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I think feedback is pretty worthless. If they didn't make an offer they didn't think it was a good enough deal. Bottom line. Lots of showings with no offers means you either have a price or a condition problem.
I agree and can't rep you again so soon. BTW - the OP needs to be far away from that house during any showings - cause those puppy dog desperate eyes are showing so easily in this post, don't let perspective buyers see em.
There's nothing a buyer can give you feedback wise worth anything besides an offer... This is what you're paying your agent for!! A good agent is supposed to be that disinterested 3rd party to provide you the brutal honest feedback, to tell you what is wrong, how it can be mitigated, and what these buyers are seeing for sale in your area that you're competing against... and most importantly, what is closing in the area.
Feedback (whether it's an actual form or verbal) and anything taken from them is silliness... like watching those HGTV shows. Pure entertainment. Use your agent for what they're getting paid for otherwise fire them and find someone who will do their job. When you find the perfect balance of price and condition, offers will come in.
A good agent is supposed to be that disinterested 3rd party.
Agents have interests. They are not the disinterested 3rd party. It is hard being disinterested when a person's income stream depends on the sale, as well as, a paycheck being dependent on how much it sales for.
I know your not going to like this, and I know many more will not like what I am fixing to say: the Independent Real Estate Appraiser is the only disinterested 3rd party in the real estate transaction, with an exception to some Lawyers.
Buyers and sellers are acting in their own self interest, and as they should be. The Agent has an incentive (commission) to act upon the buyer/seller's self interests, subject to their own rules of advocacy.
I completely agree that the SELLER needs to be AS FAR REMOVED from the property as possible for ALL showings. I am not even an advocate of the seller being around for walk through! LEAVE THAT STUFF TO YOUR AGENT!!!
I further agree that YOUR AGENT should absolutely be "fielding and filtering" all feedback AND THEN accompanying with frequent updates about both CLOSED and ACTIVE COMPS! If there is evidence that something that needs to fixed or price adjusted DO IT !
Now my disagreement about FEEDBACK is basically that NOT ALL OF IT IS SILLY -- honestly I truly do believe that places that are EXTREMELY WELL STAGED do trigger a response in buyers that does allow them to envision their own "stuff" in the home and move toward making an offer. Some feedback that HELPS THE SELLER GET THE STAGING RIGHT is very useful. Sometimes it is as simple as "there were too many kids calendars magnet-ed to the 'fridge" (which is feedback that I got when trying to sell one of my previous homes -- my wife, of course, took extreme umbrage to this, as without those calendars the odds of me missing some school or sports event was probably 100%...) but lo, once we shoved that stuff inside the cabinet where my breakfast cereal was WE GOT AN OFFER...
I have a friend that has a beautiful and vacant high-end home for sale near where we live. She got some feedback saying "the bath looks dated". Her husband vehemently disagrees. I tend to think it is not so much truly dated but that there has been a SHIFT IN TASTES since the home was built and now even 'secondary baths' that are finished with 'cultured marble' are reading to buyers as "plastic". For literally less money than a couple of tanks of gas she ought to hire a company to lay in some stone counter tops and the place really would look "more up to date". Will she 'capture' the buyer that left those comments? Doubtful, but the NEXT buyer that strolls through the place is far more likely to say "WOW -- this is SO UP TO DATE I can't imagine needing to CHANGE ANYTHING, this is BETTER THAN NEW" and hopefully an offer will be forth coming...
I similarly have another friend with a home that they are kinda sorta still living in. Some of the best "features" of the home are the HUGE family room and high end finished basement. Unfortunately their A/V equipment really is a bit dated and takes up more room than the newer flat panels. They have not gotten feedback about that directly, but some feedback leads me to believe that potential buyers are not getting the "cozy" feeling. If I were going to suggest making a change to anything in the home right now I would suggest getting more up-to-date A/V equipment and staging for a more "intimate" scale.
It is NOT TRUE that HGTV is just about "entertainment" -- people's views are SHAPED by what the see! Buyers DO EXPECT to at least see everything all "tricked out". Further, because MANY shows on HGTV do allow viewers to see buyer's reactions it is EDUCATIONAL to SELLERS, AGENTS and STAGERS to see what "hot buttons" are best to address when preparing a property for showings.
