Yada Yada Yada

Picture provided to me by our good friend Steve Donnelly from Auburn, NY.

Listing stuff

I was recently doing some research on listings that have sold or not this year. For a Real Estate firm to survive you must have listings, the trick is to get the listings that have a chance to sell in today’s market. One of the hardest things for the listing agent to do is to tell their client they are overpriced. In reality you are doing your client a disservice by not telling them. The primary point of listing the property is to sell the property not to make the company phone ring.

One home that I looked at hasn’t sold and looks to be a beautiful home which I have shown. It went on the market in Jan of 2008 priced at $749,000 this company had the listing for 6 months and reduced the price to $675,000. It was then given to another company and listed it at $675,000; it stayed at this price and company for 90 days. It was then given to another company and is now priced at $599,900. I submit that it may have been the price all along. I hope the seller’s get it sold and it will be a nice home for someone.

On the other end of the spectrum is a home that just recently closed. Originally it listed in April of 2006 for $799,000 with a very good Real Estate agent. It was reduced and reduced and reduced and the final list price was $459,000 sold for $395,000. It was on the market for 905 days with the same agent.

As a seller you can always go to the real estate office and have your agent go on the computer and show you the comps for your home. One of the best methods is to take you and show you the competition. That way you can actually see what you are up against.

Thanks

Jim Bagwell