. As a real estate trainer, I've found several reasons why agents take overpriced listings:

They are new, and need more knowledge and confidence and they will get that after the first 30 whiney calls from the seller and try real hard to get it right the next time ;-)

They aren't aren't confident enough in their knowledge, worth and time - so they figure they will work them into reality 'later'. What they don't understand is that the time and money you spend isn't going to be a very good roi. Not to mention all of those emails and calls from the sellers. You could get 2 great listings in the time it takes to service one badly overpriced one.

Then there are those who just want the listing at any cost, just to get buyer calls, who cares about the poor seller? They are getting 3 buyer deals off that over priced listing! (I think is the worst of the worst!).

Just like you - I do not like whiney seller calls. Tell them what they need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear. And make no mistake - every agent KNOWS the ones who over-price, the ones who do not have control over the transaction because their seller really thinks they will get xxx for their yyy property. Those are the ones that do not get shown. I'd rather invest my money in Clairol and Prozac than to get gray hair and stress using this method.

Great advise Bryan, I do have a question. How does someone with little or no track record get the listing appointments?

I like the part about knowing whether next year will be better. That would be a nice thing!

I always love it when something sells for just what I said it would, or when a CMA confirms my "guess" within $2K.

Well hey everyone!!! I've been away from AR since last night. Just got back and BAM!!!! Too many comments to respond them all. It does sound like we are all on the same page with getting it priced right. That's a good thing.

Paula Bean made a good comment about how we get reputations with our peers for taking over priced listings. I could not agree more. My peers LOVE showing my listings and will do so before all others if they have a chance. Why? Because they know they are priced right and clean. They know my sellers are educated. And they know I am easy to work with. Having this kind of reputation with your peers will make you a ton of money. OK I am going to go through and answer the questions that were asked in the comments.

Michael Eisenberg, My next post is going to answer your question. It's a very good question. Is hard to compete with another REALTOR(R) who can whip out a list of hundreds of sales in the neighborhood. BUT it can be done. I will post on this tomorrow for you so stay tuned.

Sherry Spengal, I hope this helped. If not let me know and I will try again.

Ann Cummings, The pink palace is "Chalet Suzanne" in Lake Wales. It's a historic Country Inn. The picture was taken on our wedding anniversary in 2006.

All others. Please know that I really appreciate each and every one that takes the time to read and comment on my posts. I get pretty busy with work so apologize for not being able to respond individually. BUT THANK YOU!!!!

I don't think it can be said ANY better than that. Nuff said.

AUG

2007

Thanks Linda. BTW Blogging Bertha keeps asking where Carnac is?

Another jewel BB

Most newcomers to Real Estate are afraid to turn down a listing. Any listing. Peer pressure, performance pressure, self applied pressure. Pressure is counter productive to making good business decisions. Turning down a listing because a seller has unrealistic expectations take a little courage, but yields far better results in the short and long haul.

It is better to take something you KNOW you can sell, than to take something you HOPE Might Sell.

There is a big difference.

If in doing your homework you come to discover the house you want to list, will not sell at that price you are doing both yourself and your customer a disservice by listing it. Ina market so heavily oversaturated all you are doing is an excercise in futility. So having said all that listento Broker Bryant..he knows his stuff and is telling you the truth!

Thanks Allison. You do know I just make all this stuff up don't you?:)

AUG

2007

That one got a big "5" from me.... I agree that this is one of the best, to-the-point informational blogs on listings that I've ever seen. "I'm not here to tell you what your property is worth I'm here to tell you where we need to price it to get it sold."--- PRICELESS!!

AUG

2007

Thems so mighty kind words Sandi.....Thanks!!!

SEP

2007

Bryant - This is sound, sage advice for anyone looking to list successfully. Well written post! It sounds like you work the same way that I do here in Austin. I train all of my agents to walk away if the price or motivation is wrong. Thanks for your solid thoughts!