I honestly think this aspect of the shows is ALMOST as useful as having a "hidden mirror" type focus group where marketers (which too few agents understand themselves to be...) can adjust the message to turn potential buyers into DEAL MAKERS....
Believe me, I have sold places that were NOT in as "perfect" condition as some of my competition BUT by skillfully using stagers I was able to fetch prices that maximized my return.
People will pay PREMIUM prices for "imported beer" that tastes just as "beery" as bargain beer because it has been MARKETED to suggest that buyers are getting an "experience". Have you heard of Corona? Stella Artois? Peroni ? Too many real estate agents (and their clients) try to sell like this: but if they took a clue from a well tipped barmaid they might remember it all about presenting your assets in a way that the customer will find irresistable http://romandesignstudio.com/images/illustration/stpauli.png (broken link)
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyKid
I agree and can't rep you again so soon. BTW - the OP needs to be far away from that house during any showings - cause those puppy dog desperate eyes are showing so easily in this post, don't let perspective buyers see em.
There's nothing a buyer can give you feedback wise worth anything besides an offer... This is what you're paying your agent for!! A good agent is supposed to be that disinterested 3rd party to provide you the brutal honest feedback, to tell you what is wrong, how it can be mitigated, and what these buyers are seeing for sale in your area that you're competing against... and most importantly, what is closing in the area.
Feedback (whether it's an actual form or verbal) and anything taken from them is silliness... like watching those HGTV shows. Pure entertainment. Use your agent for what they're getting paid for otherwise fire them and find someone who will do their job. When you find the perfect balance of price and condition, offers will come in.
Our market is VERY slow..I am listed in the northeast,suburb of Philly area. I am NOT in the business, I am but a humble first time seller!! I am also not sure what you mean by being satisfied with not much help...the replies I am getting on here are VERY helpful, I appreciate each and every one of them! I am learning that feedback is not worthwhile unless it's an offer.
Just saying that when you make a sparse post starting a topic that it's difficult to make the replies relevant. I'm glad that you've gotten some useful information.
The following reply seems to express well an opinion I also share:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AK-Cathy
The OP's post sounded to me like there was not much looky-loo action and they were trying to eke out whatever intel they could from those few visitors that they had. If there is little to no traffic through a property, either location, price, or curb appeal is at issue, possibly a combination of all of these. Once people get in the door condition comes into play unless it's obviously a mess from the MLS photos or street, which will kill walk through numbers as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyKid
BTW - the OP needs to be far away from that house during any showings - cause those puppy dog desperate eyes are showing so easily in this post, don't let perspective buyers see em.
That's my policy too. I don't know if any part of my appearance, demeanor or conversation may turn off a prospective buyer, nor do I want to find out. I'm not a salesman and it's clearly obvious to me that I can do nothing to influence the sale in a positive manner except (1) get the property in nice showing condition, (2) set a reasonable asking price, and (3) do anything possible to encourage showings by being flexible in accommodating when buyers want to view the house. Everything else falls within the domain of my RE agent.
BTW I did get some useful positive buyer feedback from my agent, along the lines of this party really likes it or that party is seriously considering an offer. I presume in most cases negative feedback would be evident by the lack of any feedback at all. That message would be clear: not interested.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
I similarly have another friend with a home that they are kinda sorta still living in. Some of the best "features" of the home are the HUGE family room and high end finished basement. Unfortunately their A/V equipment really is a bit dated and takes up more room than the newer flat panels. They have not gotten feedback about that directly, but some feedback leads me to believe that potential buyers are not getting the "cozy" feeling. If I were going to suggest making a change to anything in the home right now I would suggest getting more up-to-date A/V equipment and staging for a more "intimate" scale.
