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The pix he had done are not the greatest. He and my husband insisted on the higher price, while after studying and KNOWING my neighborhood, I knew it was too high and had it reduced after a fight. Get this: The Listing Agent I am working with said "OK, I'll allow a price reduction." WTH is THAT ?!?!? I still think it needs to drop another $10K to get a fast sale.
"Allow" a price reduction? WTH?!?! That's when you should have turned into a buzz-saw and said, "I set the price, buddy, NOT YOU." Especially if he has limited experience in residential sales! (Tell me again why you chose this agent? If you tell me it's because he cut his commission . . . ) He's your agent, not your father. TELL him that you want the price dropped, NOW. You tried it for a month his way, and it didn't work. Now it's your turn.
And get the pics redone, STAT. Either have a friend who is good with a camera take them, or insist on professional pictures. Google "real estate photography", there's lots of hungry photographers out there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leaving4Ca
I've lived all over and have never felt discriminated against because of my sex or my age until I moved here to Richmond. Over 50 does not mean you are a moron or an idiot, (I guess I am one, with advanced degrees...) and I've had contractors and the builder of our home insult me with "have your husband call me and I'll discuss it with him." ONLY ever after I moved here to this God forsaken backward place. Just saying... Of course they were put in their place.
I grew up in Richmond, so I know of what you speak. :-) Yes, it does have a rather robust good ol' boy network, and especially the good ol' boys don't have a clue that women know anything about cars or construction. The only response to the "have your husband call me" is "Well, you'll be waiting a long time, because I'm the one running this project. If you only want to deal with my husband, we'll say goodbye now." You don't have to crawl down their throat and pop their eyeballs out -- just an unobtrusive kick that takes out the knees usually works. :-)
I had one mechanic in semi-rural North Carolina that tried to tell me my battery was dead, and wanted to sell me a new battery. I kept telling him, "No, it's the alternator." He basically ignored me -- not realizing that I grew up on my dad's car lot and I was doing oil changes and balancing tires when I was 12. I finally had to say, "You can put a battery in there if you want to, but you're going to look like an idiot when I can't even drive it off the lot." He chuckled . . . but then was red-faced when, sure enough, the car died before it even made it to the street. :-)
[/i]"Allow" a price reduction? WTH?!?! That's when you should have turned into a buzz-saw and said, "I set the price, buddy, NOT YOU." Especially if he has limited experience in residential sales! (Tell me again why you chose this agent? If you tell me it's because he cut his commission . . . ) He's your agent, not your father. TELL him that you want the price dropped, NOW. You tried it for a month his way, and it didn't work. Now it's your turn.
Supposedly one of the Best in the area. HA. I have since learned that his price points are lower, under $250K. We are above that, in the mid-high area for Richmond.
We did drop it once. I have another one in mind for early September.
I've spoken to several agents today... They tell me things are D E A D here in August. I'm going to wait a few more weeks (at my husbands insistence) to see if there is any post back-to-school activity. Hubby had a point, it IS already listed now. I can end up in a contractual sticky wicket if I end the contract and relist with another agent, if buyer who saw it previously comes running back with an offer --- so I want to give this a little more time to protect myself.
Glad to know it's not just me seeing the good ole boyz here in RVA. I was stunned.
pretty much boils down to online presentation and price, and the home will sell itself.
It doesn't matter if your agent usually sells lower priced homes.
Even you can sell your own home with just these 2 things.
All the other junk an agent does, like notifying the neighborhood and such, is just a crapshoot, and mostly to benefit the agent himself.
The topmost producers in my area of Los Angeles just put a home on the MLS and sit on it too, after the initial standard broker's open house and neighborhood spam postcard. Weekly open house signs littering the streets kinda serve as advertisements.
One top agent here will do the same old open house raffle drawing for a dinner for 2 at Cheesecake factory. But I've seen some of her listings sit on the market for a long time regardless.
You're kinda expecting too much as far as marketing. Price trumps all, as you know already.
Agents are generally afraid to tell the seller about a need for a price reduction.
Your agent agreed with your husband on the overpricing just so he could secure the listing. Taking overpriced listings happens often in this game.
Agents are generally afraid to tell the seller about a need for a price reduction.
Your agent agreed with your husband on the overpricing just so he could secure the listing. Taking overpriced listings happens often in this game.
NOT the way it played out!!!
My Listing Agent is the one who wanted to price my house $30k ABOVE the original asking price that I insisted on... he said that new homes in the area are selling at that price. I told him NO I have a feel on the vibe here, and the millennials want NEW NEW NEW for that price....not a toilet that has been sat upon, or a shower floor (albeit with Italian tile) that has been "used."
Naturally my husband was like, "YEAH" lets get that money! Hubby and I had a long talk (well, argument actually) and I told him that if we wanted to sell the house in the next 2 years, it was not going to be for $ X HIGH $$$. The Listing Agent brought over the new home comps, not the resales. What a moron.
However, I feel like the true moron even dealing with this Jerk. But I'm under contract until December.
