Why can't more sellers be like this?
We received a referral from an acquaintance yesterday. Before looking at the house, we decided to meet at the office to get a feel for the seller's motivation and to just have an opportunity to get to know the seller a little. We would drive out to the house after talking a little.
Sometimes it seems that if the first meeting is at the house, everything becomes all about the house and not so much about the seller. It can be a good way to get an indication of the give and take you may have from the seller before you commit to a listing.
It was an interesting interview. First thing of course, is the review of Working With Real Estate Agents, which this seller was familiar with the differences between Seller's Agent, Buyer's Agent and Dual Agent. So far, so good. When it came time to sign this non-contract the prospective seller asked, "why should I list with you, what's in it for me and how are you different from the other agencies? I've been listed before with the Fill in the blank "national" agency and they did nothing with my listing". We thought, fair enough question and easy enough to answer. First we dispelled the myth that smaller agencies were not able to compete effectively against the "national" agencies as far as marketing was concerned. We explained that not only would her listing be in MLS, but it would be in MLS with up to 35 photos and an outstanding description. We told her that MLS is like a diving board and that all listings bounce off MLS and enter into a myriad of other websites. If an agent doesn't nail the description and get the photos right in MLS, you'll end up with a lackluster listing virtually all over the world. Then we said that while all MLS entries are put into Realtor.com, not all agents pay extra to "enhance" their listings. The weird thing is that lots of times, some of the agents who DO pay to enhance listings - don't. We told the seller that we enhance on just about every real estate website we can find. Whether we pay for them or not, it is a lot of work to keep track of and make sure our brand is on them and their house stands out from the others.
We also said that in addition to the standard CMA (Comparative Market Analysis), every seller is provided statistics on market trends, absorption rate, active listing competition and a seller net sheet to help them determine a good marketing price. We assured her that we would also give her a list of items we felt would improve the marketability of the house.
Then we followed her to the house. We looked around, walked the property, measured the house, made notes and discussed some immediate concerns. We told the seller we'd get back with her within 24 hours with a price. Before we left she said "Listen, when you call me back - I don't want any B.S. Don't try to dazzle me with a ton of fancy paperwork. Just tell me the truth about what you think my house would sell for." We assured her, no B.S.
Well, no B.S. just the truth. Sometimes the truth isn't what we would hope to hear, but it is the truth. In real estate, if you aren't in the position of having to sell - then maybe right now isn't the time to put your house on the market. The price we gave her isn't what she hoped to hear, but, we had data to back it up. When the seller saw other properties she'd be competing with in the price range she'd need to be in - her decision was to not sell the house right now. So...? Plan B. The seller is going to take her time, make the changes we've suggested and wait out the market for a few months. Luckily, if she makes the suggested improvements she could bump up the list price and that price range she is one that IS selling.
It doesn't pay to B.S. No agent needs overpriced inventory and no seller needs false expectations.
The funny thing is, I can't remember the last time I heard or used the term B.S.!
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