Interesting that you mentioned this because I had some thoughts too along those lines. My solution? I packed all my AV gear except for living room TV, bedroom TV, and stereo speakers in living room. In my own mind I defined "A/V gear" as clutter, so I just packed it away in boxes. That seemed to have a pleasant softening effect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
It is NOT TRUE that HGTV is just about "entertainment" -- people's views are SHAPED by what the see! Buyers DO EXPECT to at least see everything all "tricked out". Further, because MANY shows on HGTV do allow viewers to see buyer's reactions it is EDUCATIONAL to SELLERS, AGENTS and STAGERS to see what "hot buttons" are best to address when preparing a property for showings.
I made my own decision on that. What I wanted to emphasize was "move in ready" and "clean, clean, clean." I accomplished that by new carpeting, massive de-cluttering and major, major cleaning. I don't really believe that everything needs to be tricked out since one person's "tricked out" may be another person's clutter. I believe in keeping things simple.
Greenbuck-of course the agent is not a disinterested 3rd party, or at least they shouldn't be. They represent the client and the house and should be able to help condition both for the sale. This is one of your silliest comments yet. And how if a client hires and attorney could the attorney be a disinterested 3rd party? That doesn't make sense to me either. And how does market value vs. disposition value come into play here? What on earth does that have to do with the OP interpreting vague feedback?
Well, the option to vague feedback is honest assessment. I always keep in mind that the feedback might go back (directly via email) to the seller. Quite frankly, I've had selling agents that were more intent on dinging the listing than being helpful. If the listing isn't close to what the client needs (true crime), don't bother being "helpful" by saying that the pool should be filled in! On the other hand, I've had listing agents ask me to be "quite honest" in my feedback when the listing had serious issues (smell, price, clutter, decor), and I've obliged .. lightly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
Only a fool will do a CMA for you and tell you the price. That is your agent's job, and the Buyer's agent is out of line if saying anything but "Too High."
As far as vagueness in feedback, you can touch base on the neighborhood concerns, and ask what you can do to improve the home.
Many agents, including myself sometimes, will give vague feedback and try to slip away because of being abused by crazed listing agents who think they have a birthright to in-depth positive solid-gold, "I love it," feedback, and who have convinced their clients that they have a birthright to feedback, when the feedback "No Offer Today," is right in front of them
I am one of those sellers that is trying to interpret everything that comes our way! Ive done everything possible to get this house sold, so when I get vague feedback I tend to read into it.
The one feedback we got was that the house showed "good" but "priced too high" and there was "no interest" in buying the place. OK, got it, not interested.
The next feedback was that the place showed "fair", price "didn't leave an answer", are they interested "no answer given," comments:they did like the house but unsure of the street"
SO of course I am reading into the second one since there was no answer on the price or if they were interested or not. It's been 4 days since the showing, so I am thinking it's too late anyways.
I have a problem with saying they LIKED the house, but it showed FAIR? The place was IMMACULATE..I've done every staging trick Ive learned, I've had MUCH better feedback when the price was higher and didn't look as nice.I guess my question is, how much stock can you put into vague feedback? Also, how long after a showing is too late to expect any offers?
I think the way you feel is common for a first time seller. But you were obviously a buyer at one time, right? You know what you look for. What you found to be important. Not that it is what all buyers will find important, but you have an idea how it goes.
Feedback doesn't mean much to me. How do you know that whatever feedback there was wasn't misinterpreted by someone along the way. So, yeah, an offer or your realtor suggestions might be more important.
Personally, when I was buying, I did not care about pictures on the fridge, the walls or anywhere else. I didn't care about paint color or wallpaper. I am smart enough to know that those things are easy to change, if all the rest fits. Didn't care about staging, their furniture was not staying and I didn't have the same staging furniture, anyway. As long as the house was clean and had the more important points such as location, price and good structure and the things on my "want" list, I consider that a possibility. Dirty homes are a big turn off and I would pretty much glance in and leave. I think people have gone a little far with the whole "staging" thing. But, whatever works!
Chet, your *HUGE* images have made this topic very difficult to read, due to the huge download times. I hope you will consider in the future to compress and/or edit your posted images to be of smaller size and shorter download times. And I have broadband! You have single handedly made this topic inaccessible to people with slow Internet connections. Please have some consideration in the future.
