Pick a house, any house!

Pick a house, any house!

Let me start this one off by saying I am not out to bash limited service agencies - or homeowners who want to sell homes as "For Sale by Owner."

But I am going to point out that in the first case, you often get what you pay for, and in the second - it ain't as easy as it looks!

Limited service agencies are a way for FSBO owners to get their home on the Multiple Listing Service for their area.  The homeowner usually pays a flat fee, and has to do all of the leg work himself - like writing ad copy, taking listing photos, setting appointments, showing the house, negotiating offers, etc.

I did get a chuckle out this FSBO/limited service broker listing in my local MLS.  Three pictures.  Yup - only three pictures.  The first:

Hmmm.  I wonder which house it is!  The white one stands out, but I'm going to guess it's the third from the right.  If you look at the upper left part of this picture, you'll see the control widget for Google Street View.  Yes - this is not even a photograph the homeowner took - it's cribbed off of Google!  Moving on to photo number two:

Whoa!  I guess I was wrong!  It now looks like that white one was the one being showcased.  My bad.  Moving on to picture number three:

Aha!  Somewhat vindicated.  It's NOT the white house!  But it's also not the third from the right as I originally thought.  It's the one to the left of the home with the bright re-pointing job.  Now let's go back to picture numbers one and two to see where the house falls:

<Scratching head . . .>  Wow - those first two pictures are so far off!  In picture number two, only half of the house is visible!

Needless to say, there are no interior pictures.  Equally needless to say, this home remains unsold.

So - who's at fault here?  Well, the homeowner may just be naïve regarding the ways of selling real estate.  And I'm sure the limited service broker makes it very clear that his only involvement is to put the owners copy and photos on the MLS (actually, in Pennsylvania, even limited service brokers have other responsibilities - but that's for another post).

But a home buyer (Remember them?  The one's we're trying to entice with our marketing skills?) who sees this offer to "Pick a house, any house" will most probably have a one word response.

NEXT!!

Looking to sell a home in the North Penn or Indian Vally towns of Lansdale, Souderton, Telford, North Wales, Hatfield, Harleysville and surrounding areas?  Call Richard Strahm of RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-853-2624 for a free, no obligation Comparative Market Analysis of your home.