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Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,641 posts, read 11,944,596 times
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I listed my house in mid-July. Days on market then were 31. I had 18 showings and no offers over the course of 80 days. Clearly there was an issue with price or marketing. When the listing agreement expired, I took the house off the market.
MLS days on market resets after 90 days. If I sell within the next 30 days to someone who has already seen or inquired about my house, I owe the previous agent a commission.
I studied all of the houses that did sell and noted their features. My original plan was to repaint my house (went to my local paint store and got the shade of gray everyone is using) and some minor upgrades and staging. Then I was going to interview 2 top agents in my area and relist in March/April. Also, there is much-anticipated high school opening next fall (I'm in that district) and everyone is talking about it.
My house buyer is likely to be a young family.
Now, however, I am being bombarded by real estate agents. They call, email, send me CMA's, tell me what's wrong with my house and why it didn't sell (all different reasons, btw), and one even wrote a book about houses that don't sell and what to do about it.
They all say I should immediately relist now, in the fall, because people buy year round. They say if I wait, I risk a slow market and face more competition.
Incidentally, none of this is coming from the two agents who I plan to actually interview. I have not been contacted by either of them.
These agents are really getting in my head. Now I don't know when to relist. I cannot discuss this with family or friends because they all said I'm driving them crazy obsessing about it.
Stick with the plan you want. One of the popular ways to generate business nowadays, is to call canceled and expired listings. As a service to my clients who have canceled in the past, I will remove the owner contact info from the listing before cancelling, because I know you guys get inundated. You might be able to call your old agent and have them do this, but the horses may have already run out of the barn on that one by now.
Keep track of any of them you actually like, but don't let them convince you there's an emergency to list now if you don't want to. They just want Christmas money.... (not that there's anything wrong with Christmas money)
They will have just as many good reasons for why you should list in the spring, if that's what you want to do.
The agent doesn't make that much of a difference. Location, pricing and condition are 99% of it. Things like paint, unless the property looked dis-repaired, aren't going to make a big difference.
as noted, all of those people contacting you are using a tactic to gain more business.
I wonder how many of them gave ANY specific suggestion to your home/situation, or if they were all just variants of the same "canned" response? And btw, any of us can get a book with our name on it ... literally. there's a guy who sells a book and you get a personalized jacket.
Yes there is more competition in spring but there are also more buyers. Relax and stick with your plan to interview your two agents. It is a business building strategy to call expired listings and tell you what they think you want to hear. Ignore it all.
Stick with the plan you want. One of the popular ways to generate business nowadays, is to call canceled and expired listings. As a service to my clients who have canceled in the past, I will remove the owner contact info from the listing before cancelling, because I know you guys get inundated. You might be able to call your old agent and have them do this, but the horses may have already run out of the barn on that one by now.
Keep track of any of them you actually like, but don't let them convince you there's an emergency to list now if you don't want to. They just want Christmas money.... (not that there's anything wrong with Christmas money)
They will have just as many good reasons for why you should list in the spring, if that's what you want to do.
I agree. Agents will tell you whatever they think will get them the listing. Were you happy with your agent? D you have one you want to hire and why?
Where do you live? I think houses sell this time of year and I kind of agree about the more competition in the spring thing.
IMHO, I’d say do the things you think it needs to compete and put it on the market ASAP. Rates are very low now and who knows where they will be in the Spring?
Personally, I wouldn’t be so concerned about DOM. Agents can view the history for your property and see what has happened, anyway, so you aren’t really fooling anyone (so to speak) and, at the worst, you might get a lower offer from someone who thinks you are more motivated. The whole goal is to get someone engaged in the negotiation process. Just negotiate. When you list with your new agent, have the agent put in the listing agreement that you won’t owe a commission on anyone who saw the property during the period you were listed previously. The odds are good that it won’t happen but, if it does, you needn’t worry about it.
^ on that, I would say discuss the prior listing and this commission concern with your new agent. They should be able to provide a good explanation, one which will likely show you that you owe NO commission to your former agent.
And if said agent CANNOT explain the clause to you, then you should pass on using them.
^ on that, I would say discuss the prior listing and this commission concern with your new agent. They should be able to provide a good explanation, one which will likely show you that you owe NO commission to your former agent.
And if said agent CANNOT explain the clause to you, then you should pass on using them.
I didn't catch where the OP is from but our listing contracts have a protection period in them. In other words, even if the listing period has expired, the seller would owe the former broker a fee if someone who saw it during the first listing period ends up buying the property during the protection period.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,641 posts, read 11,944,596 times
Reputation: 9887
Thank you for your responses. Also, I had no idea you could just affix your name to a book. I mean, I'd heard of ghost writers, but didn't realize they existed in the real estate world, too.
I went back and read the mountain of stuff I have. None is useful or specific. Basically, they all say I should list now because nobody knows what the spring market will be like....so the fear factor.
There is a house sale going on right now. In fact, were I buying, I would definitely buy in the fall. Inventory is low, but sellers on the fall market seem to be willing to drop their prices/negotiate. Otherwise, they just take the house off the market. It is strange. I'll see a house listed for a few weeks and then it's withdrawn/delisted. I do not want to be a part of this landscape.
Also, I saw 2 houses with negative days on market. I don't know what that means or how it happened.
Regarding commission: I owe commission to my prior agent if I sell within 45 days of our contract expiring to someone who inquired or saw my house during the listing period. I asked my agent for the names of all the people who saw or inquired about my house. No response. I wanted the information because I was going to give it to a future agent, if I decided to list right away with another agent, to make sure my first agent got the money he earned. As it so happens, I'm not relisting within 45 days so I guess it doesn't matter.
I'm sticking to my plan and relisting in the spring.
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