Greetings. Forgive my intrustion in the agents section of the forum, but I wanted to have this request read and commented upon. And this is the happening joint.

Although the questions relate directly to my own home/listing, I would imagine that the questions posed and the situation I am facing will be seen more and more as this real estate slowdown runs its course. So perhaps the answers given will help some of you as well.

First, my agent team is really good and I have worked with them several other times. No real complaints. It is just that I am looking for ideas and suggestions that I might make to them about how to shake things up a bit and think outside the box so as to get my house sold. Sometimes I think there is the tendency to follow a routine and fall into a house marketing rut: "We do A, then we do B, then we do C" etc., with A, B, and C being the regular old stuff.

My house has been on the market for about 6 weeks. Not a long, long time I recognize, but the traffic has been very slow. 3 showings, a bit of a yawn in terms of agent previews, no offers.

A few details:

1. The location is very good - best section of town.
2. It is a townhouse condo, not a single family home - which I recognize will eliminate some buyers.
3. It is a unique floor plan - which will rule out some buyers but hopefully intrique others. A multi-level condo - 3 1/2 stories, with (believe it or not) 8 different levels (lots of half-story levels, lofts, etc.) Lots of steps (bad for some but they are part of the open/charming layout - 17 foot ceilings, rooms overlooking rooms, and so forth.) 4 BR,4.5 BA, 2300 sq. ft. No garage - which will throw some people off - but instead we have the 4th bedroom and bath.
4. Condition: excellent. We did a big makeover with granite, stainless, Italian terracotta tile, wide plank floors, designer accent paint, new fixtures, carpet, etc. etc.
5. One other location detail - it is within walking distance of a hospital, medical center, lots of doctors offices, an upcoming medical school, etc. So - should be great for medical people.
6. Price - a touch on the "ambitious/aggressive" side, but not way out of line. Priced at the higher end of what should be considered the market range.
7. The market here: a little sluggish, but not awful. A bit more inventory than normal, listings taking longer to sell, prices fairly steady.
8. We're selling for health reasons. We planned to be here for the next 20-30 years, but we now need a 1-level.


My agent team has done the normal round of advertisements: newspaper, real estate magazines, TV homes show.

At my gentle insistence (I'm such a pain) they did an open house (18 showed - 10 were neighbors)and an agent lunch (25 came, I provided an iPod and a $50 restaurant certificate as door prizes and my agent team paid for the lunch.)

The agent feedback sheet comments from the lunch were generally very positive (who knows if people really say what they mean I guess though) with positives noting the condition, room, multiple master suites, decorating, cleanness, interesting layout. Negatives were noted as stairs and no garage. As to pricing, most thought the price was in line, some commented that it was a little on the high side (It's at $319,950 btw)and answer to the "best price to sell in 30 days" question seemed to mostly be in the $299,950 to $309,950 range.

And still .... no showings to speak of. My quandary is trying to assess whether it's price, a-specialty-property-just-waiting-for-the-right-buyer, the lukewarm market, the nuclear reactor I keep in the basement, or a voodoo curse that someone put on the place.

The home is one of those "suprise" properties. A row of similar (from the outside) condos - all nice enough - with ours being the "wow" one. I have been of the opinion that if you get enough people inside it is inevitable that someone will fall in love. (People seriously do almost always say "wow" when they visit.)

So in a nutshell, my question to you fine folks is this: How do you generate some "buzz" and get people in? I think it's a numbers game - it will take "X" number of showings before the right buyer sees it. But how to get them in? Do you have any advertising ideas for my agents - catchy, unique, eye-catching ideas? Thoughts on target marketing? Shall I hire a stripper to stand outside the house? Resort to kidnapping anyone I see looking at other houses and force them to see mine?

Sometimes the knee-jerk reaction is "lower the price" and that might well be the answer. But prior to taking the "easy way out" I wanted to ask for suggestions and creativity from you folks.

And if price is the answer, would you suggest simply lowering it, or offering some more creative cash-at-closing type incentives: $X dollars toward closing, pay the property owners assocation dues for year, pay real estate taxes for a year, pay $X toward the downpayment (if their loan allows), offer to personally mow their lawn and clean their garage (Ha! Fooled 'em. It doesn't have a lawn or a garage!)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, suggestions, wisdom, noggin-thumping, or raspberries.

Rob

If the place is immaculate and the location is good, and you are really motivated, lower the price. Unfortunately you are at the price level where you will just miss the traffic of all those who's range goes up to $300,000.

Some have also suggested that raising the coop commission in order to increase traffic works for them.

I would revisit the price

Thanks for the suggestions. Any other thoughts - perhaps as to creative marketing and building interest in the property?

Have you tried putting it on CraigsList.org? You could add whatever incentives you want, but chances are, if people have seen the place and loved it and not made an offer - the price is too high.

Create a custom website just for your place, with lots of big pictures detailing every nook and cranny. Make sure the pictures are of excellent quality. Post links to it on various places online.

