seller asks: What will YOU do differently to sell my home?

As far as I know, homes that are listed on the MLS sell not because they have been marketed off line, but because of the PRICE.

Several other factors come into play, such as competition, etc... but the bottom line is the price.

But if the seller insists that their home be advertised in a newspaper or via other methods off line methods that cost money, do you get a deposit from them, refundable after closing? Or do you just eat the cost?

What is your plan?

I advertise all my listings in "the real estate book" that comes out every month. It costs $250 a month for 1/2 page. I wouldn't dream of asking the seller to pay for it - it's a part of doing business. Maybe there is another agent in your company that would split the ad with you?

Your commission is your budget for advertising and other forms of marketing. What is left is your profit.

To be successful in this business, you better be prepared to dontate a large part of your commission to making your sellers happy. And happy means making them visible, online and in print.

What actually sells the home (price) is quite irrelevant. What the seller expects in terms of visibility is all that matters.

And of course, everytime and everywhere you advertise your listings, you are advertising yourself. Which will generate additional business and more profits.

navarac's last paragraph is the best one to remember. It hurts like HECK to write those checks to advertise a place... but much less when you realise it's an ad for you.

-jeff

"what will you do differently?'

First of all I won't answer that question, my answer would be what do you have in mind when you say differently? Let the seller tell me his dream marketing plan.

Many years ago I would advertise that I do 14 things most agents don't do to get your house sold. I had started a small new branch office in an area that was controlled by two large offices in the area.

Anyway I had a "listing appointment" for a very nice property, and during the presentation, the wife asked if we could go over the 14 things I do that most agents don't do. Up to this point she had been taking copious notes and I didn't think to much about it because on a rare occasion I would run into one of these types. I covered the first seven but really had to use the bathroom which I did, and as I returned I noticed the wife turned something on and then sit down at the table, I made it a point to go by the place she was standing and there was a tape recorder!

I asked what was going on and the husband said he didn't want to do it but his wife's brother was the broker at one of the two big offices and wanted to hear my presentation and find out what 14 things I did that other agents didn't. I used this incident in my advertising for that branch for the next two years, it turned out to be a gold mine for business.

Anyway those first 7 became commonplace, but the next 7 became trade secrets and I refused to reveal them to anyone, the sellers were told they were trade secrets and they would have a better chance of finding out the 11 herbs and spices from KFC or the formula for coke, and most owners completely understood, if not I told them the "listing presentation" story.

I would be glad to address their concerns and ideas on the subject but there is no way in the world would I reveal any of the 7 secrets. And who knows, maybe the seller is just a future fsbo looking for ideas and market value, or a "secret" agent.

Brian,

Did you get/take the "recorded" listing?

Good for you Bay Area! Anyone listen to Clark Howard? I used to like him, but he has become so critical of Realtors lately.

Clark has made alot of money in Real Estate and giving financial advice but this is what he now tells his listeners to do when selling:

Interview two or three agents and pick their brains as to how they will market your property. Take notes, thank them, use their data and info, and save money. Sell it yourself. If and only if you run into trouble, then call in the so called expert. The NAR has such a monopoly on the RE field you are beholden to use a "Realtor", but you don't have to. Realtors are so hungry now, they beg for your business, and will give you whatever...............

What I listened to was rebroadcasted from a previous date. I don't get the live version. but they are only a day or two behind. The guy does have a huge following though, his show is sindicated and he appears on alot of TV shows as well.

I'm less eager for listings than I am eager to find one of those buyers I've heard so much about.

hehe, what kind of buyer is this. I have three lookie loo's.

I have a lookie as well, but it came from a referral from a past client. Just when I was ready to write them off, the looker sent me a referral that is panning out faster than expected. I guess one day they may buy, but in the mean time I'm looking for another referral from them.

In most cases, your presentation, or speech in general, can be legally recorded covertly, without your knowledge or permission. Of course, there are specific exceptions.

To get back to the OP's questions... "What will you do differently?" and "Do you eat the cost of ineffective advertising?"... here are my few cents.

As a listing agent, there are a lot of things you can do to encourage a faster sale, at the highest price with the least amount of hassle. But advertising ain't on the list, or at least not very high on the list.

