I’ve Been Working Too Hard! Ask the Wall Street Journal.
By: Kris Berg,
SanDiegoCastles.com,
Post Archive,
RSS FeedPosted: Wednesday, July 25th, 2007, 7:47 am MST
Category: Marketing, Real Estate, Technology
Thanks to Athol for this definitive guide on how to sell your own home without all of the inherent hassles and baggage of dealing with a professional real estate agent. And, I do mean “thanks” since, being a wee-bit short on discretionary reading time this week, a Permalink has to slap me upside the head.
Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for finally giving us the bottom line on this crazy real estate transfer process. If you read the blogs or listen to the industry, or even if you have merely used an agent in the past to assist in the sale of a home, you might have been left with the impression that the process is complex, involved, and fraught with potential difficulties and liability. Even I have fallen into this trap. We can make it hard, or we can make it easy.
Accordingly to WSJ.com, it is all so very simple really. Just follow these three easy steps, and your home is as good as sold! No muss, no fuss, and no “6%” fee, which they point out is “a hefty penalty for selling your home”. Who wants penalties?
- Find out what your home is worth. There is … a group of free services on the Web, such as Zillow.com, that allow you to estimate the value of your home by comparing it with neighboring properties.
- Market your property. The goal when marketing your home… is to “drive as many buyers as possible to your ad,” so make sure you choose a site with a lot of traffic, and augment your listing with high-quality color photos and a compelling description. You might even try a “virtual tour” if you’re willing to pay a little extra.
- Transfer the title. Once your home is sold, you need to call in the professionals… Regardless of who handles yours, you shouldn’t pay more than about $500…
That’s it! Zillow that house, take some color photos (not black and white, and absolutely no pencil sketches), consider one of those newfangled virtual tour thingies, and cash in the loose change from between the sofa cushions. Congratulations! And to think I just paid to renew my E&O insurance.
Call me silly, but I have obviously been working way to hard. Since I am in the midst of renewing my Broker’s license at the moment and taking all of those nutty continuing education courses and tests, I am in the habit of taking a practice exam, so here goes.
Q. How do I know what my house is worth?
A. I should look at my Zestimate.
(Correct. Look at your Zestimate, stupid).
Q. What is my goal when marketing my home?
A. Drive as many buyers as possible to my home.
(Wrong. Drive as many buyers as possible to your ad.)
Q. How do I decide where to place my “ad”?
A. Rock, paper, scissors.
(Wrong. Pick a site with a lot of traffic. Craigslist should work.)
Q. Should I pay extra for a virtual tour?
A. Maybe.
(Correct. You might even try this.)
Q. Should I be concerned with termite and other property inspections, buyer qualification, statutory disclosure obligations, negotiating nuances, possible contract disputes, or other details traditionally associated with the transfer of real property?
A. I might even try a virtual tour.
(Correct. You might even try this.)
Q. Can I keep the window coverings?
A. It depends on what my newspaper ad says.
(Wrong. Pick a site with a lot of traffic.)
Score: 50%. Congratulations! You’ve Passed!
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Related posts:21 Comments so far
Brilliant post, very funny!
And of course once you’ve spent all this time and $500 trying to do it on your own (and getting nowhere) you end up needing an agent and paying that 6%. What brilliant advice!
$500 PLUS 6%? But I passed the test!
Kris,
You make me howl every time I read your stuff.
I was wondering what staffer they had write the article and then I saw it was Marshall Loeb:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-2545253-7434255?asin=1570421951&afid=yahoosspplp_bmvd&lnm=1570421951|Books_:_Marshall_Loeb’s_Lifetime_Financial_Strategies&ref=tgt_adv_XSNG1060
Maybe he has a deal with Target for yard signs. That logo is “money”.
Guess ol’ Marshall saved a bundle representing himself in his past home sale transactions. Wonder if he wrote a chapter on it. I’d buy his book to find out, but then I would be $511.56 short of what I need to sell my home.
I don’t think sarcasm will convince people you are right. It’s a very low-quality form of argument. Unfortunately I’ve seen it too often on Bloodhound Blog recently.
Thanks, Ryan! Have a great day!
Thanks for the link love Kris. I swear when I first read the WSJ post I just thought of the Monty Python sketch “How To Do It!”
Have a great day Ryan!
Found it…
http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/toridof.htm
Ain’t the internet great!
-Athol
Sock - Best laugh I’ve had all week! You get this week’s Rubber Chicken Award.
Kris …
As always, pick a superlative. Great post. Hilarious!
But your riposte to Ryan has me in tears! What the Saturday Evening Post used to feature as the Perfect Squelch. I’m having trouble typing…
Ryan…you’re just going to have to trust me in this. Of ALL the people to challenge on BHB, Kris is your worst choice. Your chance of success equals, say, your chance of learning anything at a Marshall Loeb FSBO seminar.
Next time, perhaps try Greg?
“Your chance of success equals, say, your chance of learning anything at a Marshall Loeb FSBO seminar”
Sarcastic but funny. Actually, very funny
Oh, y’all too funny! I just blew my kibble all over my keyboard. Gotta clean this mess up before I go plow my zestifarm.
Ryan, have a nice day!
Brilliant, Kris. Another one that is ART.
Kris,
You had me going there for short time…send that FSBO to talk to a few of the folks in litigation. All I can is…
Stupid is as stupid does!
- Gena Riede
[...] Be sure to read I’ve Been Working Too Hard! Ask the Wall Street Journal [...]
Kris: You have provided excellent consumer advice, but really, $500 to record title???
Anyone knows you can buy all the documents you need at an office supply store and then record them yourself for just a few bucks.
Even $200 is way out of line. With the money saved, you could buy a two-year subscription to the Wall Street Journal–in addition to a hardbound copy of Marshall Loeb’s book.
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