Real Estate Blog - Does CSI Make House Calls?

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Does CSI Make House Calls?

Have you ever wondered if we could outsource the CSI team? Not those Miami or New York TV spinoffs, but those good guys over at Las Vegas.

DOES CSI MAKE HOUSE CALLS ?

I mean there is much to investigate.

Don't you think so? Why for example, is this particular house on Mulberry Ln. not selling after 137 days on market and that other similar looking one down two blocks over on Bluejay Dr. sold in 15 days?

These are the mysteries of the universe, or maybe not, but the mysteries of the Castlegate neighborhood or whatever your local neighborhood might be called.

Do you think our crack CSI team could decode what is working and what is not?

Morgue

Let's travel to the morgue and take this one apart, piece by piece.

How is the condition?

How is it priced compared to the competition?

Are the amenities and kitchens and baths up to date?

Is it staged well?

What about the curb appeal?

What about location, neighborhood, school district?

How is the market in the area and which size / price range homes are selling?

Autopsy

Have I left anything major out? How about exposure of the home by the REALTOR and the marketing plan?

Some day I will write a book and make a million dollars from it on "exactly what sells a home." I'll take lots of notes from my CSI team.

I do know what doesn't sell a home. A few items you may need to be aware of are socks on the stairs, charcoal bags at the bottom of the pool, kitty litter smell, smoky smell in the furniture, dated kitchens, tall weeds in the backyard, Mooseheads on the wall, toys strewn all over the floor, a pool table in the dining room and water color in the pool that looks like you just discovered the black ooze from the Jurassic era. Oh, and just price it sky high too.

You really don't need the CSI team to make a house call to sell a house. Just put your trust in an excellent REALTOR and their team of Stagers, Inspectors and Appraisers.

With this in mind you'll have this little show wrapped up in under the usual 60 minutes.

Flashlight

Posted by Gary Woltal - Associate Broker REALTOR® Dallas Ft. Worth on 05/03/2008 10:23 AM

Comments (64)

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64 Comments on Does CSI Make House Calls?

MAY

2008

Gary - I have had a few listing presentations lately that CSI might have shown up after I left - to try to figure out why the home owner mysteriously keeled over...see, I think sellers still aren't getting it when it comes to price. I hope the truth didn't kill them!

Carol: If I may borrow from the X Files "The Truth is out there." Just people don't want to hear it on pricing and hence they keel over on you. I know you, though, you tell them the straight scoop which is what every great agent should. Explain the market, that is our job.

Hi Gary, I am just so happy I never had to deal with a "body outline" on the floor of any homes I had to stage, I guess one could cover it up with a mat and just disclose it! ~ Julianna

Julianna: Speaking of "body outlines" you might appeciate this little video on ALWAYS PREVIEW YOUR SHOWINGS. I only save the best for YOU : )

MAY

2008

The video was PRICELESS! And the post is great too Gary! Thanks! Steve

Steve: Glad the little video provided some humor for your day. Realtors could relate to a less than perfect listing that you have to show sometimes.

CSI could help for certain.

A great deal of it is emotional. People see a house and fall in love with it and don't look at anything else once their heart is set. Oh, they may go in other houses, but once their heart is set they aren't thinking of anything else. On any given day anything can sell.

Karen: You know house selling so well. It can be a mystery especially in a strong buyers market. Each house only needs ONE buyer to move it. Finding that emotional connection, that moment when the eyes light up, and they say THIS IS THE ONE, is where I think CSI could help us. Just when you think a house won't sell, the right buyer comes along. More activity on it defintiely increases your odds.

Gary ~ CSI is one of my favorite shows, so I enjoyed your comparison and the pictures. It doesn't take a crack team of investigators to figure out why a house won't sell. You pretty much set it out - price, location, staging, upkeep, etc. - a lot of common sense things really.

Gary,

Another 'entertaining' post!!! Keep them coming! Thanks, Fran

Kathy: You used to work for CSI, no?? You make this investigation stuff way too easy : ) I think with all the other reasons being equal, so much today in many buyers markets comes down to price.

Fran: I thought I'd take a "stab" at a fun post with these TV characters.

Nicely done, Gary. I haven't ever watched CSI myself, but it is hard to miss the references in our culture unless you live under a rock. Great analysis!

oooh - my two favorite things! Grissom and Real estate!

Love the reference!

Really good blog and nice posts

Gary,

Great video! Great post as well, I love CSI. I am a "newbie" (I wonder how long I can use that excuse) and I love reading the blogs, it amazes me how detailed and what great information they hold.

cool blog..on the way home from the deli this morning a guy was wearing a cap that said CSI!!!!!!

I enjjoying th emental pictures. What a great post for my rainy saturday afternnon.

Gary, I loved this post because I love CSI. But I have to confess Miami is my fav. But what was great was the comparison with the market. Very well put together!