What you can do differently from the majority of agents is:
1. Ensure that your seller understands the importance of making his home easily available to show, on relatively short notice.

2. Ensure that your seller understands the importance of being GONE during showings

3. Ensure that your seller understands how important it is to keep the house in showing condition - smelling good, looking good, feeling good.

4. Persuade your seller to make any needed repairs before marketing.

5. Convince your seller to have his home staged, not just for showings, but also for your MLS and online photos. Homes that photograph well attract much more interest from both agents and buyers.

6. Be frank with your seller about the consequences of ignoring items 1-5; if he will not cooperate, you must price the home accordingly.

7. Be known in your market as a good agent to work with. No, not a pushover, but an agent who is professional, easy to reach, knowledgeable and pleasant to do business with.

8. Ensure that the brochure box is always full. If you don't wanna do it, don't put up a box.

And of course, price the home right. AT market or slightly under. If there is a lot of inventory in your area, your home must be among the five or so BEST deals out there. YOu can't just be in the middle of the pack.

Regarding paying for advertising... I told my sellers that the only advertising I used was what I found to be effective. That most Realtor advertising is designed to promote the agent, not the home. However, if they wanted to advertise in print, I'd be happy to design the ad and coordinate placement, but I'd ask them to pay for it. No one ever took me up on it or complained. It helped that my fees were lower than average, so I could easily justify my reluctance to spend money unwisely.

So, Brian...what ARE the 14 things you do differently? Or even the first seven?

Just to add to #8 on Jens list above... DON'T use an MLS printout as your brochure!!!

This mistake is something that I like to share with sellers at every presentation. I have a stack of sad, cheap looking brochures from other agents that I've collected. I show them to sellers* and then I show them mine: full color photos on one side, property info on the other along with web address specifically for their property. It's no contest which one they feel is more professional.

I also like to make up a mock brochure for the sellers home that I'm giving my presentation to. They really like to see their own home presented well & it only takes a few minutes to create one. Just drive by prior to the appointment and snap a few photos. I put points to remember when getting your home ready to sell on the reverse side along with my contact info. Maybe it's a psychological thing, but they really seem to like looking at their own home in print. It seems to associate my company with their home in their minds as I put in a statement like "this beautiful home, professionally marketed by Gulf Winds".

In their minds "our home is beautiful" & "professional" are associated with my company.





* (I remove identifying agent info with an exacto knife as to protect the identity of the weak and lazy.)

Yes!! I hate the MLS printouts!! I created a really nice brochure for one of my listings and my company's owner wanted me to make some for his upcoming open house. The broker said to him "Why don't you just print out MLS sheets? It takes two minutes and they have all the info already on them."

Ahh - but we want them to LOOK NICE.

I use OpenOffice Draw ((similar to Microsoft Publisher) to create awesome brochures. Sure it takes a little bit of time and more thought than just zipping it off the MLS - but that's what Im getting paid to do!

Sorry, Haven't had time to look at this site for awhile, too much going on that needs to be taken care of. I only wish it was real estate related.

To answer Joel, no I didn't take the recording. I told the wife it was nice of her to want to help her brother, but he should have never asked her to be an industrial spy and she should chew him out for me.

This wasn't the first time a broker wanted to find something out. I started to get a large amount of executives that were transferring in to 3 major employers in the area when I opened my first office. A large brokerage that had that business basically sewn up for years was watching his business drop so he hired a private detective to find out how I was doing it. The mistake, I knew who the gumshoe was from when he testified during a divorce case where I was listing the property and I happened to be in the court when he was. He followed me for a month but was unable to figure out what I was doing even though I was doing it right in front of him.

For Perky, the first seven are common place now but almost non- existent back then, things like flyer's were not being done. The last seven are still not being done by most agents, you may have a top agent doing one or two but they are the exception, and still trade secrets.

One thing I did that is not one of the secrets but maybe should be is I used to hand out a post listing pamphlet that covered many of the issues that Jennifer's post and the consequences of ignoring those issues, sort of a silent salesman. Plus I made it the seller's job to keep the flyer box filled.

unless you are a deli style brokerage like asist-2-waist time all marketing expences are on you. They are the risk you take for having the listing. Since the homeowner is not taking any risk they pay for your risk. It is part of the reason commissions are what they are.

