One day recently, a colleague got the all important listing. He beat another top agent to it and h was so excited because it was his first. He pulled out all the stops but also informed my seller that in a couple of weeks, they would re-assess and if there was no activity, they would drop the price and this was agreed. As time went, they executed that agreement and dropped the price, still no action. That customer, like many others, MUST SELL. As he swept through new listings and active ones in the area, he noticed that a home 4 blocks away had dropped their price...significantly. He called his seller and was shocked to hear that this would not be the case and she didn't think she could drop her price anymore given that they have a certain amount to pay back on the mortgage. At that point, he was stunned and upset because he had already spent about $200 marketing that property including an Open house within a one month period. As he complains about the situation, it hits home.
It seems that many sellers or majority of them have not woken up to the reality that those profits from RE are not that available any longer and the market continues to get worse. Listings abound and there is no shortage of them but if we can't sell those listings, what good are they?
If every realtor took a stand with the seller and refused the listing unless it was priced right, I think many of the sellers will come to the realization very quickly. It is hard for realtors to market property in a down market with so much inventory and very few buyers. If you don't price it rght, you are literally throwing your money away. Unless you are making that money by any other means, don't bother.
For every $1 spent on marketing a property, we should be getting $4 back. How do we make this happen?
Afie Makinde
Exit Realty
Comments(3)