I am spearheading an educational Brownbagger this coming week at our Association of Realtors. It will be a panel of Sellers discussing how it is that they came to select the Realtor they are working with, what their expectations are, whether or not they have switched Realtors and why, and so forth.
I had the brilliant idea to include a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) seller to liven things up. I thought a FSBO perspective would add some interesting insight, if I could find one willng to be immersed in a room full of Realtors for an hour! So, I perused Craigs List in search of willing FSBO panelists. I received a very nice and insightful response from Michelle. I cringed at a few of her comments, and I'm happy to say that I don't see reflections of me, and how I operate, in ANYTHING she said. I would love to know what you think of her experience. I have to say, I don't blame her one bit, under the circumstances, for making the decision she did. The highlighted emphasis is mine...
Hello Janna,
Thank you for your email. I am unable to attend as next Thursday I am doing an Open House for local agents/brokers. I am hoping to get at least a small attendance :-)
As far as my position goes, I was with a Realtor for the past year, but with no results. Part of what drove me to go the FSBO route is that I needed to lower the price of my home (in hopes of generating interest) and the only way to do that and still try and get out of my mortgage was to try FSBO. I simply can not afford the 6% commission, particularly since I was the one doing all the photo work (I'm a photographer), postings on Craig's List, as well as doing the few showings that I have had over the past 12 months. Other than putting the listing on the local MLS, I just didn't see any other motivating factor to list with another Realtor.
I certainly understand that many Realtors nowadays are resistant to put the effort and money into a listing that may or may not produce results in an acceptable time frame. Basically, "we ain't in Kansas anymore Toto" and the days of buyers flocking into agent's offices are long gone. In light of that, I feel that today's market really requires some aggressive marketing to get a property out in front and my experience is proving that most agents simply do not want to make that type of investment in terms of time, effort and possible financial cost.
From a professional standpoint, this is proving to be very relevant as I used to do full home shoots that include all editing, multiple sized images, uploading to TourFactory, etc., for only $275, which I did dropped down to only $200 and I am still met with resistance from agents who do not want to put any $$$ into a listing. Even with the advantage and most importantly, the first impression, that professional images make, they are still unwilling to make the investment. I can't tell you how many times I've been told that they "simply have too many listings to worry about".
At any rate, thank you again for the invitation. I wish you much success as it sounds like you are one of the few making the effort it's going to take to get the job done!
Best regards,
Michelle
When I read the part about her being told by Realtors that they have too many listings to worry about, I almost fell out of my chair! Any real estate agent worth their salt knows that it DOES take effort to get a home sold these days. LOTS of effort, savvy, and sometimes, depending on the property, it takes lots of marketing $$$. It takes a real estate agent that knows how to determine the profile of the prospective buyer, and gear the marketing toward THAT demographic.
Especially in Michelle's case, where she has a stunning and unique property, she needed a real estate agent that knew how to market her property. Her buyer is likely going to NOT be from our area, but someone looking for a second home, a vacation property, a mountain retreat. I wonder how much internet marketing, targeted to feeder markets and the correct demographics, her previous Realtor did. Hmmmm. I'll bet, NONE! I'll bet there was a sign in the yard and a listing in the MLS. Not good enough. Is it any wonder that many people don't think so highly of Realtors as a whole????
I would love nothing more than for me or one of my ActiveRain associates to bring Michelle a buyer. Take a look and keep it in mind. And feel free to add a message to Michelle in your comments, I will be sending her a link to my blog so she can follow along, and perhaps learn something that might help her going forward from the talented, top notch professionals here on the Rain.
Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.
Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700 NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com
Janna Rankin Scharf provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.
No matter how grand or modest your real estate dreams may be, you can turn to me in confidence. Give me a call today and let me know what I can do to be of service to you!
Janna Rankin Scharf AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS 208.651.9700
Wow, that is horrible. It is an embarrassment. Not much more to say about that. But also, your Brownbagger lunch with the panel of sellers. Wow, now there is an interesting idea. Kudos to you! I was president of our board 3 different terms, and really, no one wanted to do anything. I am waiting to hear how it goes. Keep us posted!
Janna, you have a great idea there with the Brownbagger lunch with sellers! I too would love to hear how that plays out! Should make for a very entertaining blog!!
As for the FSBO, she has some beautiful shots of her home, and she may be lucky and snag a buyer, but if we with our masses of web juice for our listings isn't more than she can do on her own I will eat crow!!
I'm not a realtor, I'm a stager, but I would like to say that the Animoto video is fantastic and her brochure is very well done also. It is so unfortunate that she had the wrong realtor and now feels she would be better off on her own. I think it is really nice of you to solicit advice for her using this forum. I wish her the best of luck. It is a beautiful home and a stunning property.
Hi Janna, I wish Michelle a ton of luck, it is a gorgeous home, the brochure and video are very impressive. before I got my real estate license, I was a FSBO (twice) - but that was in the "good old days"
My only advice for Michelle is: find another Realtor(r) that will work hard on your behalf, who knows how to market, ( like Janna) Figure out the cost of the commission compared to the cost of staying on the market another year. In these current market conditions, we need all the help we can get - I would hate to be out there today as a "FSBO"! I will certainly keep this home in mind, should I hear of anyone moving to your area, and again - I wish you well, Michelle!
Janna,
Wow! She has a beautiful home! And, thanks for the invite to take part in the panel on Thursday. Kevin will be there for sure, I will definetly try. You haven't RSVP'd to my WWW invite yet. It's tomorrow night. Wanna come?