Flyers and fact sheets in the home are only good if you are getting bodies IN the home. 5 showings in the first month is a little slow. Personally, I don't care HOW "old school" it is -- I have a "home book" in each listing, that has fact sheets on the home, copies of disclosures for the home, info on the neighborhood, the schools, the area shopping and restaurants, parks, etc. Everything that makes a place "home". Plus flyers and disclosure packets to take away.
I'd also be holding open houses strictly for agents (we call them "agent caravans" here), and depending on the house, offering free lunch and/or drawings for gift cards or cash bonuses to get agents interested in visiting it during the caravan.
I'd also schedule an open house and have a "preview" hour for the neighbors before the open house where I served light refreshments and invited them to "preview" the house. I send out those invitations to the neighborhood the week before. Last time I did this in an established neighborhood, I had 30 curious neighbors stop in and check it out -- which meant that by the time the first "public" open house customer stopped by, the party was already in full swing and the house looked highly desirable.
Just listed emails to all the area agents are also a good marketing tool -- as an agent, I may not look at all of the ones I receive, but if I see a subject line in an area that I'm interested in, you better believe I open it and read it.
Who set the price on your house, and is it consistent with other sales in the neighborhood? You kinda missed the peak selling season, but around here, once kids are in school, there's another blip around late September/October, as people are transferred and start to think about moving over the Christmas holidays so the kids can start the next semester in a new school.
How are your pictures? If your agent is mostly property management, I suspect your pictures were "do it yourself" -- which means that your house may not be presented in its best light.
Was any staging done before the house went on the market? By "staging", I mean major decluttering and a fresh eye to provide the touches here and there that update the house -- moving out unneeded furniture, etc. to open up the house.
How's the curb appeal? Flowers by the front door still alive? Or did this heat kill them and you have half-dead begonias in a plastic pot? Grass look good? Flower beds and shrubbery mulched? Mailbox on straight, and not crooked?
You might want to take another hard look at the house, get some pro pics done, have a price adjustment and re-introduce the house.
It's always sad to read about an agent who simply does not listen to the client. For me the most important marketing features are good photos, video and a floor plan. I still use also brochures, since some people like to have those in addition to the digital material. I would have done the fact sheet too. I use property websites with all of my listings. They make the material and the listing look very good. I use Smartgallery.io to create them and share then share the listings in social media. Ofc. I still use MLS, Zillow etc.
In my opinion you should probably search for another agent. And when you interview a new one, make sure, that you both stick with the same marketing plan Choose an agent that knows your neighborhood. A good tool to find out is to read their blogs.
My Listing Agent is the one who wanted to price my house $30k ABOVE the original asking price that I insisted on... he said that new homes in the area are selling at that price. I told him NO I have a feel on the vibe here, and the millennials want NEW NEW NEW for that price....not a toilet that has been sat upon, or a shower floor (albeit with Italian tile) that has been "used."
Naturally my husband was like, "YEAH" lets get that money! Hubby and I had a long talk (well, argument actually) and I told him that if we wanted to sell the house in the next 2 years, it was not going to be for $ X HIGH $$$. The Listing Agent brought over the new home comps, not the resales. What a moron.
However, I feel like the true moron even dealing with this Jerk. But I'm under contract until December.
I'm thinking that the Realtor might be real happy to let you out of that contract.
Are you being serious or sarcastic, please explain.
I suspect that the agent knows how you feel about him - that you think he is "a moron." He probably thinks you're a know-it-all and/or difficult to work with. He probably does not enjoy being figuratively in the middle of screaming fights that you are having with your husband. So - I bet he would be grateful to let you out of the contract.
How's the curb appeal? Flowers by the front door still alive? Or did this heat kill them and you have half-dead begonias in a plastic pot? Grass look good? Flower beds and shrubbery mulched? Mailbox on straight, and not crooked?
Everything is immaculate. I'm a clean freak. Gorgeous new flowers. Mulched, weeded, etc., ALWAYS. Freshly touched up paint throughout the house (just today, as a matter of fact).
You might want to take another hard look at the house, get some pro pics done, have a price adjustment and re-introduce the house.
The pix he had done are not the greatest. He and my husband insisted on the higher price, while after studying and KNOWING my neighborhood, I knew it was too high and had it reduced after a fight. Get this: The Listing Agent I am working with said "OK, I'll allow a price reduction." WTH is THAT ?!?!? I still think it needs to drop another $10K to get a fast sale.
(By the way, if you're that scathing of "the south" and the "only southern state you can stand is Florida because of all the northern transplants", I am beginning to see why you had a hard time breaking into the "good ol' boy" network in Richmond -- or anywhere else, for that matter.)
I've lived all over and have never felt discriminated against because of my sex or my age until I moved here to Richmond. Over 50 does not mean you are a moron or an idiot, (I guess I am one, with advanced degrees...) and I've had contractors and the builder of our home insult me with "have your husband call me and I'll discuss it with him." ONLY ever after I moved here to this God forsaken backward place. Just saying... Of course they were put in their place.
I've already been working on finding a new listing agent. Very shortly this one will be on his way out.[/quote]
bless your heart, all that you've been put through.
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Choose an agent that knows your neighborhood. A good tool to find out is to read their blogs.
