This post was inspired by Stewart Penn's blog on a similar topic. Today I learned the secret behind a fellow agent's one year history of listings. This guy has plenty of listings but very few sales. So what is the point you ask? Buddy are you in this business to drive by and see your name on the sign rider? Do you think repeated open houses will sell the home? Who is your broker and why is he not talking to you about pricing (the agent lives in town but his brokerage is about 90 miles away, a topic for another day)?
The poor guy is likely to be laid off from his "REAL" job soon so one would presume he would be looking seriously into how to "SELL" real estate as a back-up plan. (Did I mention that he has a lot of "listings"?) Listing is the initial step one takes that involves getting the seller to sign the paperwork. The rest of the work is about understanding market trends. Marketing. Actually walking through and previewing the other homes on the market so one will be able to compare apples to apples. Know the inventory. Overpriced homes never get out of the starting gate.
So what is the "SECRET(s)" to the one year listings?
1) Do not do a CMA.
2) Ask the seller how much they want for the house.
3) Price the home $20k higher than the seller says, just to test the market you know.
4) Drop the price every few months (or not).
5) Do not listen to the local agents when you call for feedback.
The house in question just happens to be in my neighborhood. I was out for a casual stroll tonight and happened to see the seller in the front yard. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked why I thought his house wasn't selling, upon which time Mr. Seller proceeded to tell me that he was nearly ready to give up. His agent suggested a price $20k higher than Mr. Seller wanted to begin with (remember listing has nothing to do with market value, nor with selling) and has been followng the market dow
n ever since.
THEN...............>
NOW................>
So now the price is where the seller said he wanted it in the first place, that ship has already left the dock and he can't even get that much for it. Did you notice that this home is quickly approaching two years on the market. Why does the seller stick with this agent you ask? They both work together at the same "REAL" job.
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