<<when I talk about "getting the price right" it's important to remember I am NOT talking about what the property is worth. I'm talking about what it will take to sell it. >>

Ouch, ouch, ouch. It hurts!!!!! But you are right.

<<This may be considerably less than what it is worth. That's why a recent appraisal means nothing to me. One of my favorite lines, that I start every listing with is, "I'm not here to tell you what your property is worth I'm here to tell you where we need to price it to get it sold.">>

Light bulb moment. I've never looked at it this way. I've always priced (in my mind) what the property is worth. Thanks for shedding this new way of looking at it.

Hi Loreena,

Approaching the pricing like this will make a tremendous differenece in being able to get properties priced right. And letting the sellers know this up front sets the framework for the entire pricing discussion. It gets their focus away from "what our home is worth" and places it on "where we need to price our house to get it sold". It really is a powerful statement and technique.

BB: I'm still pondering on this one. I agree with you 100% on the house "worth" vs. "where it needs to be to sell". Just thinking ahead, that means I have to say alot of Nos to many Sellers before I get a Yes.
But because of my "experience", I may not have as many Nos to say to to get to the Yes-es as you do. What would I do in this case? (Not quite the same as the other blog as you wrote in the "green" and "get it out first" blog......

I am not an advocate of overprice listings, then reduce. I do not employ this strategy but in the art of pricing, I am still learning. Thus, reductions are still in my transactions. But see that fine line there? Hmmmm.... maybe you should blog about this one now (about going through enough Nos to get to the Yes). What ya think?

SEP

2007

OOOOHHH Good One Broker Bryant,

This is one that Listing agents should bookmark. I find my still find myself lapsing sometimes into that old thing "take the listing, then lower them down afterwards" It's a habit left over from the good old days and down't work NOW.

BB, I know how you feel about price because I've read all your other posts on this subject but PRICE ISN'T EVERYTHING. There is also LOCATION and by that I mean being in the right place at the right time. And there is INTELLIGENCE and by that I mean knowing the difference between a nibble and a strike. And then then is the SALESMANSHIP you use to "reel in the big fish." If you can't close or don't know how to negotiate and can't recognize a BUYER when you see one the best price isn't going to save you.

Bill Roberts

Loreena it is certainly an advantage to be able to pick and choose. You just have to make judgements calls on which one s to list. It's simple: If you can sell it them list it. If you can't, pass on it.

Debbie, in this more diffiuclt market pricing is very important. You won't get lucky.

Hey Bill, Where you been? Thanks for stopping by and adding to the post with your comment.

I politely have to disagree with Bill's comments. If the house has a bad location, the right price will still sell it.

At the right price a house will sell in spite of an agent not being an excellent salesman.

In almost 30 yrs, I've seen agents sell houses because the didn't know (or maybe purposely) priced the house too low, never returned calls, was difficult to work with in a transaction - but buyers will hang in there through all of that if it the house is priced correctly.

The right house produces huge motivation and is the secret to being a great listing agent.

BB, My computer was in the shop. I wrote a blog called "what do you do when you can't blog" that answers that question.

Bill Roberts

SEP

2007

Bryant I have to say this is one of the best post I have seen so far.I need to forward it to a few fellow Realtors yo get this point across. They can not believe I will walk away from a listing do to lack of motivation.I keep telling them this is not the market to be as I call it buying listings.It is a waste of time and money !!! Bravo to you !!

KNOW your market--- that's a good advice. But, and sorry for this novice question, how do you learn the market? How do you do it? What would be your steps if you just landed in a new area? Thanks, BIGV...

After watching your videos and reading your blogs I know who to send my south orlando referrals too. Im not goign to drive down to that side of town and do my buyers injustice from my lack of knowledge of that area, now I will just send them your way!

SEP

2007

BB, It sounds as if you went to the Rodney Dangerfield school of listing. You set the sellers up by telling them how you get no respect and then leave them laughing all the way to the bank when they actually get their home sold. take my home! No, really take my home. Ya' gots to luv it. Great post!

