Feedback: Careful What You Take From It
Reading a post by Scott Godzyk today talking about when an offer isn't an offer, there seemed to be a misread on the part of the For Sale By Owner seller who thought feedback was the beginning of an offer. If a buyer said, "We would buy the house if it were painted," well...the sellers painted. The seller did a lot of things as a result of the "We would buy the house if..." statements.
Those statements are what we Listing Agents call feedback. Our sellers want to know what buyers thought of the home as soon as they leave. So it falls upon us as Listing Agents to call and get feedback. It's been rare in a decade of selling houses that a Buyer's Agent has pointed out something that I had not already pointed out to a seller at the listing appointment. Still feedback has some limited value. If someone tells you a home shows dark, maybe it's time to paint, or to stage with some lights.
You can't take feedback as the end all, be all of why someone didn't buy the house. Sometimes buyers don't even know why a home isn't working for them. A good Buyer's Agent truly tuned in to their buyers will know it before the buyers themselves. Heck, I've been out with some buyers that really like homes. The Listing Agent calls and asks what my buyer thought and I tell them, "They loved it." Of course, that doesn't mean they are going to make an offer either. I've seen plenty of buyers love a home, but not want to live in it.
The ultimate feedback is repeated comments about particular, specific issues. Or the ultimate unspoken feedback of plenty of buyers through and no offer. The latter is the market screaming, "Lower your price!"
It wasn't that long ago that I was the second agent into a listing and going over comparable sales with the sellers. Their home had been listed for six months and they swore, "No one ever said anything bad about our price." Then we went through each and every home that had gone under contract in their neighborhood, that was larger and listed for less, while they were on the market. The conclusion was, the buyers didn't have to comment on price. The market was speaking loud and clear if they were wiling to listen. Low and behold, that made sense to these sellers. As much as they hated to lower the price, they did when I took over the listing and got the activity they had been lacking before.
So when you are selling your home, careful how much stock you put in feedback from agents and buyers. Your Listing Agent will have provided the pointers for getting your home ready to list. And the market is always in the background speaking loud and clear.
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