There’s always something to howl about.

Please No More Listings! I Can’t Afford Them!

We’re in a slow real estate market, I get that.  The peak where I practice was 2005 when any Tom, Dick, or Jane could list and some dorky agent in the MLS would sell it.  The rule was “List as many homes as you can, cold call, advertise, mail, whatever, but list and it will sell.”  Badda bing, badda bang!

But let’s admit it, this market has dramatically changed how we play the game.  We had about a dozen total closed transactions in my entire county last month, so there is almost no volume to speak of, and certainly not enough volume to keep 327 agents alive.  Okay, 70% of those agents are practically dead, but that still leaves 98 agents clawing each other over the scraps.

Here’s the dilemma as I see it.  Clients tend to be high maintenance these days.  They are frustrated.  They want to know what’s going on, why their neighbor sold their house in 10 minutes at full price, and explanations for 100 other mythological rumors.  Listing maintenance is extremely time consuming, more so now than in many years.  I applaud Chris’ 1.0 argument for going back to basics, and Jeff’s diplomatic affirmation, but my argument is that lots of listings may actually be a great way to go broke right now.

Okay, I admit I don’t have Jeff Brown’s IQ, Chris Johnson’s stamina, or Greg Swann’s common sense, but I am a genuine bald buy who spent some time in Arizona, and so I feel some affinity with these guys.  Let’s just see how sharp these guys are.  Yes, I’m looking for wisdom, and I’m dumb enough to admit that.  But I think this is an issue that Realtors around the country are grappling with, and the answer has major implications for our clients.

Here we go:  When it would take about 100 listings here (and many other places around the U.S.) to sell one house every other month, at least statistically, and when an agent cannot manage more than about 20 listings with such high maintenance clients right now, it seems to me an agent can easily go broke chasing listings in big numbers.  First, there are hardly enough hours in the week, and secondly, the average listing must cost us $2,000 to $6,000 each over a period of the listing (not in a normal market, of course).

Assuming agents go out and knock on doors, cold call expireds and FSBO’s, send out mass mailings, and so on, and get lots of listings, is this really the profitable model right now?  Very few of these listings are selling.  This is a great way to spend 60 hours a week, a lot of money and stress, all to sell one house every two or three months, if you’re lucky.  I’m watching several brokers who are about to go bankrupt, because this is exactly what they have been doing all these months during the slow down.

Or should we let other agents do all that listing and spend all that time and money, not to mention all the phone calls and emails with the clients, and should we just be trying to connect with buyers?  This is a legitimate question.  What say you guys?  What are top producers doing that is working so well for them now?  Any strong opinions on this subject?  Let ‘er fly guys!  I can take it.  See what I’m doing at Sequim Real Estate.