It is not all about price ether. A Realtor who knows what he/she is doing marketing wise is worth their weight in gold. I have taken expired listings from discounters and put them back on the market at 2% and even 3% higher and sold them without much of a price discount off the new higher price. Discounter had it in the MLS at a lower price, why didn't it sell then.

You need to learn to earn!!

LOL, sure, I can't wait till to meet the FSBO who will, for example, give a handwritten invitation to all the realtors they personally know to see their house. Oh, I guess it won't take long, they probably don't personally know more than 2. That suggestion is ridiculous, it sounds as if it came from one of the trolls that post on Craig's List.

ill make a full price offer to the seller and buy it via seller financing. also i make the seller a partner and teach them how to become the bank. freeze their equity thats being affected by the market. freeze their low interest rate of 6% and make a 4% spread equivalent to 10% interest rate. split the cashflow with the seller and any future appreciation above the full asking price.

its called an "all inclusive trust deed" or "wrap around." its in your real estate book when you first got your license.

i can expose the property to non conventional buyers who cant qualify for conventional financing today but will be able to do so within 3 years. ill get a piece of my commission up front and on the back end when the house is sold or refinanced.

when we have a tenant/buyer who can easily take over payments, the seller can move on to buy their next home.

if you had an open house with 100 visitors who can make the monthly payments but only 30 of them can qualify for a conventional loan. who's qualify the other 70 people who can make the payments and can't qualify for a conventional loan today?

So Alvin is this primarily all the types of deals you do now?

What happens if you have long vacany rates or unexpected costs or repairs needed to the subject property?

I guess there are a million different ways to skin a cat,this wouldn't be my cup of tea.

How is it working for you?

yes, seller financing is my primary niche after plenty of R&D. i try and stay away from foreclosures and short sales because thats where majority of the competition is at.

there's virtually no competition with homes that are current and have zero equity and properties where the seller's owe more than what the house is worth(overencumbered). ill take those properties all day long. investors dont want these because there's no equity. agents dont want these because there's no equity to pay out their commissions. all i need is a buyer's agent to feed me these properties and ill pay them a commission out of the 5%.

its a good unique selling proposition to buyers, seller, investors, and agents that im working with because most agents arent trained in this type of non conventional transactions. all it takes is a little education on how i do business and what im looking for.

we would collect 2 months up front and 5% for closing costs to keep the payments current upon default. 5% is enough skin in the game to make repairs, remarketing costs, pay commissions and give myself a profit for structuring the zero equity deal. we qualify tenant/buyers with an owner's mentality versus a renter's mentality.

if we cant find a replacement within 2-3 months, the property can be sold FSBO, listed back on the MLS, or the property is given back to the seller as stated in my contracts.

so far, so good.

ive got a few brokers and agents who are willing to open up to my creativity after 4-6 months of just sitting in the market with low offers/no offers. im coming in with a full price which throws them off guard. sometimes i offer more if theyre willing to stay on the loan longer while the tenant/buyer takes over payments. if they want their equity, i tell them i dont need their equity and to refi cash out and use it to their next purchase. if they cant refi, then they have to leave it in place. also i dont need title to their house.

it doesnt work for everyone.

i use this rule:

some will, some wont, so what, someone's willing, next.

I like Mike Ferry's approach to this question. You can say that just about everyone has the same tools, and is going to do the same thing to market their property, but the real question is what qualities are they looking for in their listing agent? If they like you and you have built a rapport with them, you'll get the listing.

i use the above approach. i call it common sense.