LOL...or perhaps if there are no clues left for the CSI bunch, we can get Dr. House over to give us a diagnosis! I'd love to spend an hour inside your mind Gary, VERY clever indeed!

Jason: Oh Jason, you have to check the show out. It was number one for a long time and has a Miami and New York spinoff.

Sheree: I think we are best in tune with ourselves when we know what we love!

Charlie: Thanks.

Karen: The blog reading is VERY addictive, I agree. I've spent too many late nights reading many but it has been very educational and FUN!!

Charles: The show is definitely popular with all the hats and stuff.

Randy: When houses "don't" sell, that to me should, it does seem mysterious.

Lori: I like all the colors and the tropical setting on the Miami CSI show too.

Colleen: Inside my mind? Now is that the cobwebs or the warped-ness you are referring to? It's an interesting brain for sure.

Hi Gary- another enjoyable post! I had a high end listing where the seller apparently didn't really want to sell- price was too high, among other things. It was appointment only, which was a good thing, as I would always have to get there early to go through the house and make sure her underwear wasn't lying around on the floor, (it usually was) beds were made, etc. You would think with a price tag of $2.8 million, she would understand it needs to look tidy? And she was licensed, to boot!

Needless to say, never sold. Two years later, still there.

Carol: You should have charged her your own CSI fee (Staging fee) to get her to straighten up. I have seen the underwear on the floor from both men and women and I just shake my head. It is one thing when you live there, but if you are trying to sell, you MUST change your ways. I definitely do not like the strict by appointment only showings either. Talk about reducing accessibility. Amazing she was a licensee too.

Gary- I don't like by appointment only either, but in the upper end out here, they are all appointment only.

Great post! It sounds like you have put together a great Real Estate Team. Maybe we should out source you!

Gary, this post was so well done. Very creative analogy & you gave helpful information to assist in solving the mystery. :)

Very good post and great information. There's so much in selling a piece of property it can become a mystery.

Hi Gary,

I am an avid fan of all the CSI's and this was truly a great post wish I would have done it. I'm a fan.

I actually had a house were a suicide happened and it was a little creepy the person shot themselves in the shower stall and left a bullet hole. Just a little to disclose to a buyer. I had to deal with the CSI people Grissem is a nice guy!!

Hi Gary - love this post, and that video - that was a hoot! Gave me the shivers and made me squeemish at the end, but a hoot nonetheless!

Ann

Gary! Thanks so much for the video!!! Just watched it! I am laughing my head off right now :-) You picked a good one to show me... thanks so much! Congratulations on the feature, you deserve it for always making people smile!

This was a great post! I absolutely love CSI and tying it to real estate was funny! You're right though, we'll never know why one house sold and one didn't as quickly (sorta like trying to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop!)

love the theme! Keep them coming!

Carol: I have seen the by appointment only too in my area above $400,000. If they can get you in within an hour, that's not bad, but some say "not today." What's with that?

Janice: You can outsource me, just don't do away with me : )

Lola: Sometimes with some houses it does seem a big mystery and I feel clueless. I think many times there's just too much supply out there or it comes back to location.

Robert: Kind of like putting a puzzle together.

Rick: Wow, a suicide, that must have been creepy. In our state, murders have to be disclosed but not suicides. They say all the neighbors know anyway, so someone will blurt it out eventually.

Ann: Fun video I know.

Julianna: These feature things surprise the heck out of me. I think I need to write for entertainment not substance value : ) Glad you liked the video.

Tiffany: How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop. 437? Am I close? I have to remember that one. VERY GOOD!!

Justin: Had fun with this one.

Gary...SUPER post. I like how you tied it ALL up in the end. I do "think" you probably watch way too many CSI shows, though. LOL

Kat: Thursday nights I'm there on all the new episodes, you caught me : )

Gary - great post. I love CSI (the original one from Vegas) and so does my daughter. I watch the re runs as well. You did a great job with this post - I'll have to get my own CSI's over to check on things!

Gary:

My Mother is a big fan of CSI Vegas, because she thinks William Peterson is just the best. Love the photo's and the post. Good luck with the book.

Thanks for the fabulous post! Love CSI and real estate!

GARY - I have a message for you from the President of M.O.T.W.A (Mooseheads On The Wall Association)...

"You REALTORS are great at finding blame for everyone but yourselves. You all overprice homes because you're too afraid to tell homeowners that they're not living in the palace that they think that they are living in. When the home doesn't sell, it's always someone else's fault. I'll have you know that in my opinion, Mooseheads HELP sell homes, particularly around the holiday season. Who isn't drawn to a home that has a Moosehead hanging in the family room with a Santa hat on it? No one that I know!"

Gary......great analogy here and a very creative post. CSI to the rescue!

Gary,
I'm sure others have said it but so many sellers still do not "get it" regarding the pricing.

Congratulations on the Feature, well deserved.

Very creative post. I love the pictures (even though I don't watch the CSI show). I often struggle with the price issue and setting expectations.