What age group/demographic is it most likely to appeal to? Create flyers and post them in places where those people are likely to be (do not state this age group in your advertising! Fair Housing looks down on that.)

Assisting with closing costs is a good idea....but I do not know if that would be enough of an incentive. If the price is too high...

You had me at overpriced.

I don't believe having lots of pictures detailing every nook and cranny are the way to go. 2-3 pics is sufficient. I know you will disagree.

If you show them all these pics and they see something they don't like, they might not want to even visit the home. But if you get them in the home and they see 5 things they do like and something they don't like, they might just over look the one thing they dont like since it has lots more they do like. Make sense?

Your goal is to get buyers into your home. You don't need to be a photographer. Don't let prospective buyers talk themselves out of it while they are in front of their computer. You want buyers to come into your home, and have them invisioning themselves in your home.
2-3 good quality pics, detailed description, and price it right.

RealEstateClient,

I may have missed this, but does your developement or community allow For Sale signs and directionals?

Maybe you want to ask your agent to send postcards to the neighbors stating, "Want to choose your next neighbor?"
and then have details about the home on the card. Also, on the cards ask them if they know any friends or family who would like to live in the community. Something to that affect.

RealEstateClient,

You seem like a very funny guy. I respect your motivation in wanting to help your agent in the selling process.

I think you hit the nail right on the head when you said that it is priced at the higher end of the market range. It will usually come down to price being the issue. You are missing all of the buyer prospects looking up to $300K too. What is the lower end of the market range for your property? If it's around $300K, then you should have it there if you need to sell fast.

You also stated that most people actually say "wow" when walking into your property. This might not always be a good thing, especially if your property has an unusual layout. Many times people get caught by surprise when they walk into a property that is unusual. "Wow" might be a surprised reaction by some of these visitors.

If you decide that you are flexible with your price, I would advise that you lower the price, not increase the incentives instead. Increasing incentives will not be as noticeable as decreasing the list price. Buyers and their agents start their search with a price in the criteria, not closing cost factors. Let the buyer inquire about that other stuff in their offer instead of you offering it up front.

Another thing that you may want to ask your agents to do for your listing is to email all of the agents in their company. Have them send out postcards to the surrounding neighbors or even apartment complexes where people are renting that may want to move up.

I hope it all works out for you. I think we are all having the same problem with our listings not getting enough traffic. You came to the right place to ask your questions though. I hope we can be of help. Good luck.

Yes I disagree. The OP has stated that his condo is very unique with an unusual layout. I submit that putting only two or three photos will make buyers think that there is something to hide.

Even though I am newly licensed, I have been "in the business" for nearly six years, and even more than that, one of my oldest and dearest friends has been a broker for over 20 years. I have spent many, many, MANY hours educating myself over the past several years.

Yes, if something is sucky, don't put it in the pictures. I have seen many listings where it would have been best had they agent stuck to 2-3 pictures. However, if you have an exceptional property, you should flaunt it, and flaunt it well. People on the internet want lots of pictures.

You are free to disagree, but the vast majority of what you will find on the internet on this subject will back up what I'm saying.

Have another open house and have your broker mail invitaions to all of those medical professionals in the area.

All the other agents have indirectly hit on it. It is the price.

The list price should be $300,000 even. (Not $299,000, $299,500, $299,900, $299,950 or for god sakes $299,888.) Those prices were pre internet, when REALTORS used a printed book, the idea was to be listed first and to stand out. Granted, $299,900 sounds better than $300,000 but is not practical in the computer age.

Have your agents check and you will find most $300K properties are priced one of those above combos. Today's buyer, first check for homes on the Internet (80%). They have a multitude of web sites to go to and all have a search function of low and high It is in 25 thousand increments. Would it make sense to you that priced $300,000 will attract your property to the most potential buyers? People looking 275K to 325K will see your listing.

The good news, priced at $300K you will indeed attract all those buyers that do not want to go over $300. You will now be on their radar.

The better news, for those buyers who can spend over $300K yours will show up on their radar, and if it compares favorably to higher priced listings then yours will sell and the other higher priced listings will help you sell. At $300K your home is now the lowest priced condo in this upper market and will appear to be the best investment.

The best news, if your agents drops the asking price by $20 thousand then it will create an urgency, that this condo will not last long. Thus increasing your chances of multiple offers that will in turn increase your chances of selling ABOVE asking price.

If your home was a bargain, then it would have already sold. National statistics state that 40% of homes expire which is better than 80% of FSBO's. Why? It is always because of price. Nationally 50% sell in the FIRST 30 days with 15% selling in the next 30 days. In our market these averages also hold true, however the average days on market are 117 days. That means that if 65% sell in the first 60 days then the majority take closer to six months to sell to make an average of 117 days. In the case of homes that are on the market longer, if you look at their history, it is usually because they finally dropped their price to market value to get an offer to sell.

