sellers: Denver Home-Sellers Ask: "Should I Offer a Paint & Carpet Allowance instead of actually doing the work?"
- 09/29/09 09:25 PM
Question: "Should I offer a "paint and carpet" allowance instead of actually doing the work?" JA: Homesellers- I feel for ya. When you're getting your home ready for market, the to-do list seems endless, doesn't it? The last thing you want to do is to relocate your furniture to refinish the floors or take down all your artwork to paint the walls. It would be much easier to just offer an allowance, right? Besides, the buyer probably would prefer to pick out his own carpet or paint color, wouldn't he? Unfortunately, no. The problem with offering a paint or carpet allowance in lieu of … (4 comments)
sellers: Should You Hire a "Listing Specialist" to Sell Your Home?
- 09/26/09 12:31 AM
I might ruffle some feathers with this blog, but I'm okay with that. I'm usually up for a good debate! Many real estate agents market themselves as "listing specialists" - that is - they focus mainly on marketing houses for sale instead of working with buyers. Many "listing specialists" hire buyer agents to work for them, to handle the calls they receive from their many For Sale signs. On the surface, this sounds logical; after all, don't we all want a "specialist" to represent us when we're looking for expert assistance? Sure we do! But when I think of a "specialist" … (19 comments)
sellers: Houses aren't Pet Rocks! No Amount of Marketing Can Sell a Stupid Product
- 12/31/08 02:42 AM
Back in 1997, one of my first seller clients asked me the question: "Jennifer, I assume our house will sell quickly because it's so cute (it was), but if it doesn't sell right away, what will you do?" Hmmmmmmmm. Hell, I dunno. I was a green bean agent; I'd only had one other listing in my career and didn't have a clue. I came up with something that probably sounded like this: "I'll do a broker open house, I'll do mid-week open houses, I'll distribute color brochures throughout the neighborhood and post an ad on the nearby college's bulletin board." Lucky for … (1 comments)
sellers: Jennifer, Will You Reduce the Commission if You Double-End the Sale of My Home? Nope.
- 03/25/08 11:25 AM
(Real estate commissions are negotiable and not set by law. Any commission percentages quoted below are illustrative only). Double-End the Sale: To handle both the buying and listing side of a transaction - that is, to sell your own listing. Savvy sellers almost always ask if I will reduce my commission if this happens. I always say no. They always seem surprised. But here's why I won't do it. I sell real estate to make a living. In today's market, motivated, qualified buyers don't grow on trees, so when I have one of those, I'm pretty excited. Because, guess what... if that … (5 comments)
sellers: GET LOST! Why Sellers Need to Scram for Showings...
- 03/23/08 08:21 AM
Anyone selling a home needs to understand one Very Important Thing. The seller must leave the home for showings. No exceptions. As real estate agents, it's our job to ensure that our sellers know how important this is. But you can do this nicely and respectfully. After all, it's reasonable that a seller wants to help the sale of his home any way he can, and he figures he's the most qualified to point out all the special features to buyers and to answer questions about the neighborhood. Reasonable, to be sure, but dead wrong. Buyers don't need help forming an opinion of a … (17 comments)
sellers: Am I Liable for the Buyer Agent Co-op if my Seller Comes up Short?
- 01/09/08 09:56 PM
Let's say I take a listing at $225,000 at an illustrative commission rate of 5%. The seller tells me he owes $210,000 on it. So far, so good; as long as we get a full price offer, everyone goes away happy (that is, we all get paid). But what if, oopsie, the seller actually owes $215,000 and we don't find out about it until after we're under contract, like... a few days before closing? Lessee... that's $225,000 less a 5% commission = $213,750. That's not enough to get everyone paid off! The way I understand things, the 5% brokerage commission is payable to me … (20 comments)
sellers: More About The 30-Day Sale: Condition is Queen
- 09/13/07 12:16 AM
A few weeks ago, I wrote on why a 30-day sale is our goal whenever we put a home on the market. You can read about that here. I followed that up with a little lecture on pricing - a topic that is near and dear to all of our hearts, although we're probably all tired of the lectures! Preaching to the choir, yeah, I know. There are two other critical factors of a 30-day sale, in my opinion. Condition... and Accessibility. No, not handicapped accessibility, but SHOWING accessibility. So, to continue preaching to the choir, here's my take on Condition. A Message … (2 comments)
sellers: Price it HERE for a 60-Day Sale???
- 09/11/07 11:25 PM
For some reason, homesellers and many agents seem to think that you can use pricing tiers to manipulate the Days on Market (DOM) or marketing time. For example, I've seen many agents explain that "if you price the home HERE, we should sell in less than 30 days. If you price the home HERE, we should sell in 30-60 days. At THIS price point, I'd expect a two-to-four month marketing period." Huh? Perhaps this strategy was born in the days of rapid appreciation. Yeah, that makes more sense. After all, if we overprice a home by 10% and the market is appreciating … (8 comments)
sellers: How to Sell Your Home in 30 Days - Price is *sigh* KING
- 08/28/07 01:32 AM
How to Sell Your Home in 30 Days or less - Part I As described HERE, every home seller and his real estate agent should strive for a 30-day sale. Fair enough. So, how do we do that? Price is KingYour home must excite the market, not just be ‘fairly priced.' If the comparable competition is priced between $315,000 and $365,000 (and isn't flying off the shelves), you need to be at the lower end or even lower. Just ‘cause the identical house down the street is priced at $329,900 doesn't mean you should price yours there too. Your home needs to … (3 comments)
sellers: The 30-Day Sale --or-- Why "We're in no Hurry" is not an option
- 08/27/07 02:09 AM
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in the Denver metropolitan area, there are very few excuses for a home to be on the market longer than 30 days. (And believe me, our market is no picnic.) In fact, the longer a home is on the market, the less likely it is to sell and most certainly, the less likely it is to get you that full-price-or-close-to offer you're hoping for! There is an energy in a newly listed home that dwindles significantly once you're past the 30-day mark. When a home is fresh on the market, everyone is … (2 comments)
Question: "Should I offer a "paint and carpet" allowance instead of actually doing the work?"
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