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Priceton real estate - can you make an offer I can't refuse?

Did you ever wish you can sell your home in Princeton area if only the process was stress and pain free? What if there was a way you can just place a note somewhere indicating what you would like to get for your home and just wait to see if anyone comes and makes you an offer you can't refuse .

No stress, no mess. Does that sound great? Zillow is a company that says it can be done.
There will be no cleaning and scrubbing, preparing home for sale, no people dragging dirt through your house or not showing up for appointments, and no noisy neighbors coming to the Open House. Does that sound great? It gets even better; you don’t need a real estate agent and can save on the commission.

All you have to do is register your home on the “Make –me- Move” part of the site and wait for the magic e-mail or call. In the Princeton area there 150 of the homes for sale listed under this category.

Make me an offer I can refuse
Doe this sound too good to be true? ? Theoretically it can work. Practically, there are issues. If the seller is not committed to sell, but is just testing the waters, he/she will be most likely be setting a price that is too high. What the seller is saying under this concept is: “I will only move, if I get my price”. Even if the seller had a way to determine a realistic market price, psychologically he/she wouldn’t want to do it, since he is trying to see if he can get more.

My cursory review showed that even some of these sellers have already reduced prices and many prices are different from the Zesstimate (the price Zillow suggests). When the buyers see prices that are not market driven, what would compel them to want the property and go through the process without the assistance of the agent?

Now, let’s assume that the miracle happens, the seller prices his home and gets an offer. How would he know that it’s a good offer? We know that “market price” is achieved when the property has been given a proper exposure in the market.

What do you think of the “Make –me-Move” idea? Is this the sellers dream come true or not?

Please contact Faina Sechzer at 609-553-4175 when looking for real estate, homes for sale and/or listing your house to sell, and relocation assistance in Princeton, Montgomery Township, West Windsor, Hopewell, and Lawrenceville New Jersey. Referrals are accepted.

If you are moving out of the greater Princeton area, please inquire about the countrywide relocation program.

Copyright 2007 Faina Sechzer All rights reserved. This information cannot be copied, reproduced, transmitted, distributed, displayed or published.

Posted by Faina Sechzer - Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, NJ Real Estate Expert on 11/26/2007 06:16 PM

Comments (25)

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25 Comments on Priceton real estate - can you make an offer I can't refuse?

NOV

2007

Make me move would work better in a sellers market. Right now buyers are in the drivers seat in most areas of the country. I, for one, wouldn't want to just see one house. I would retain a buyers agent and see the properties that fit my criteria.

Chris - it would be a difficult situation if the buyer was looking for a long time and then found a house that for some reason worked for them through the "make -me-move". Thanks for your comment.

Good market, bad market, indifferent market ... it's never a good idea to consumate a complicated Real Estate transaction without professional involvement. Princeton sellers need Faina!

Paul -Amen! I am not looking forward to the process of selling my house unless I have a full time cleaning crew 24/7 -with the teenagers that's a requirement. But if Zillow can magically deliver buyers, wouldn't that be sweet?:)

I personally think that calling Faina is a far better idea!

Hi Faina,
Theoretically, lots of things can work but realistically is another issue. There are too many houses on the market priced to sell (because an agent has done the work), the Buyers have visited the neighborhood, walked through the house and seen with their own eyes and been guided and advised by a professional. Zillow's method just does not measure up! I wonder what their success rate is???

Patricia - from your mouth to God's ears. There are many buyers and sellers who think that Zillow is another Expedia where you can make your own reservations or Priceline where you can bid on a house. Thanks for your comment.

It would take a VERY high, way over market value price to "Make-me-move." Why would anyone bite at such bait? The buyer would have to have the means to afford such extravagant spending. It takes a careful survey of the local market, preferably with the advice of a good local agent, to get a true picture of a property's value.

Cynthia - the buyer can walk through the seller's house in this model as well. I read that one seller received an offer but couldn't agree on the price. It is so hard to keep real estate transaction on course, even by professional agents. It must be much harder without such assistance.

Elaine - theoretically it seems possible -the seller can get an agent assist with coming up with the market price. The buyer can offer that less and since theoretically they will be saving the commission, they can agree on something less then the market price. Thanks for your comment.

NOV

2007

Faina- I Think that Zillow is not accurate and that companies like this are minimizing the importance of representation and minimizing the real estate deal down to a product such as a car,. Sellers need a full time experienced agent! Katerina

Faina, I agree with Katerina. First of all if the zeestimate is lower, which it is many times and a seller puts there house on there, Make Me Move, wouldn't the consumer automatically think it is over-priced ? I would.

I have never found Zillow or other estimating sites to be accurate. Nothing can take the place of a human being seeing the property and what's around it.

Faina:

Good post. Thanks for sharing the information.

Faina,

Have to say that Zillow is pretty creative when it comes to marketing their site. This make-me-move line is one of them. The issue is how well buyers will accept the idea and use the feature. Sellers probably love to give it a chance.

Katerina -Zillow is a smart marketing company.They do not want alienate agents, since so many are advertising on their site. They are raising an interesting concept. If sellers can hire RE agents on a consulting basis, i.e. the agents will not be marketing their home jus giving advice, in theory it may work. In practice, it remains to be seen.

Missy - IMO there can be a possibility that the home is priced right by the seller(development with lots of sales and very similar properties) and he then lowers the price by the amount of the commission, there may be an interested buyer. What is happening instead is that the sellers overprice their homes. "make-me-move" kind of implies that. It could work in the overheated markets with multiple bids - I don't know to many of those right now.

Dan -like I said to Missy, in theory home sellers in housing developments with very similar homes ans lots of sales activity will have an easier way of coming up with more accurate estimate for Zillow. Make-me-move is a clever marketing concept.

Alan -thanks.

Esko - I agree that it's creative marketing on the part of Zillow. We as agents have to be cognisent of what what is going on in the market and be prepared to deal with the changes.

FAINA: If only there were a "Make Me Buy" button! :)

I've never heard of anyone being successful with the make-me-move concept on Zillow. Theoretically, anyone could walk up to any house they were interested in and ask them if they would be willing to move. They don't need Zillow to do that!

Shannon - how about a button "buy or else"? Every home for sale now would probably have such button displayed prominently.

Kelly - I read an article where the author did get an offer from the "make-me-move". They did not agree on a price, but agreed to revisit in the spring.

"Having the property on ZIllow, compare to just leaving a note on someones doorstep, tells the buyers on whose "doorstep to leave the note". As the market changes it's interesting to see companies like Zillow and Trulia coming up with new marketing ideas.

Hah! Zillow is promoting a ridiculous caricature of the entire selling process with these "make-me-move" homeowners. I have an idea! I'm going to start a counter site that features these properties alongside of recent comparables and call it "make me laugh!"

Faina, I saw this just earlier this week so it's timely I should see your blogging on the subject. I listed one of these "make me move" properties in April 2006. I realized immediately how quickly stagnant the market was becoming and suggested a price reduction. He became rude and ridiculously arrogant and I gave him back the listing. Not until after meeting a neighbor at the open house however...

In March of 2007, the neighbor listed his home with me. Somewhat larger unit than the other gentleman's ...we closed end of September at $125,000 lower than Make-Me-Move's asking price.

I'm still shaking my head at the whole concept.

Antoinette - this is a terrific idea- your site will probably work as it already made me laugh. I am not surprise at your story at all. The concept is possibly suited for the market when buyers were fighting over each property and there are many offers on each. I don't see alot of it going on in NJ right now.

I think this feature is used by people who want to test the waters. We know this water doesn't taste so good at this moment.

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