Maryellen
Janna,
It looks like a lot of people are beating around the bush here. Yes, the agent wasn't doing any of the work to justify the commission and that's a bad thing. On the upside the photos are far better than what I've seen most agents take but then again your seller has an unfair advantage here.
If the seller did all the marketing as described and still there were not significant showings or offers then it's the price. Buyer's a looking for deals right now. The market always tells the truth. I would say the seller needs to get someone to give them a solid market analysis and come to terms with what the home is really worth. You could probably do that for her. Once the reality of the situation has been accepted a game plan can be developed and the options will be clear.
I would rather tell someone the truth and risk losing the listing then lie and have admit it down the road. If the marketing is done correctly as in this case it looks like it has and what you get in return are low showings and a higher than average number of days on market it all points back to price.
Also going FSBO to save the commission may look like a good idea but it can actually cost you more money than the commission ever will. I had a seller do the exact same thing for the very same reason. She has since re-listed and is not nearly 20K below what we had it listed at with another agent and it's still on the market. Had they reduced the price by half of that when we originally listed it or shortly after when we were seeing everything I have described here I could have actually saved them 10K or more because they would have been ahead of the market.
Well that's more than enough out of me for now.
Andrea- I just got back from the brownbagger, and will be posting a review later today for your reading enjoyment!
Caren - I am happy to report that in my humble opinion you are not in any danger of having to eat crow. But if you ever are, I found some interesting crow recipes when I was in a position to do a little crow eating. They actually looked pretty good, but just where do you GET crow? Can I substitute chicken?
Sharon- Thanks for stopping by and weighing in. Never underestimate the value of a good stager!
Mary- Always good to hear from you, and visualize you there in my old stomping grounds! Before I was a Realtor, I too sold two houses FSBO, late 70's and mid-80's. Both were disasters. Back in those days I didn't realize that everyone wasn't as honest and ethical as I am. What a shocker to find out there are people that will look you straight in the eye and lie to you... Live and learn, not much gets by me these days, just ask my kids!
Maryellen - We had a great panel discussion, Kevin was awesome, of course! I never did get any women panelists, I will have to try harder next time, I think it would have added. Biggest surprise of the day, Kevin is REALLY TALL! He hadn't struck me as tall in the photos I've seen of him. He tells me you are also tall. Which just goes to show me two things - 1.) Life is not fair (I'm 5'3 and fantacize of being tall enough to reach into my kitchen cabinets) and 2.) We really DO have to get together and meet face to face sometime...
Brian- Hey there, thanks for stopping by and not beating around the bush. I agree with most of what you say. You might call me a rogue Realtor, because I don't always think it's as black and white as the price when you have a unique property. Although, yes it would be if it were a more typical listing in a price range that had good activity. Exposure to the right demographic is a big factor. I think because previously I worked primarily in a specific niche, I understand how important it is to profile your likely buyer, target a marketing plan to that buyer, and then get your property information in front of him. No argument on the FSBOs rarely saving the money they would have spent on commission, the stats bear that out loud and clear.
I really was curious to see what kind of response this post would bring. I appreciate your comments, and I hope to have an opportunity to meet you before long. It's been fun watching you gain on Christina in points as you sprint up to one of those Featured Agent spots on the Idaho page. I'm content for now to be with her at the top of the county page. I'll strategize while you two duke it out. If I know her, she won't go down without a fight! ;-P
It's a gorgeous home! And beautiful pics. I work so hard for my sellers, besides posting to my outside blog and localism, I also do postlet or realbird flyers and syndicate all over the web...one way to check out a savvy agent these days is to google them. Very interesting activity with the brownbagger. Is she at least offering a commission to a realtor who brings a buyer??
Janna,
Kevin said he had a really good time and that the information was helpful - even to him, and he doesn't sell real estate. Are you planning any more? I'd love to take a peek at my schedule and see how I can fit it in.
Have a great weekend!
Maryellen
Janna, Sorry for not getting back sooner.
All of a sudden I had four Listing Appointments....Followed by two offers I was submitting and negotiating one of my own listings.....All thanks to four months of agressive marketing..... Now to your FISBO. I used to see a commercial where the Doctor is telling the patient over the phone where to make an incission and operate on himself...Attorneys have a saying An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client.....
Since the economic downturn it takes longer to sell a home PERIOD, hence I spend a lot more time and money and energy in marketing my clients properties. Two years ago I handled 34 transactions, hence I am abit more skillful in negotiating then the FSBO...Plus I am not emotianally attached to the outcome. So if your FISBO chooses to sell on their own. Ask them to call you in 3 months and see if you are still willing to take the listing. After all it is your marketing money and time.
BTW I did not see a floor plan as well as I did not see a Virtual Tour nor did I see dedicated website for the listing. Or is that too much for your FISBO to coordinate or spend money?
Sorry for being so harsh, but in today's market I am very sellective on which Sellers I take on. Anyone who tries to waste my time or money is not going to list with me. There are many other agents that can have that type of seller. BTW is her price somewhat realistic? Let me know.
Endre, better late than never! Congratulations on your surge of business, it's what we all hope for! This FSBO is pretty sharp, and her chances of finding a buyer on her own are better than a typical FSBO. All the points you make are right on target. I think her frustration is that all of the things that YOU and I know a good real estate agent brings to the table are things a she wasn't getting anyway, when she had it listed. That's the frustration. Thanks for taking the time to respond, and have a wonderful week!