Hi folks,

I want to share a recent experience of mine, for both the the agents and the consumers that are reading along.

I have been in touch with a prospective client that has a very nice vacant house that he has been trying to sell for close to 2 years. I finally got a chance to catch up with him, as he has been out of the country for the past month and set a date to come talk to him about listing his house.

I asked all the questions I need to know if I am talking to a serious seller that is realistic with what is happening in our current market.

I always send a pre-listing packet before my appointments so the prospective clients will know exactly what I know, after all educated clients make educated descions. I can't possibly imagine someone that does not see what I see everyday to readily understand what I am trying to show them especially when your last agent/agents told you other prices 20-30k more. Which is why I ask my prospective clients to review all the information I send? Yes there is a reason I took the time to send it, please take the time to read it.

My story from today is that I was planning for a Friday meeting with a seller that was listed for close to 2 years, over priced and always with discount brokers. Now, let me straight when I say I am not looking to bash that industry, but both of those companies charged an up-front fee, regardless if the house sells or not.

So pre-listing packet was sent with how today's homes are selling, the guide to proper pricing, my marketing plan, the Competitive Market Analysis, Net proceeds sheet, testimonials of past clients, and an Estimated net proceeds worksheet.

And I receive the following email:

Andrew,
this is very nice work and thanks for the info.
 
I will NOT list the house at either the recommended or the high price you indicated.
 
I had previous offer of $ x with NO broker fee and did not take it because it was contingent on the buyer to sell their house to their buyer who is selling his house?
 

To which I reply:

I'm glad you found the information helpful. And I can also understand your frustration of trying to sell in a market with sliding prices. What's important for people in my industry is accurately interpret the numbers for our clients. A big part of this is looking at prices in our current market and sales in the last 3-6 months. BY showing you numbers from a year ago would be a great disservice to you, as those numbers do not represent our current market.
 
I suggest you review the attachments in the other email I sent, especially "the guide to proper pricing" attachment.
 
I feel that if you are absolutely serious about selling your home I would be doing a poor job by recommending a price to you above what anything comparable has sold for in the last 6 months. And believe me since I work for a fixed commission I want more than anything to get you the highest price possible, and in the shortest amount of time to minimize your carrying costs.
 
I would still like very much to sit down with you on Friday at 5pm to go over your concerns, even if we will not be working together.

I know there will be people out there saying that is why I don't send out pre-listing packets. To that I say why?

Mr. and Mrs. Seller I recognize your time is valuable and I want you to know mine is as well. I'm sure you have heard the market is slow and agents will do what ever you ask. And let me tell you there are agents like that, and the problem with that is they are desperate agents. I don't know about you but I the last thing I would want is a desperate attorney, desperate doctor, desperate pilot, or even a desperate veterinarian.

I am not a desperate agent.

If you honestly believe you know about the current market that I work in everyday than I do and none the less that I sold 2 homes only 6 blocks from your house this month, you will not gain anything from our appointment. If you are not going to read the information I send you, you will not get much from our appointment besides an overly long presentation that could have been 20 minutes by reading what I sent. If you are not willing to take an honest look at the comparable homes that have sold and that have been lingering on the market, and compare them to the home you want to sell, you will not get much from our appointment.

Or as I state in the end of my email I sent you if you have any questions or concerns please let me know as that will be the first thing we talk about when we meet on our appointment, rather than assuming I am only looking for a quick buck. I am trying to help you not hurt you.

I want to share some of the hurdles to agents that buy your business.

If an agent automatically agrees to your list price, the agent is either desperate or incompetent if they cannot back it up with recent sales activity. now this is your problem, the agent that is desperate just wants your listing now and is planning on beating you up on the price that they said they could sell it for, or worse you have an agent that does not know the market well enough to even recommend a price change, and when they do it's often too late.

Another big form of buying listings in today's market is commission cutting. Prices are not increasing fast enough for some sellers and some cases sliding. It looks like this trend will continue for a lot of folks. Well let's face it folks we are in a buyer's market right? Do you really think taking tools out my toolbox that commission cutting will cause will help you? I know you want the best deal, as I want to get you, but I need every tool in my arsenal to get you top dollar in today's market in the shortest amount of time. And let's face it with my current subject has cost him more than 10k for a house that is sitting empty. and what worries me more, is an agent that let's you beat them up on price(and is desperate) is going to have a hard time holding up to an experienced buyer's agent agent that will be pointing out all recent sales and comps on the market.

Please do not assume that because you are know listing with a Full-Service agent like myself over a discount/Limited Service broker that the list price will go up. I do not affect the market value. If you are selling coca-cola and there are 8 other places selling the same product in a 6 block radius, there is no amount of marketing that will help you sell a can of coke  for 5$ when everyone else is asking $1. My job and the services I provide are intended to give you the marketing resources to get as many qualified buyers to see your home and protect your bottom line that coincides with today's market.

Every seller naturally wants to get the most money for his or her product. The most common mistake that causes sellers to get less than they hope for, however, is listing too high.  Listings reach the greatest proportion of potential buyers shortly after they reach the market.  If a property is dismissed as being overpriced early on, it can result in later price reductions.  Overpriced properties tend to take an unusually long time to sell, and they end up being sold at a lower price than they likely would have had they been priced properly in the first place.  

 I can't tell you how many listings I have seen that have been priced way to high from the start that lowered too late and sold for less than they could have sold from when they first listed.

I want to end with, that seller's there are agents that will not take your listing. I'm sorry but if we can't agree upon a realistic selling price, I don't want your listing, and in fact it's not even worth the money it will cost me to put my sign in the yard. I won't see the money again, and what's worse it's going to make me look bad when your home inevitably does not sell.

-Andrew Baumbach

http://MilwaukeeRealEstate4u.com

http://AndrewBaumbach.com

http://BayViewRealEstate4u.com