Even worse, your images don't add sh*t to the topic. What does some images of beer have to do with real estate?
I completely agree that the SELLER needs to be AS FAR REMOVED from the property as possible for ALL showings. I am not even an advocate of the seller being around for walk through! LEAVE THAT STUFF TO YOUR AGENT!!!
I further agree that YOUR AGENT should absolutely be "fielding and filtering" all feedback AND THEN accompanying with frequent updates about both CLOSED and ACTIVE COMPS! If there is evidence that something that needs to fixed or price adjusted DO IT !
Now my disagreement about FEEDBACK is basically that NOT ALL OF IT IS SILLY -- honestly I truly do believe that places that are EXTREMELY WELL STAGED do trigger a response in buyers that does allow them to envision their own "stuff" in the home and move toward making an offer. Some feedback that HELPS THE SELLER GET THE STAGING RIGHT is very useful. Sometimes it is as simple as "there were too many kids calendars magnet-ed to the 'fridge" (which is feedback that I got when trying to sell one of my previous homes -- my wife, of course, took extreme umbrage to this, as without those calendars the odds of me missing some school or sports event was probably 100%...) but lo, once we shoved that stuff inside the cabinet where my breakfast cereal was WE GOT AN OFFER...
I have a friend that has a beautiful and vacant high-end home for sale near where we live. She got some feedback saying "the bath looks dated". Her husband vehemently disagrees. I tend to think it is not so much truly dated but that there has been a SHIFT IN TASTES since the home was built and now even 'secondary baths' that are finished with 'cultured marble' are reading to buyers as "plastic". For literally less money than a couple of tanks of gas she ought to hire a company to lay in some stone counter tops and the place really would look "more up to date". Will she 'capture' the buyer that left those comments? Doubtful, but the NEXT buyer that strolls through the place is far more likely to say "WOW -- this is SO UP TO DATE I can't imagine needing to CHANGE ANYTHING, this is BETTER THAN NEW" and hopefully an offer will be forth coming...
I similarly have another friend with a home that they are kinda sorta still living in. Some of the best "features" of the home are the HUGE family room and high end finished basement. Unfortunately their A/V equipment really is a bit dated and takes up more room than the newer flat panels. They have not gotten feedback about that directly, but some feedback leads me to believe that potential buyers are not getting the "cozy" feeling. If I were going to suggest making a change to anything in the home right now I would suggest getting more up-to-date A/V equipment and staging for a more "intimate" scale.
It is NOT TRUE that HGTV is just about "entertainment" -- people's views are SHAPED by what the see! Buyers DO EXPECT to at least see everything all "tricked out". Further, because MANY shows on HGTV do allow viewers to see buyer's reactions it is EDUCATIONAL to SELLERS, AGENTS and STAGERS to see what "hot buttons" are best to address when preparing a property for showings.
I honestly think this aspect of the shows is ALMOST as useful as having a "hidden mirror" type focus group where marketers (which too few agents understand themselves to be...) can adjust the message to turn potential buyers into DEAL MAKERS....
Believe me, I have sold places that were NOT in as "perfect" condition as some of my competition BUT by skillfully using stagers I was able to fetch prices that maximized my return.
People will pay PREMIUM prices for "imported beer" that tastes just as "beery" as bargain beer because it has been MARKETED to suggest that buyers are getting an "experience". Have you heard of Corona? Stella Artois? Peroni ? Too many real estate agents (and their clients) try to sell like this: but if they took a clue from a well tipped barmaid they might remember it all about presenting your assets in a way that the customer will find irresistable
This is what I mean. I find it ridiculous that people buy based on marketing more than based on their own needs, tastes...suckers! Great for the ad-men/women!!!
I would rather simplicity when I am looking, but to each his own, huh? I am sure there are many variables to consider....
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Some truths, but some things to disagree with...
but if they took a clue from a well tipped barmaid they might remember it all about presenting your assets in a way that the customer will find irresistable http://romandesignstudio.com/images/illustration/stpauli.png (broken link)
Great for the ad-men/women!!!