SEP

2007

Hello Bryant,

Thanks for the advice and useful script(s) to use. Like other commenters, I did not pursue a listing with a former telecom associate who's currently a Sales VP. He wanted a discounted listing commission, just to get it in the MLS. He ended up with a discounter that put the property in the wrong MLS Area, and is still $100k over-priced 6 months later.

Ideally, we can take your wisdom and convert some of these mis-informed sellers into pragmatic clients that will adjust the listing price to properly reflect their home's condition & location, and respect the local market condition. To get them to do this on the first day to market is truly a win-win.

John

SEP

2007

Love your comments...My new favorite line is...what are you committed to...a number or selling your property? If they give me the wrong answer and they are already my client, they get an immediate release. If they are a prospective client and are unrealistic about a selling price, I respectfully decline to invest in their property...and it is an investment...of time and money. If I were a clothing shop, I would not invest in merchandise that I knew nobody would purchase.

OCT

2007

Though this blog post is over a month ago, and though it's targeted to Realtors, as a seller with experience in the real estate industry, I have to respond. I have found it so fascinating that the #1 marketing tool Realtors seem to invoke is always... a lower price. Wow. Too simplistic. There are two homes in my subdivision. Neither was overpriced to begin with, and now they have dropped the price to ridiculous levels. It never made a difference. They have had nearly no showings. My home which is priced higher, has had numerous showings, one contigent offer (no thanks), and came in 2nd three times against custom homes that were newer, larger, filled with amenitites, and sold by the builder at up to 100k less than asking price. I can't compete with price on those homes. I see homes coming onto the market at lower than market value, and they sit. Choosing to only work with sellers desperate to sell, as you assert, sounds a bit obvious. Realtors want sellers to underprice their homes to move them fast, but even in this market, it doesn't make a difference. Most buyers now understand it is a buyer's market, and the majority of the time are approaching homes at all price levels and making very low offers. There are just too few buyers right now, and too many houses. Buyers have more homes to choose from, and it's not all about price, it's about connection for the buyers. The price is of little concern to a buyer until they choose to make an offer.. then the work starts, and the seller has a choice of what they'll take for the house. I've seen too many sellers convinced by Realtors to start with a low price, only to find that the majority of buyers believe (and are being coached by their agents) that anything goes with the offers... 40k, 50k, 80k, 100k, buyers are going for it. The reality of our market is that homes are sitting longer, and it doesn't matter if it's on the market 30 days or 300, when the right buyer for that house comes into the market, it will sell (if the seller can stomach the low ball offers coming in).

Lee I have to agree with you as a Realtor and a Listing agent in my area in New Jersey. It is so funny because I just had a long conversation just yesterday with a client of mine who in fact is a seller.I had to forward your comment to HM because I thought he wrote the response to this blog.In this market at least in New Jersey for a listing agent it is very hard to tell who is in a short sale situation and who is selling their home because of a relocation or just wanting to move to a another him.When preparing to do a CMA to calculate a price for a listing I see at least a price difference between 20,0000 to 30,000.00 for the same home .This is the most extreme market I have seen in the past 10 years, so when I list a home I have to be a detective to make sure that the home I am listing is being listed at what the home should be listed for, not what the neighbor down the street who may be having mortgage issues is listed at. That is not true market value. If the home down the street is under market value and is still on the market, yes you are correct .If it is matter of pricing and that house was sold than is it all about my pricing or is it a seller in distress? We are also having the same issues with new construction as well with the builders offering homes for up to 50,000.00 - 70,0000 in price reductions and offering the buyers agents a full 6% to sell thier homes.For me to offer that type of percentage to a buyers agent my clients would be paying a 9% to 12% commission.We have lost several buyers of this home to new construction in the area and sellers just can't compete with a new construction home that is also sitting on the market with a 300% equity.Price reductions in this market are still not selling homes !!!

