I showed a house today in one of the historic districts we farm. A copy of the neighborhood newsletter was laid out the mantle, along with the fliers and business cards. I took a quick peek to see our ad, the only print advertising we’re doing right now.
Here’s what I saw:
A piece of our ad had been cut out. There was nothing significant behind it, so it was clearly our ad that had been excised. This is what that ad should look like:
You can click on the image to see a PDF version, if you like.
What was cut? The highlighted copy in this picture:
The only thing I can figure is that the lister didn’t want the seller to see that part of our ad. Nice to know someone is paying attention…
Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
Nell says:
YOU are worth the full commission.
Next year we will start interviewing agents in earnest. Thus far we have only spoken to one Realtor(r). She said that she would help stage (but no explanation of her skills or certification in that area), list it on MLS (her Broker’s website presence isn’t special at all), put an add in one of those fancy-schmantzy magazines, required a 6-month agreement, all for 6% and not less. This is in one of the stronger US markets where Zillow says is worth about $950. Give me a break!!!
June 10, 2007 — 5:44 pm
Greg Swann says:
> YOU are worth the full commission.
Thanks.
The house shown in that ad records tomorrow. I took the signs down this afternoon, and the sellers asked if they could take the big sign with them. To date, that’s happened every time we’ve done a custom sign for a house.
June 10, 2007 — 6:43 pm
Nell says:
Consumers are talking about what we get for the money from Realtors(R). What we want is honesty, expertise and marketing value. Many don’t think we are getting that.
On the seller side RedFin promises to refer their clients to staging and photo professionals (who the seller pays), MLS and Internet presence, lock-box and assistance with paperwork and negotiating offers for what in many markets is a significant savings off the 6%. The seller shows their home and the pricing is done from market statistics.
So what is the ‘full service’ Realtor offering in most markets that is different????
Well they look at your house before establishing a market price and they show the house. They know the other Realtors in the community – they network among themselves.
Help me now… what have I missed??? Should I hire the best town schmoozer with a Realtor(R) license? (alliteration not accidental)
June 10, 2007 — 8:22 pm
Russell Shaw says:
Maybe there was a coupon for something free on the other side?
June 10, 2007 — 9:24 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Maybe there was a coupon for something free on the other side?
There was. It was a coupon for “Your House On The Market For Nine Months Without Selling At Absolutely No Cost To You.” Alas and doubly-alas, you don’t need a coupon to get that deal…
June 10, 2007 — 10:24 pm
Greg Swann says:
Nell, right now to get us and the kind of work we do, we’re asking 5%, with 3% of that going to the buyer’s agent. We take a $1,500 non-refundable retainer in advance, deductible at Close of Escrow from our 2%, to cover our out-of-pocket costs. Including labor, our actual costs prior to listing are much higher. You can get cheaper Realtors than us, but you can’t get the kind of work we do from anyone else in our market at any price.
We come in for less because we’re not nearly as busy as we want to be. But we also turn down any house — and any seller — if we don’t feel we can do our work, our way. When we get the point where we’re at or near our maximum capacity, we’ll bump the price to 6%. Eventually, we would like to get to 7%, but, obviously, that would mean that we would have to be so good that sellers would be willing to pay that premium just to get us. We might never get to 7%, but working always to get better is a worthy goal no matter how things work out.
From my point of view, discount listing is a bad joke, at least in a market like Phoenix is right now. I don’t know where you are located, but if the average time on market for homes like yours is over 45 days, I think you need a real lister. Not just a Realtor, but a Realtor with a plan for moving houses when houses aren’t moving. It doesn’t matter what your costs are projected to be at Close of Escrow if escrow is never opened.
For what it’s worth, you can find much cheaper discounters than Redfin. I think Congress might be down to $199 by now. BuySide is building an affiliate that will do nothing for nothing. But: If you need real marketing, then that is what you should shop for. If your house is worth $950,000, I’m guessing you’re already watching the listers in your neighborhood. If not, start now. You’re looking for the people who can the job done. When you start to think you have a short list of listers to interview, start interviewing their sellers instead. You already know what you like and don’t like, so listen for both in the experiences of others. Ask them what they wish they had done differently. Ask them what questions they wish they had asked in advance.
Sellers always focus on commissions, but it’s at least as important to negotiate an early exit procedure: How can you fire your agent if you are not happy? We build that into our employment contracts, but most agents want exclusive listings for a specific term. That’s understandable: We work on speculation that we can achieve a sale, and that can take time. But you should negotiate a buy-out clause (like our non-refundable retainer), so that you can move on if you feel you must.
Show-it-yourself sounds like a way to save money, but the more impediments you erect to showing your home, the more likely you are to fail the test of the marketplace. I have been a Realtor for six years, and I have only successfully made it into one For-Sale-By-Owner home. I have shown a few limited-service listings, never without a lot of hassle. I sold one of those homes. The sellers had no idea what to do, and I could not tell them at the risk of creating an undisclosed dual agency. I never once communicated directly with the putative listing agent.
My job is to help my clients achieve the best possible outcome from their real estate transactions, and part of that job is discussing with them the potential pitfalls of dealing with sellers who are, de facto, without representation. On the one hand, I can negotiate very sweet deals for my buyers, since the sellers have no idea how to deal with the kind of language I can write. But on the other hand, the transaction is at risk of falling apart at any minute, since there is no one on the other side skilled at keeping things together. Depending on how much my buyers need sellers to have their act together, they might reasonably elect to take their chances on a home with stronger representation. Investors, on the other hand, are happy to pluck the bird in the hand. Either way, this seems to me to argue for sellers to dig deep, paying more to get more.
Your mileage may vary, of course. I wish you every success in selling your home, however you elect to do it.
June 10, 2007 — 11:11 pm
Robert Kerr says:
RE: “One of our ads is working so well a competitor cut out the good part!”
A competitor cutting out just that block makes no sense.
Much more likely: Someone saw the simulated coupon on the back and cut it out, not realizing it was not necessary for the deal.
June 11, 2007 — 8:52 am
Greg Swann says:
> Much more likely: Someone saw the simulated coupon on the back and cut it out, not realizing it was not necessary for the deal.
Good grief, man, what are you talking about? The newsletter was put on the mantle by the listing agent. The part of the ad that was excised was precisely that portion that detailed what the seller would not get from their lister. There was no coupon on the other side.
June 11, 2007 — 8:59 am
Robert Kerr says:
RE: “There was no coupon on the other side.”
Russell: Maybe there was a coupon for something free on the other side?
Greg: There was. It was a coupon for “Your House On The Market For Nine Months Without Selling At Absolutely No Cost To You.” Alas and doubly-alas, you don’t need a coupon to get that deal…
I’m confused; was there a coupon on the reverse, or not?
June 11, 2007 — 11:21 am
Greg Swann says:
> I’m confused; was there a coupon on the reverse, or not?
I was making a joke.
June 11, 2007 — 11:27 am
Kris Berg says:
🙁 I have always loved your sign concept, yet my company mandates that we all look the same. It took us five years to get a small section carved out in the center for our personal brand. I could go the photo sign rider route, but I detest riders. It starts to look like a circus.
Guess we will have to distinguish ourselves another way. Maybe we should print coupons in the neighborhood newsletter.
June 11, 2007 — 9:32 pm