Jill was a good client of mine. I funded an FHA loan for her when she bought her condo back in 2010. She was sitting on $100,000 in profit in just five years. Her original real estate agent left the business so she found an agent who advertised on Zillow (Jill is pretty tech savvy). She listed the property with this agent instead of calling me for advice. The condo didn't sell, Jill called me to ask why, and I had to tell her the truth:
"Your agent was the reason why your condo didn't sell, Jill"
I told Jill of the tale of two real estate agents: Barbara and Mike.
Mike listed lots of properties...LOTS of them. He was constantly on listing appointments, advertised those listings heavily online, and had things down to a "system". His signs were all over her heighborhood and each listing was prominently displayed on his website; he was a tech savvy property seller's dream agent...BUT...
Mike didn't know a darned thing about condos and condo loans. Thus, Mike was always presenting offers which Jill had to decline because Mike assumed that, because the condo didn't have an FHA or VA approval, only cash or conventional offers would be funded. Naturally, Jill was shown a lot of "low-ball, all cash" offers from investors and Mike told Jill "I guess the market has shifted". Jill's $100,000 profit looked more like $50,000 when Mike was finished presenting the offers. Naturally, Jill declined those offers and the listing eventually expired.
I had Jill speak with my friend Barbara, an agent who worked condo listings all over town. Barbara spent a good bit of time with me after I funded a loan for one of her VA buyers (way back in 2009). Since then, Barbara has done one thing...just one thing..which helped her take less listings but sell each and every condo listing she DID take, for full price.
Barbara insisted that the seller order the condo docs before it went into the MLS.
Barbara explained to her sellers that they would eventually have to order those condo docs when they were in escrow. Unlike Mike, who "shotgunned" his listings approach by saying "don't pay for them before you have a contract", Barbara explained that the couple of hundred bucks investment (in the condo docs), could add tens of thousands to the sales price, if the property qualified for FHA or VA financing. Barbara would order those docs immedialtely and send them over to me. I would take one look at them and say one of three things:
1- Barbara, I can get that complex both FHA and VA-approved
2- Barbara, I can get the complex VA-approved but you'll only be able to accept 20% down conventional, VA, or cash offers.
3- Barbara, that complex will only work for 20% down conventional loans and cash
Armed with that information, Barbara entered this into the marketing remarks on the MLS:
"Property may be eligible for VA or FHA financing. Approvals pending through World Wide Credit Corp. Call them at 858-777-9751 for cross approval"
Barbara explained to clients that that representation attracted twice as many buyers to her listings and justified charging a "premium" price--that meant more profit for her clients. You know how the story ends...
Jill listed with Barbara, we ordered those HOA docs, and Jill sold the property to an FHA buyer...for a price which was much closer to what she wanted than the offers she received when Mike had the property listed.
Wanna be like Barbara? Call me today at 858-777-9751. We'll grab a cup of coffee and I'll break it all down for you.
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