Thanks, Active Rain, 8% Listing!!

I received a call a couple of weeks ago from a home owner asking for a listing appointment.  Her home is currently listed on the market, and she's in a city further north than what I usually take listings in, so I asked her how she found me... THANK YOU ACTIVE RAIN!

I also asked her if she thought the house hadn't sold because of the agent, or because of the house.  She asked what I meant about it being the house's fault.  I asked some leading questions, and it looks like it is partially the house's fault for it not selling, not necessarily the agent's fault... but, the agent is a part time agent, and probably not living up to "my" potential of an agent to do everything to get the house sold.  Apparently, she put a sign in the yard, lock box on the door, listed it in the MLS, printed up 100 flyers to give the sellers, and did an open house...  it's been almost 4 months... there is plenty more to do, so I also fault the agent.

Anyway, I met with them last night and things went really well.  I told them I couldn't talk with them in specifics when it came down to price since they were already listed and I can't give advice and opinions while under representation.  They understood, but they also knew the numbers since they had another agent come a couple of days earlier.  I bypassed my opinion of sales price, and hit on another point of marketing, which is to help the sellers compete with the builder in their neighborhood and offer the buyer's agent 4% to help them look past a couple of the negatives about the house and actually show it to buyers.  I explained that I would still receive 3%...  They thought that was a great idea.

I received a call today from Mrs. Seller:  "My husband and I were talking after you left and we really liked your idea about offering more to the buyer's agent.  However, we were wondering if you would like 4% also?"

Me: "NO, of course not!!  I'll work for much less!!"  (j/k)

Mrs. Seller:  "We feel that if we offered you extra, you would work even harder to sell the house.  We also feel that if it doesn't sell in 60 days, then we could drop your commission back to your 3%.  What do you think?"

Me: "Ummm, I don't understand... I don't usually accept that much money for doing such an awesome job for my sellers..."  (j/k)

What do you think I said??  I was driving when she called, so I told her to email me so I could email her a new disclosure form, as the previous one is no good, and also so I could email her a revised listing agreement showing 8%, with 4% to each side...  Her listing expires Jan 31, and I'll list it Feb 1, if they complete all my staging advice before then.  We're meeting Thursday at 2pm to stage the house.

I don't know how many more times I could thank ActiveRain for new business since it's happening regularly, but I don't think thanking AR each time for the first year is too much... and I have this as a public post so people out on the internet can see that blogging definitely makes a difference in our lives and business... THANKS AGAIN, ACTIVE RAIN!!