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this but...price resolves everything. If you are not getting showings, price is too high. If you are getting showings and no offers, price is too high. Truly price does solve many things, backed up to busy street, near busy corner, outdated interiors. When a home is out in the market too long then buyers come in looking for the flaws..honestly they do! People are lemming like..they think why doesn;t anyone else want the house.
I agree with much of what you have to say in this post, but strongly DISAGREE with the statement "If you are not getting showings, price is too high."
Not getting showings is very likely a marketing issue. The price may have something to do with it, but even an overpriced house that is being marketed will get showings. People will come to see hwat's there for those dollars. They may hate it, at the higher price, and never make an offer, but they should at least come to see it. I am a Realtor, and I know that many sellers are asking too much for their houses. But we have to be willing to do some work, to market the place effectively, get people in to reject the price, before we can say the price is the issue.
I use them to look at homes in my farm area. They are also good to market to other realtors. If you have an open house with enough advertisement and serve food we'll come. Sellers expect at least one and it helps them to get their homes presentable. Its a good way to let the neighbors know that there is a home for sale near them (let their relatives know). These days I think lots of people just use the internet to shop for homes initially. They find what they want and then tell their realtor. Make sure your listings have lots of pictures. In this buyers market if you don't have enough pictures of the interior there are plenty others that do. Unless its spectacular or in a very desired neighborhood it might get passed over without pictures.
Last edited by psi2007; 11-27-2007 at 02:25 PM..
Reason: typo
I agree with much of what you have to say in this post, but strongly DISAGREE with the statement "If you are not getting showings, price is too high."
Not getting showings is very likely a marketing issue. The price may have something to do with it, but even an overpriced house that is being marketed will get showings. People will come to see hwat's there for those dollars. They may hate it, at the higher price, and never make an offer, but they should at least come to see it. I am a Realtor, and I know that many sellers are asking too much for their houses. But we have to be willing to do some work, to market the place effectively, get people in to reject the price, before we can say the price is the issue.
If a house was priced 20% above its comps, I doubt ANYONE would look at it esp. in this market. This scenario is being repeated throughout the country. Help, no showings, no showings!
It's on MLS. That should be enough to garner some interest...if it's priced right!
We have lowered the price by $80.000 dollars and will probably be lowering it again by another 15-25,000. Would it be better to take it off the market and then relist at a lower price as a new listing?
In Mid-Florida, our MLS uses DOM (Days on Market) along with CDOM (Cumulative Days On Market). Any listing renewed, transfered, or withdrawn within 60 days of the previous listing's expiration will show a "Cumulative Days on Market" value in addition to the "Days on Market" value. For example: if a property owner transfers a property to a new broker after 180 days, when the new brokers lists the property, it will show a "Days on Market" value of 1, but a "Cumulative Days on Market" value of 181.
Removing a property from the market in my area and then relisting only creates additional paperwork.
If a house was priced 20% above its comps, I doubt ANYONE would look at it esp. in this market. This scenario is being repeated throughout the country. Help, no showings, no showings!
It's on MLS. That should be enough to garner some interest...if it's priced right!
You can't get much putting lipstick on a pig.
How does anyone know, without seeing the place, whether it's WORTH 20% above what you call the comps. Regardless of the price, a listing agent SHOULD be able to get some people in to see the place, to make the judgement about price. He should be able to market the aspects of this home that made him & the seller believe it was worth 20% more than the comps. If he can't get anyone in to see it, then he isn't much of a marketing agent. And if the price is so far out of line that he can't get anyone in regardless of the marketing he does, (which I still don't think should ever be the case) why did he take the listing? Did he have a plan, beyond "say what I have to say, get the listing, throw it on the MLS, wait for a price reduction"?
And I really hope you aren't a real estate agent. Because if your plan for marketing a property is to put it on the MLS & hope it garners some interest, you're clients are in trouble!
Removing a property from the market in my area and then relisting only creates additional paperwork
why does it cause more paperwork? So if you take it off for 2 months then is it considered a new listing?
Quote:
Because if your plan for marketing a property is to put it on the MLS & hope it garners some interest, you're clients are in trouble!
I think that's pretty much what my realtor did and you're right, I think we are in trouble! Right now we are considering taking it off, refinancing and holding on for a while trying again in February or March.
why does it cause more paperwork? So if you take it off for 2 months then is it considered a new listing?
I think that's pretty much what my realtor did and you're right, I think we are in trouble! Right now we are considering taking it off, refinancing and holding on for a while trying again in February or March.
Different MLS's behave differently, but even with an MLS that shows cumulative days on market, there is a potential very strong upside to relisting. I'll explain what happens in Atlanta (I have no idea if your MLS does something comparable). When a property gets listed, the data about the listing gets "pushed" out to people. First, it goes out to Realtors via daily "hotsheets" which agents monitor to see if new listings are coming on the market that meet their current buyers needs. At the same time it goes out via "Internet Gateway" directly to buyers whose agents have set up specific search parameters to show them all new listings coming the market that meet their criteria. Third, it goes out via IDX (internet data exchange) feed other agents sites where more buyers (including those not represented by an agent) may have filled out a form to see new listings as they hit the market. Finally, it goes out to real estate portals like Realtor.com. The information from my MLS is that 70-80% of the traffic that a listing EVER GETS, it gets during the first 48 hours because of the way the information is pushed to all these people.
That's why it is absolutely crucial that the listing have many high quality photos available and loaded into the MLS the day the listing hits the market. Buyers (and even agents to be honest) are less likely to look at a listing if it doesn't have photos.