Hi Lee, Thanks for stopping by. Very good insight form a seller. First it's important to remember ALL markets are difference. In my market houses are all very similar. This year there are only 30 to 40 houses selling per month out of 1700 or so on the market. That's right around 2%. I don't only work with desperate sellers I work with sellers that need to sale NOT sellers that are just wanting to test the market and will only sell if they get "their price". The problem with the market now is there is way too much inventory on the market. If a seller doesn't need to to see then they need to take their home off the market and wait until conditions are better. They will NOT get lucky.

My job when a seller hires me is to get their home sold. And it is "all about the price". Granted this does assume the agent is doing everything else they should be doing to market the home correctly. My goal is to get as many buyers through the front door as I can. They have to see it to buy it. Once negotiations start we can worry about what's an acceptable price.

Lee, it's not about a lower price it's about finding the right price. I've had listings recently where I actually raised the price to attract a different part of the market and it worked. Even then it was all about the pricing. So whether we are raising the price or lowering the price it truly is ALL about the price. Make sense?

Thanks for stopping about. Please feel free to read and comment on my posts any time. I value the opinion of the consumer. Hearing your point of view helps me in my business.

Catherine, I agree completely. In my market right now NOTHING is selling. Houses are just sitting and there is truly nothing I can do about it. If folks do not need to sell this is the perfect time to sit on the sidelines and wait. Paint the house, do some landscaping and enjoy your home because selling is going to be very very difficult.

FEB

2008

BB -- dusting off a few posts here I see. Very interesting read and two points I agree with. Each market is different, regardless of what the media wants to project and two, price is the key. Consumers need to understand in this recovery time and allowing the healing to take place of some markets, they have to rely on their agent and trust them they know their market well. An appraisal six months ago, let alone sale six months ago isn't always the best comparable. Educate the sellers, gain that trust because you know what you are talking about and not blowing smoke to get the listing. If you know you are going to disappoint the seller and not get the job done, do it before you sign the listing agreement. Educate first, Sell Second and Success third!! Still out searching........ skipping onward

JUN

2008

Thanks for the refreshing post on what most of us know and understand as agents, but need to be reminded of from time to time. Do you believe in the philosphy of 'abundance'?

Regardless, I do have one question for you in how you combat other agents who go to the listing presentation and take overpriced listings time and time again and inflate the more realtistic Sellers impression of what they should list their home for. I know you say you do not go on interviews, but our market is highly competitive and at this time we do compete for business. There is one agent in particular that that competed with us on several listing presentations and taken the business, but at a highly inflated price. She is famous for then needling down her clients to a price that finally sells and she does a big business this way.

Any help you can offer would be comforting and welcomed.

Broker Bry: I just realized that you wrote this post last AUGUST! What a brilliant guy you are to be predicting our changing market before it even happened! These tips are the ones that I'm giving my peers and teammates regarding pricing in THIS market--in previous markets, we WERE able to price on value, not on sellability. We simply cannot do this any longer (at least in today's market) and it is MOST wise to turn down those sellers who won't go with your price. If you go with it just for the listing, it will cost you MANY listings in the future! GREAT advice BB!

Debe in Charlotte

What if you've already taken the listing??