I would say without looking at your condo and reading your letter that you have the wrong price point. If the agents are yawning and you have had a limited amount of showings (3) then it is price. On the other hand if you had a multitude of showings and no offers then it as also price. You should have an offer with ever 10 showings.

The advertising and open houses help bring potential new clients to your agents. Open houses have a 1% chance of actually selling to the people attending. Usually these folks are just "looking". If they were serious buyers they would have agents making appointments of the top 8 or 9 homes they want to look at to make an offer. Side Note: Agents that do open houses do so because A. they make the client happy and B. they have an 8% chance of picking up a buyer and/or seller. So they actually have a 9% chance of making a sell. Keep in mind that these are averages, so a competent agent will garner many more potential clients from an open house. Another interesting fact is very, very successful agents don't do open houses because they do not work with buyers. They would rather spend their time listing houses because it takes one seventh of the time to make a sell. Buyers are much more time consuming.

It is always price. ALWAYS. If you had a home that was truly worth $300K, I don't care what incentives you offer (I.E. offering some more creative cash-at-closing type incentives: $X dollars toward closing, pay the property owners association dues for year, pay real estate taxes for a year, pay $X toward the downpayment, if their loan allows.) or you did more than the usual form of advertising (I.E. newspaper, real estate magazines, TV homes show) say you did full page ads in the newspaper, had billboards on the interstate, advertised on TV during the Super Bowl but instead of $300,000 (market value) you were priced on the "ambitious/aggressive" side, at $319,950 (who came up with that price?) It would not sell. Your agents would pick up a multitude of new clients as a result of their "out of the box" incentives, open houses, and advertising campaigns. The end result if your condo was truly worth $300K would become an expired or a market reject as I like to call them. On the other hand if your condo was truly worth $300K and you listed it for $280,000 it would sell in the next couple of days without advertising or incentives. My guess it would sell for more than $280,000 because of multiple offers. Side note: I had some clients that had a house that was unique and they had done quite a few updates but refused to price it at market value. They were, how can I say this nicely, "such a pain". On their gentle insistence we priced the home 15K more than I suggested and insisted that I think out of the box and advertise very aggressively. We actually received an offer of my suggested list price 90 days later. With my guidance they countered to their "bottom line" which was still $5000 too much. The buyers walked away. At day 130 at my urging they finally dropped asking price to their "bottom line" of $5000 above my original suggested list price and earlier offer and settled on their previous counter. We then within 4 days had an offer $10K less than asking price. (I had e-mailed all the previous agents and known buyers agents of the price reduction) My clients held firm, the buyer actually came up $5K and then walked away. Bottom line: I sold seven other houses in the same price range as a result of the market reject and just one of the sellers is still living in the house. (Divorce)

Sometimes agents do A, then they do B, then C because they are professionals and just like a Doctor you have a set routine that you follow because it works. Their marketing usually satisfies their client and if the house or condo is priced right they make a sell. If it is not priced right, at least by doing the routine they will pick up other buyers and sellers.

If you hire a stripper to stand outside the house or if you "lower the price" have your agents call, mail or e-mail the three agents and the ones that attended the brokers open and relay the fact that you either have reduced the price or hired a stripper. Secondly, call, mail or e-mail all of the people that attended the open house as well as everyone in your condo association that you have either reduced the price or hired a stripper. Finally, have your agents call, mail or e-mail all of the real estate agents that represent buyers of condos and relay the fact that you either have reduced the price or hired a stripper. Do this on a Tuesday or Wednesday.


My final suggestion to you is this. Have your agents do an absorption analysis on the market in the 300 to 320 range. Find out how many of these condos have sold in a year and how many are currently on the market to determine how many months of inventory there is. Now objectively analyze your competition. If your absorption analysis tells you that 24 condos have sold in your price range in the last year and there are currently 12 for sale then you have a six month supply. If your condo is not the best one or two on the market then it will not sell. I would price it at $300,000 and expect multiple above asking price offers if it is truly worth more than $300,000.

One thing will happen regardless of what your agents do or not do. It will either sell right away at $300K or it won't. If it does not sell at $300K then you need to adjust your marketing (PRICE) to get it sold.

John R Horton
RE/MAX Services
JohnRHorton@remax.net
http://www.JohnRHorton.com
(812) 568-3306

WOW!

Decaf?

Cool Cat,

This is one of the best, if not THE best description of what we do as listing agents I've ever seen. You nailed it.

RealEstateClient - I had a fabulous townhouse once with lots of levels and a huge WOW factor (35 ft ceilings, rooftop deck). Couldn't give it away. The problem was that as potential buyers explored it, they got worn out from all the stairs. They didn't think about how on a day-to-day basis they wouldn't be running from the garage to the rooftop deck all the time, but, after looking at the townhouse during the showing, they were out of breath. Which, unfortunately, colored their view of the livability.

If, indeed, all the stairs are the problem, then you're going to have to be at a price point where the buyer is stunned that he can afford such a spectacular place. In other words, yours compares extremely favorably with the smaller, ho-hum places he's been looking at.

Good luck!