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When you interview a potential client, do you make a point of never saying anything detrimental, or do you let them have it?
We are interviewing agents and starting fresh after taking a break after 2+ years on the market. We have never had a negative comment on our decor by either an agent or a viewer. In fact, a typical feedback was always something like "I love your decorating, but I need to sell my house in AZ first".
So, our Monday interview was the same oohs and ahhs, and the agents (a married couple) seemed to love our house and had no critisizm.
Today, we have a guy who was very professional in both his presentation and his preparation. He said our house was dated and we should ideally paint everything neutral, replace all the carpeting, and install granite countertops and new appliances. This is not going to happen, since we cannot afford to do this, however, I am in total agreement with his observation. That is, I am well aware of the areas which are dated and wonder why no one else has ever brought it up?
I should mention that both came out with the same price range (unimproved), which we are comfortable with.
I am keeping with my contention that it is impossible to please everyone's taste, all beige houses are soul-less, and not everyone watches the HGTV network.
What do y'all think, though?
PS My DH likes the couple who blew more sunshine up our skirt, and I'm leaning towards the brutally honest guy.
Different perspectives from a potential listing agent are generally very helpful, but the thing I absolutely HATED about making presentation to potential sellers was that EVEN IF THEY said they "known we should probably update some things" getting them to do it RARELY went smoothly or worked well. That my friend is why the agents have KEPT THEIR FAT MOUTHS SHUT -- even if you are sweetest gal in the world you still have an ego and emotions and you, at some level, would take offense to some one, in essence, being critical of the way you live! Now it sounds you are big enough to realize that at some level this is a business decision, but that is something that your might not have gotten across to the agents before.
NOW DON'T GET ME WRONG -- I am 100% sure that if your house DID LOOK THE WAY THE MORE "DIRECT" agent said would look better your house WOULD SELL MUCH MUCH FASTER and probably for a higher price than it will unchanged, BUT I REALLY DOUBT YOU'D CAPTURE ALL THE MONEY YOU PUT IN and once you factor the other things that you COULD do speed the sale of the house I would be reluctant to actually recommend taking money and spending it on appliances and granite and carpet. And frankly, without knowing "the rest of the story" I don't know if the "HONEST AGENT" will really be the best person to represent you -- that depends more of his ability to do the proper marketing of your home in whatever condition you decide to list it!
PAINT THOUGH IS EASY!!!! I have never not seen paint NOT pay off in speed and return of investment, unless it was a LOUSY paint job, even then it was better than the crazy colors it covered up!!!
You may think "beige is souless" but trust me NO ONE SHOPPING FOR YOUR SOUL, they want a house that they can put THEIR life/stuff in!!!
Look at the RESOURCES that each agent / team will put forth to get your home PRICED RIGHT, REACH THE PROPER TARGET AUDIENCE, HANDLE THE NEGOTIATION, and BE RESPONSIVE / COOPERATIVE, not how accurate their tastes / honest their criticism is!!
This is no longer your house if you want to sell it. It is everyone else's house. I agree with Chet that people are not shopping for your taste, their are shopping for theirs. The more neutral and bland the house is, the easier it is for people to visualize making it their own.
I am brutally honest with sellers and I have not been selected as their agent as they did exactly what your DH wants to do is go with the people that oh and ah. None of those houses ever sold.
So decide if you want to sell your home or not. You may want to bring in a stager for a consultation. It's only $100 out here and they will tell you what to do to get the house ready.
Last edited by Silverfall; 02-26-2010 at 04:31 PM..
I'm pretty sure we're going with the 'pulls no punches' agent because his marketing plan was more comprehensive (this doesn't mean that it will work any better) and offered a few new things, and also he seems like he would be a tougher negotiator on our behalf. He will not agree to an artificially high price to please us, but he will always be able to justify the asking price and will not knuckle under in the case of lowball offers (unless we want him to) . This is what we want..someone who will handle it without our having to babysit him.
Honesty is the always best policy, however I try to word my constructive criticism as politely as possible. Price, condition, local market conditions, it does not matter what the topic is, people want the truth. I sell real estate, not tell fairy tales. Most people seem to appreciate the no BS approach just as you did. I think you will happier with the agent that did not pull any punches. Good luck and best wishes!
In todays unbalanced buyers market, I'm not sure any marketing "Plan" really works. You've got to have the right photos, MLS and internet exposure and a good agent to give guidance and advice.
It all falls back to the house must be priced at its best and show extremely well. There is just to much inventory and cheap deals in most areas.
So anything you can do to freshen the house without a large investment may be needed. The agent is probably right in his assessment.
My neighbor went through three agents in 5 months. She insisted on doing her own renovation and while I told her "it's not your house if you're selling it", the gray carpeting (to match the gray paint job) let me know she was going to follow her own path. 6 months in she replaced the mis-matched wood flooring with a marble foyer. The new owners have heartily put their own personality into their new home, and we're the better for it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall
This is no longer your house if you want to sell it. It is everyone else's house. I agree with Chet that people are not shopping for your taste, their are shopping for theirs. The more neutral and bland the house is, the easier it is for people to visualize making it their own.
I am brutally honest with sellers and I have not been selected as their agent as they did exactly what your DH wants to do is go with the people that oh and ah. None of those houses ever sold.
So decide if you want to sell your home or not. You may want to bring in a stager for a consultation. It's only $100 out here and they will tell you what to do to get the house ready.
I'm brutally honest. If the seller doesn't like it I'll find the listing on the "other" broker's website. She blows the sunshine and tells them what they want to hear. She does not know the land, half the time she doesn't even know where it is within a mile but she'll take the listing just to make her website look full and balanced with homes.
I sell land mostly so my honesty is in their land, price and why. Nothing they can change about it.
I don't care if she lists because she way overprices them, has never sold one in 10 years yet, and eventually when they're sick of waiting and ready to sell they call me back and are then ready to listen.
I always ask a seller, "do you want you to tell me what you want to her or what you need to hear?" I've never ever had one say, "tell me what I want to hear," yet when I lose a listing because the other agent can "can get me more money" by pricing it higher and offering less fees to the buyer agent, it almost always sits on the market while similar houses sell around it and eventually that house rides the market down to a point well below my original suggested list price. Sometimes it's better to be the second listing agent, as it may take six months of very few showings and nominal price drops to make a seller realize that they made the wrong choice.
I'm pretty sure we're going with the 'pulls no punches' agent because his marketing plan was more comprehensive (this doesn't mean that it will work any better) and offered a few new things, and also he seems like he would be a tougher negotiator on our behalf. He will not agree to an artificially high price to please us, but he will always be able to justify the asking price and will not knuckle under in the case of lowball offers (unless we want him to) . This is what we want..someone who will handle it without our having to babysit him.
Sounds to me like you are making the right choice.
The best of luck with the selling of your home! Either way, you'll always know you have an honest guy who's just going to put it out there and then proceed according to your wishes. I don't think you can get better than that.
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