Bryant,

As much as I hated to do it, just last Monday I sat in front of a couple who invited me to help them to sell their present home. When I called the lead the husband told me they wanted to sell and rent or buy locally in order , to cut their costs. Once I got to meet them and saw their situation, I believe they want to reduce some of the excess family they have living with them (there were 7, that is 4 adults and 3 children, a puppy and a mature cat, in this 2 yr old 2250 sq ft 4 bedroom home. The house was lived hard considering they are the original owners and have been in less than 2 years. I went over the current market, and even explained what I thought the house would sell for now, after I let them tell me what they thought it was worth. I gave them written advice about how to help it sell, have it show, what to do to make it sparkle. (the carpet was food stained in all the traffic areas, the appliances were filthy-greasy, and the hanging light fixtures had about 1/4" of dust on them. I recommended a professional cleaning. When we realized that my recommended price and their opinion of value were about $20,000 apart, it became apparant that they did not want to spend money to "fix" the problems and even asked me "What about the $2,500 storage building we added out back?" The wife wanted to discount my knowledge of the market (I have been licensed 29 years and full time active in the local market here for the last 9 years having lived elsewhere previously). I could tell by her body language that she did not want to hear (the truth) what I had to say, so I bowed out graciously. I regret having wasted my time, but am proud that I did not take an Overpriced Turkey, which needs lots of help, and try to work with a seller who would not meet me half way, nor work with me as a team mate to reach a common goal (get the house SOLD). Glad I walked away! Some new inexperienced agent will take this listing at about 10-15% over market, if it does get shown at all, I doubt there will be offers, and eventually after reducing it a few times it may sell for probalby less than I could have gotten it sold for here and now. Thanks for your article, it is very close to home for me.

Loved reading the posts. Also love the "commercial". I needed a good laugh today and I got it. Our market in Kentucky isn't as dire as the rest of the country but we still have our trials and tribulations with sellers who don't want to price to sell. You have words of wisdom and I appreciate it! Thanks.

Thank you for sharing your great advice.

As always, a great post! I find it ironic that I came across this post, as I was just telling my husband that I am trying to figure out how to get a seller to actually follow through with the to-do list I have made up for them to aide in marketing their home. I have a tough time getting them to complete the things that I tell them need to be done to get the best possible reactions. Now the things that I suggest are not huge ticket items. It's normally things that require elbow grease and not dollar signs. Any suggestions as to what you do to gt them to actual complete all of the things that need to be done?

JUN

2008

Great post. Being very new in the biz, i do have the fear of not getting the listing. However i now know that not only will you not sell an overpriced home, you just lost any marketing money you spent! I love your line about value v sold and i will use it every time. Thanks!!

JUN

2008

Jen, I think all of us struggle with this. It's my opinion that the best thing to do is just not activate the listing until the items are taken care of. Once the property is active their motivation for getting things done decreases. You lose your leverage. If there is a reason they can't get things done for examples, they work all the time, health problems etc....then offer to send over a cleaning crew or handyman. If it's a good listing I'll even pay for these things and then just get reimbursed at closing. If for some reason it doesn't close I''ll just eat the costs. I can get a lot done in a house for less than $100. I'd rather spend it on getting the house ready than waste in on advertising a property that's not show ready. Make sense?

Brian, An overpriced listing will suck the life and money out of you. Always best to just pass. The effort spent in servicing an over priced listing could be used to get 2 that are priced right.

Maya. Are you stalking me? I hope so!!

Kay, I always exceed my customers expectations!!!!!!

Steve, It sounds like you certainly made the right call on that one. There are just some folks we can't help.

Cathy, Do you mean you already took it and realize now that it is over priced? If so....you have to set up an appointment and go back over pricing. Just tell them you made a mistake. I've done this many times. They'll appreciate your honesty.

Debe, I think you are also following me around. I like it!!!! I'm not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination...I just get lucky every now and then.

Sandy, I think you just have to stick to your guns. I don't interview for listings NOW. But that certainly doesn't mean I didn't have to for a long time. I've been in my market for 14 years. I think it has a lot to do with confidence and being able to get sellers to understand that you know what you are talking about. Most sellers DO want to sell and most sellers already have a very good idea of what their property worth. Don't under estimate what they know. And remind them of that. "This is what it will take to sell your house BUT you already know that". And even if they don't if you put it to them that way they will agree. I think I feel another post coming on:)

Thank you for your thoughts on my question. I really do appreciate it, and I will utilize the idea of holding off on activating it.

Great advice and right on the mark. I appreciate the reminders and can always use a new line for a script at a listing appointment. I like the "I'm not here to tell you what your property is worth I'm here to tell you where we need to price it to get it sold." Creating success and eliminating the listings that will be failures is big. You are right, "The Clients will Call You to list"

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