all realtors have the same tools available to them, it is how we use them if we use them and how profeciently we use them to get the job done that makes the differece. in my approach with my military bearing and customer service background i show the seller how it will benefit them(i show them in writing) to use my services as opposed to any other realtor that walks through the door. i also tell htem in a very humble way that they can choose anybody to do the job that they want, and tell them to choose the best agent for the job(me). it(their home) is probably the largest single investment in their life, and they deserve to have the most professional agent handling their side of the transaction and watching out for their best interest. also i dont pressure them to sign, i leave and tell them to make the decision based off of who htey think the best agent for them is.... i am good at building repor, so i make sure to state that thye should not decide right now so they realize that i did nto pressure them to sign. for me it works(i know some people will say to get htem to sign right away). but i say that if there are 3 (me and 2 others)agents that are interviewing and the other 2 agents try and get them to sign and make ask them to make a rash decision on the largest investment of their life, and i tell them not to decide now but to sleep on it and call me tomorrow and let me knwo their decision(it is a large decision, and i truly believe that it is in their best interest to sleep on it and not make a rash decision to a high pressure sales pitch). in that senario the other 2 agents just shot themselves in the foot. also i have a personal service guarantee that outlines what i will do and what kind of service to expect(in writing). i give that to them in writing.

my listing presentation consists of about 5 pages straight and to the point, and a cma.

i dont do a 1 part listing presentation. i do the 2 part thing to build repor, and it lets me go into the situation and talk about price on the second trip. the first trip they just decide if they like me or not.

there are 1000 ways to work yoru business. i use what works for me and compliments my personality. find what works for you.

i dont like to be salesy, and htat is the basis for my sales pitch!!!!!

I love this thread..... every one of you are missing the most important listing tool when asked "What will you do differently"?

I'd say, what would you LIKE me to do? If I list your home, I work for YOU.

-jeff

Hmmmmmmmmm?

I'd say what I alway say....

"I will work for you hard smart and not hard stupid."

By this time I know the habits of my competition.
And if they don't buy that, I talk them out of selling their house all together, and tell them to rent it out.
Take out a loan on the house, to buy more property or whatever their wish list has on it.
Then I tell them to call me and I'll let them know when it has appreciated.

At this point I don't mind spending extraordinary energy or funds to sell. Because I know I have a seller that is working with me and they trust my judgement. Sometimes they'll have me cut the price and surprise me by taking a even lessor offer than before???

I've done this at least once a month.
This mostly works, when the people are emotionally attached to the house.
My last client (a lawyer) took up the "Help U Sell" sign thru it on the side of the house. Borrow the money on the house (left to her by her deceased mother). Then she took off to New York.

She moved her Ex-husband and eldest grown son into the home. And she also got to leave her mothers cat there in familiar surroundings.
In other words. Find out the advantages from them, to use to help them, to formulate and to use your knowledge as an expert in real estate.

waht you just said is a sales strategy. making someone think that they failed at what they are doing so that they ask for and feel the need for your help.

kep,

i will bite. what is it that we are all missing




also i would like to say that jeff made a comment that rocks. how we work for hte seller. that is the truth!

I think when doing your pre presentation interview, that one of the things you need to ask is what did they like and dislike about their last experience with a REALTOR.

I think we might be surprised at what they say. We think weekly communication via email is super but they may think it's too much and want a phone call every two weeks.

That would be something different and it might be all that they need. Sometimes what they need to be happy and what we intend to do, are two very different things. Not everyone is capable of being direct and telling you what they want or telling you to do something different. You just won't hear from them again.

If we asked a few more questions, we would have a lot of the answers we need for the sellers. Plus with the information, we would know where we need to educate or re-educate our sellers.

Estatereal,

I had no strategy when I posted that. I had originally started posting what it is I do then deleted it all because I said I would never share it and too many people read this board.

I am not saying how people respond to that question is failure, what ever works for them but what they have mentioned is nothing "different".

Kep,

i was not very clear due to the fact that i dont often specify details(sorry for that). let me clarify, coaches like hobbs herder and many others will tell you how your business is broken so that you will feel teh need to use their marketing strategy to "succeed".

teh way that you posted you question about missing hte most important thing just made me think of their marketing strategy. if you could i would love to hear what is missing, maybee it woudl help my business grow and i am always looking to better my business. if you would send me a pm and i will give you my phone number so that we can speak. i am always trying to become more effecient and profecient and better my business!

This guy sounds like a real pain in the butt. Also I would say that the quality of his advice should be questioned considering what we have heard here.