You got the prize in the crackerjack box with this one! So 'now'.....and glitzy - your photos are amazing.......and so is how your mind'bends'...:-)

Sometimes I feel like a CSI trying to figure out what happened and what didn't with a property. Quite the mystery, at times. Good analogy!

It's funny but I am watching CSI right now while I am reading your blog. It must be karma

How clever. Great.

Gary - Loved your post.

Gary this is such a fun post! I have (oh my, I'm admitting this to the world) CSI Miami on right now. Just a fluke you know. I would never watch that stuff. I like the pic of Sara Sidel! Oops...how did I know that?

Thanks for the analogy. It's a good one. Later in the rain~Deb

It wouldn't be CSI then. It would be HSI (Home Stagnation Investigators). LOL. Hey, I need to brand that. It could make for some great reality tv.

Sharon: Ah, more CSI watchers in the family. That's how ours is too.

Lorraine & Loretta: William Peterson is an interesting character. My book will be on the best seller list and all the Realtors will buy it : )

Benett: Another CSI fan!

Adam: Terrific comment from the Mooseheads on the wall. I DO think they look well decorated at Christmas, you make a good point! : )

Pam: I think I will hire them for all my investigations.

Cynthia: Pricing is the tough one to get right!

Katie: Very good thought on expectations. We have to guide people to reality.

Liz: That's about how those stars I portioned out, like the prizes in a crackerjack box. You never know what it will be.

Margaret: You feel like it is a post mortem sometimes, especially the Expireds. Usually it is not the agent's fault.

Russ: That karma thing is eerie.

Kay: Thanks.

Rick: Thank you.

Deb: Another Sara Sidel fan who was featured last season in the desert in that car accident scene.

Christy: HSI, now that's very cool. Put that on HGTV maybe??

Not sure if you need the whole team of CSI to solve this for you...So, let me borrow the red-head :-)

Clint: Man, you are going to get us all in trouble with the wives. Everyone thinks Katherine's the real charmer in the group. Marj Helgenberger's pretty sharp looking for age 49, no?

MAY

2008

Such visuals! That video cracked me up, that poor guy wouldn't be able to handle some of the REOs around here.

Love this post. Very clever analogy. Your book would be hilarous.

The video was pretty funny-especially the shot of the refrigerator. I posted on Staging the Refrigerator recently and this was exactly why in many cases is it should be done. Do you mind if I add this link to my blog?

Question about using the photos here. How do you deal with copyright issues?

Doreen: You never know what you might find when you walk in a house, you are right.

Pam: I never thought about staging the refrigerator but that is something to consider. On showings, I typically haven't been "opening" the refrigerator but I guess some do. The outside of a refrigerator can have lots of stuff attached to it. Public domain photos are just that like CSI photos. It's not a secret who these people are, but if something says copyright, or don't use without permission I don't use it.

Thanks for the info on the photos. I wouldn't want to get into trouble over a few photos on a blog.

Are you a baseball fan? My husband owns a minor league team that has moved from North Richland Hills to McKinney at Craig Ranch. We'll be there for the opening games May 23rd and 24th so come on by and introduce yourself. Love your posts!

Here's the web site link for the Blue Thunder baseball team.

Pam: Thanks for the follow-up and some info on photos. If I'm around those dates I'd love to meet you and your husband and thanks for reading my little snippets. Actually, I am a big baseball fan and heard about that move of the team in the newspaper.

Gary, that would be great. Let's hope we have good weather.

I wanted to add a picture from The Stepford Wived to one of my posts but was a little afraid to do so until I read your comments. Now to go find the one I had in mind...

Pam: Good luck with your post, I'll be looking for it.

Stepford

Gary, thanks for the Stepford Wives poster for my blog about staging the refrigerator. That was fast! It's perfect.

MAY

2008

Congratulations on your well deserved feature. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading this! Great imagination yet oh so timely message!

Pam: I really think staging the other areas as you mentioned is very advanced on your part. You must truly have an eye for details. Very good in the staging area : )

Kris: Another thought that just popped in my head one day. Glad you liked it. I do feel especially when good houses "don't" sell it is very perplexing. You may get many opinions from Realtors on why this is so, but in reality it is the market giving its honest feedback, whatever that is. Lowering the price eventually will cure the situation.

Gary, I had one of those houses recently. It's a great historic home with a small stable/barn/carriage house and a small building that could be a home studio. Wondeful possibilities at a good price. The property has been well maintained. The problem could be the narrow stairs that are common in older homes. You would think that the other amenities would balance this out but apparently not-yet. There is a buyer for every property-eventually.

Thanks for your kind remarks about my post.

Pam: All a house needs to sell is ONE buyer. What rock they are hiding under is what I always want to know when it turns into a strong buyers market. You are right, that sometimes the lack of one amenity or a floorplan "problem" knocks everything out.

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