You are the seller, YOU are the boss! Your Realtor should listen to you!

I recently spoke with a homeowner who had experienced some difficulty in getting his agent to listen to his concerns, and having that agent do something about it. I truly feel badly for that homeseller, who in his case, was a very well educated man, had great business acumen, and had some very appropiate ideas that his agent did not seem to want to listen to, or implement.

Now honestly, that's not always the case. Some homeowners have some ideas that quite frankly, would not be in their own best interests, and it's up to the agent to explain to them that while they appreciate their ideas in order to effect a sale, that those suggestions would not be of benefit, and in some cases those ideas, if implemented could or would be detrimental to a sale.

What are some appropriate suggestions to give your agent?

Take new photos. After a certain period of time, or a season change, the main picture  for the house can look dated. This is not something that you hsould have to tell your agent, but if you need to, DO IT!

Look at your listing as it appears in the MLS and suggest changes if needed- I am convinced that most homesellers have never seen their listing, because if they had, they would change it immediately. An agent not inputting all of the information fields is sheer laziness on their part. (I'm sorry- I'm passionate about it) I would think that a few minutes to put room measurements in  the listing is no big deal. I always do it. That's only one example- schools are important too, especially if it's a sought after educational system.

Some buyers need certain rooms to be of a certain size, and if it's not  readily listed on th MLS data sheet, or available in any way, are not  inclined to see a house and waste their time for something that could only be a maybe. Sure, maybe a room size that is presented is going to turn off a buyer, but that would only be a showing that went nowhere anyway. My standard operating procedure is  that the seller signs off on the MLS sheet, and OK's it, as well as the brochure.

Open houses- well, that's a mixed bag. A few open houses in the right location can be a good thing. Be careful about overexposure to buyers who look every week to see what new listings there are. Agents have homeowners thinking that open houses sell a house. Agents get leads from open houses, and it is a well known statistic that less than 3% of all homes sell at public open houses. You don't want a buyer thinking, "Oh, that house is STILL available!"

If you have had any offers in the recent past, go back to those buyers and see why they didn't follow through on the transaction, if you don't already know the answer and have done everything you could to effect a sale. Could it have been that their highest number was not what you countered at? If you knew what their highest number was, would you have accepted it, or would you accept it now? 

Is it because the floors need refinishing in one spot, or a carpet needs replacing and they couldn't be bothered? What if you addressed their objection after contingencies were all met, and prior to closing? Could that make a difference? You bet, so why not give it a shot? The worst that can happen is that the buyer says no. So go back to that buyer and find out! The answer could be quite simple, and you can have a sale because your agent was pro-active.  **Think outside the box**

A few years ago, brokers didn't have to try so hard to put a deal together. They came pretty easily.  That's not true nowadays. If you have a buyer, do what you can to hold on to them, and put a deal together- if your agent is not willing to go the extra mile for you, you shouldn't feel stuck. If you are unhappy, you can always request a change. Most agencies will abide by a clients request.

Tweet

How many "For sale by owner" (FSBO) listings are there in each town?

That's an interesting question. Not all FSBO listings are easily found on the internet, and If you are considering selling your home by yourself, you probably already know that some of the bigger FSBO sites charge buyers a fee to look on their site to see YOUR listing. Hmmm, that's some racket!

I did a search of homes for sale in CT and guess how many results google search yielded? Over 54 MILLION!!! in less than 2 seconds, no less. Now there are only somewhere between 1.3 and 1.5 million households in Connecticut, depending on who you rely on for these numbers, so where does that HUGE number come from? It's mathematically impossible!

Why are those numbers so askew? There are some sites that have listings that are so old, the homes have been bought and sold and bought and sold yet again. This week, I got an e-mail from a buyer who found one of my listings on Trulia. She contacted me and wanted to see it because she assumed it was available, and it wasn't. It's my own listing that is still being advertised that is no longer for sale, and I can't even change it in their system- and I'm not just singling out one site. I have had people contact me from a Homes.com listing that was as much as two years old. I have no answer for that, it would be nice if these aggregator sites would update their feeds. I think the problem is that these homes for sale come up as individual search results, so one property can have as many as 15 or more entries in google. There is no time limit on the search results, and that's why over 54 milion homes came up on that search.

So how do you as an owner trying to sell your home by yourself get your home found on the internet among all of these other homes that are (or were) on the market? And how do you, as a buyer, find sites with current real estate listings and information? If you are buying or selling, meet with a Realtor, get the most up to date information, and have an agent represent your interests.

The listing contract with the Realtor is about to expire. Do you re-list right away?

Some people think its wise to wait, some people have it re-listed the very next day. I'll ask you that  question,  think about your answer, and then I'll tell you an experience that I had with a seller. Your answer may change.  

One day in October, I ran across a listing that had just expired. The house looked pretty neat, and I wondered why it didn't sell, so I called up the owner.  I asked her about her home, and she invited me over to look, but was adamant about not listing it right away. The property was on the market for a good seven and a half months, and with a VERY Good agent,  AND the holidays were coming up. So who is going to buy her house now? And yes, she  may have had a point or two.

As I looked at the listing, I saw that some of the very best marketable features of her home were nowhere to be found! I saw that the listing wasn't filled out as well as it could be, and I am pretty particular about everything being as descriptive and informative as it can be, and as truthful as it can be on the listing so the most interested and best qualified buyers come to see it.

This home had  a stone turret and an incredible amount of charm with rolling acreage and lots of privacy, yet in a very easy location. None of that was brought out on the listing.  A house with a two and a half story stone turret, and the picture of the property didn't focus on it? You couldn't miss it once you drove up. And that's one of those things that you either REALLY like, or REALLY hate. There's not an in-between.  So I told the owner what I thought. She was this great Irish lady with a thick accent. I told her  that if she wanted to sell the home,  that we shouldn't wait, and that we should get it on the market as soon as possible. And I said, "No one is going to buy  your home if they don't know that it's available". She heeded my advice, I brought out the finer unique points of her home, and it sold close to asking in less than three weeks, and that was right before the holidays. Oh and by the way, I didn't reduce the price. It didn't need it!

Her house may have sat on the market for another seven months had she not listened to my advice. Instead, the house sold and she got to move into a nice condominium.

So if your homes listing contract is about to expire, and you haven't had any bites, or very few showings, take a look at the listing. Better yet, have me take a look at the listing- and don't give the house a rest on marketing. No one will buy your home if it's it's not actively and appropriately marketed by a great agent. That's me!