One thing that relisting allows you to do is load all new photos. You can do this without relisting, but you get the most "bang for your buck" by relisting because, again, the new listing with new photos gets pushed to agents and buyers.
Just putting a listing in the MLS nowadays is not competent marketing. I don't know if this is all your agent did. But if so and if you like this agent and want to keep working with him/her, you need to let him/her know that you need a more thorough marketing plan for you house. Most people start their search online, so it's extremely important to have a well-rounded internet marketing campaign. Does your agent have a web site? Does his/her brokerage have a web site? Does he/she have showcase listings on Realtor.com? Does he/she advertise on other real estate portals? Did he/she have the house professionally photographed? Did he/she create a virtual tour and then link that tour to the MLS and the other online ads for the house? Did he/she create a flyer? Was it distributed to area brokerages? Did he/she send out e-mail flyers about the house? To whom?
Marketing is time-consuming and expensive but it's vital to get a house sold in today's market. If your agent is not providing you with information about his/her marketing efforts, you need to find out what exactly he/she is doing. If he/she's not doing anything to market your home, you need to explain that that's not going to cut it. If you decide to interview other agents, make sure you find out exactly how they will market your property AND the timetable for that marketing. A lot of agents hold off marketing at the beginning of the listing in the hopes that it will sell without it (because it's time consuming and expensive). While you could do this during the recent seller's market with relative impugnity, it's extremely dangerous in a buyer's market because there is a very important "buzz" period at the beginning of a listing. That's when most people come and see it. Once you miss it, it's hard to get back.
We have lowered the price by $80.000 dollars and will probably be lowering it again by another 15-25,000. Would it be better to take it off the market and then relist at a lower price as a new listing?
so unless you take if off for over 6 months, it will show collective days on maket. Check the comps..you may have lowered it $80,000 and another $20,000 but again, where are you in comparison to those homes that have sold? Pricewise and product wise.
I recently had a client take her house off the market. I have been trying to tell her for awhile it would be a very remote possibility that she would get her asking price in this market, and she says she has too. I think she did the right thing...she may be able to get a lot more in 6 months - 2years. The truth is the area they are in generally is declining. It could be longer, I wish I did know and could tell them. She was moving to another area out of state also with price declines but she really did not or could not financially do this.
Best wishes to you and ask your agent to send you comps every other week...with listing detail. Go in the other homes also and see for yourself..this one is hard if you are not an agent ..again....most people love their home. Good luck to you!
Different MLS's behave differently, but even with an MLS that shows cumulative days on market, there is a potential very strong upside to relisting. I'll explain what happens in Atlanta (I have no idea if your MLS does something comparable). When a property gets listed, the data about the listing gets "pushed" out to people. First, it goes out to Realtors via daily "hotsheets" which agents monitor to see if new listings are coming on the market that meet their current buyers needs. At the same time it goes out via "Internet Gateway" directly to buyers whose agents have set up specific search parameters to show them all new listings coming the market that meet their criteria. Third, it goes out via IDX (internet data exchange) feed other agents sites where more buyers (including those not represented by an agent) may have filled out a form to see new listings as they hit the market. Finally, it goes out to real estate portals like Realtor.com. The information from my MLS is that 70-80% of the traffic that a listing EVER GETS, it gets during the first 48 hours because of the way the information is pushed to all these people.
That's why it is absolutely crucial that the listing have many high quality photos available and loaded into the MLS the day the listing hits the market. Buyers (and even agents to be honest) are less likely to look at a listing if it doesn't have photos.
One thing that relisting allows you to do is load all new photos. You can do this without relisting, but you get the most "bang for your buck" by relisting because, again, the new listing with new photos gets pushed to agents and buyers.
Just putting a listing in the MLS nowadays is not competent marketing. I don't know if this is all your agent did. But if so and if you like this agent and want to keep working with him/her, you need to let him/her know that you need a more thorough marketing plan for you house. Most people start their search online, so it's extremely important to have a well-rounded internet marketing campaign. Does your agent have a web site? Does his/her brokerage have a web site? Does he/she have showcase listings on Realtor.com? Does he/she advertise on other real estate portals? Did he/she have the house professionally photographed? Did he/she create a virtual tour and then link that tour to the MLS and the other online ads for the house? Did he/she create a flyer? Was it distributed to area brokerages? Did he/she send out e-mail flyers about the house? To whom?
Marketing is time-consuming and expensive but it's vital to get a house sold in today's market. If your agent is not providing you with information about his/her marketing efforts, you need to find out what exactly he/she is doing. If he/she's not doing anything to market your home, you need to explain that that's not going to cut it. If you decide to interview other agents, make sure you find out exactly how they will market your property AND the timetable for that marketing. A lot of agents hold off marketing at the beginning of the listing in the hopes that it will sell without it (because it's time consuming and expensive). While you could do this during the recent seller's market with relative impugnity, it's extremely dangerous in a buyer's market because there is a very important "buzz" period at the beginning of a listing. That's when most people come and see it. Once you miss it, it's hard to get back.
Good luck!
All of this market manipulation in the form of re-pushing and trying to conceal the staleness of the listing is only going to amplify the problem, as sellers take their houses off the market for the winter season and we see a literal EXPLOSION of inventory in the spring.
Let the free market work. Fighting these forces just makes the situation worse.
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Open Houses
Doesn't work with Mid-Florida MLS
