Ron,

You are absolutely right, I agreed 100% that proper pricing and complete property discription will sell. Also my suggestion is that the owner should prepare/clean/update the property and look at it as if they are the buyers. What can they improve w/o spending too much money: e.g. landscapping, remove old dead flowers, buy new ones. PAINT, and most important KITCHEN AND BATHROOMS, replace old facets. I hope this will help.

Mario  

Ron, are we not hired to market the property? What sells a house besides proper pricing?  Location, Access, Exposure, Willing buyer and seller.

Ron,

Yes, those are the two most important considerations to selling a home. How lazy or technologically inexperienced can an agent be not to place the maximum number of FREE photos in the MLS? Or...take the time to seasonally update the exterior photos and give the home "maximum exposure" to the best of their ability?

Exposure to qualified buyers would be a third consideration.

I believe that the number 1 reason why homes don't sell, is the PRICE.  You can sell a shack in the middle of nowhere, but it needs to be priced accordingly.  So many home sellers blame their agent for not doing their work, but it was the home seller who didn't listen to the agent in first place.

I've see homes sold that were in terrible condition, clothes lying all over the house, dirt everywhere, but the price was right.

To have the best possible outcome, every home seller should follow the 3 P's rule: PRICE, PRICE, PRICE.

Also, home sellers should listen to their agents.  We're professionals for a reason.

Ron, what do you do though when the comps show one thing and the seller won't listen and you've sent a termination letter and the seller won't sign it?!!!!  I've gotten this repeat seller good money for his past homes but this one is in a location whereby he is ignoring the location and trying to compare to homes that are similar to his yet in a better location - even though 3 blocks away and it does make a difference.  

In my experience, buyers are emotionally driven.  Most of my buyers know within 2 minutes of walking into a house if it is the right one.  

Pictures are the only way to expose the property to a large number of potential buyers.  Talking house, brokers opens, just sold mailouts are all  secondary.  

Save the fees from these  and go take a photo course.  

Ron, thanks for the subject.  This re-liberation blog site has made me really start thginking about my business again. I think I have been on auto pilot for the last while.  I may even go out and take my own advise    

What you say is right on the mark!  Many times agents do not properly fill out the mls description correctly or they put in very scant info like the property size, and condition but the one I enjoy best is directions 'see mapquest'. That indicates the agent has no idea about the neighborhood or community where the listing  is located. It is a diservice to the home owner because it could deter agents from showing the home especially if they are rookies ... $0 taxes is another item that gets to me .. how will the buyer calculate how much the monthly tax will be added to the mortgage? It takes a few minutes to verify the info especially since many towns have websites where you can obtain this info.  

Open Houses, signs in the yard, Magazine ads in homes magazines, 800 call back numbers, Talking House, Just Listed mail outs........these are things we do to get listings.  It makes our listing presentation "impressive".  I agree with the pricing, but I also believe in target marketing.  I bought my first home because my mother-in-law picked up a flyer on the windshield of her car.  It had a picture of the house, price, a brief description and said something about first time buyers and financing with little or no money down.  I, as a buyer at that time, had no idea I could buy a home without cash!

Barb,

From experience, we know that the most successful home sellers are those that "think like a buyer". I require a tour of at least three comparable homes prior to going over price with homeowner.

Prior to going to the home, I search all the public sites that buyers can find the price range for their home (zillow, cyberhomes, realestateabc, realtor.com) and have that information available to present from the buyers point of view.

Ron and Gary,

Thanks so much guys, I've been pulling my hair.

Pricing, marketing, location and wearing a clown suit at open houses.

Barb,

When your seller won't listen, have them get the house professionally appraised. You can even tell them if it appraises closer to their number, you'll pay for it but if the appraisal comes in nearer the price you recommended, then they pay for it! Its amazing what a third party opinion can do.

As for what actually sells the house, it is a combo of price, condition and marketing... or better still, about perceived VALUE. You have to be able to get your client to stop focusing on price and show your client the value they are getting for their money.

Value is always the key..you wouldn't pay 25.00 for a baseball would you?   I bet if it was autographed by Babe Ruth you would in a heartbeat! Why? VALUE!!

Good Selling

Lenn

Ok, don't shoot at me, but I am going to take it down to the bare bones. Houses sell themselves. I know I know, we do alot of work BUT when it is all said and done, if the house is right, the house is right. Price is hopefully somewhat negotiable but the buyer knows when they walk in the house that it is theirs or not. Yes, it is important to paint and fluff, price right, advertise etc. I have had buyers tell me if it looks as good in person as it does on the website, they are sold. Well, it usually looks better in person. I have yet to have to put on a clown suit.

Back to the question of PROPER information in the MLS:  It is so easy to get a potential buyer to take the time to view a home when there are lots of remarks describing the home in detail, especially when you are taking "opportunity time" and haven't seen the home personally.  How can you describe something you know nothing about?  I am in a market that is too large to know all the listings, and it is amazing the response when you can read the remarks and the caller feels as though you know the home.  Many times this makes the difference of whether you will meet the potential buyer or if they will just keep calling all the agents in the real estate for sale magazines.

The thing that bothers me is when and agent simply states" too many to amenities to list".  It only takes a moment to be a little creative, or simply list the amenities! Our job is to let buyers and other agents know WHY they need to see this house. If it needs TLC, say it. If it looks like a Hotel Lobby, spit it out! They like to say "shows like a model". Why not get a little creative so I can see if it is a match before I waste my time and my buyer's time looking at the wrong house. If it just says "too much to list", then it's not worth my time to look at it.  You are not doing your sellers or their home any justice, and you're not doing YOUR JOB.

Good photography is a must.  With many potential buyers searching on line our listings have to get their attention upfront with a clear photo - it is amazing how many pictures are of really poor quality...and then the sellers wonder why their home doesn't sell.  Personally, I feel that it is essential to take interiors - even the worst homes have some features that can be displayed.  I have had many buyers want to pass up on homes I suggested they look at simply because there were no photos on line or because they were such bad pictures.  As agents we also rely on those photos if we are in a market area like mine where you can't possibly preview homes because of the distance.  I always take the time to straighten up a little if needed and it shows the seller the difference in how their home should look for better showings - always be teaching staging when going through the home with the seller.

Ok, Ok, all of you are right but the real turbo charger to selling a home is Reverse Trading.  This is when you sell a home (double end, is the best) subject to the seller guaranteeing to buy back the sellers home if the selling Realtor "tm" doesn’t sell the buyers home within a certain time.  PS: you can sell a lot of new homes this way when there is a lot of stock sitting or to be built.  This is a method of listing a large builders stock of homes and you usually have up to 6 months to sell the used home.

For Sale By REalty "tm"

forsalebyrealty@shaw.ca

You are absolutely right!!!!! Pricing is the number one selling point.  If it is priced right it attracts more buyers.  Sales is a number's game.

The more buyers see a property the more it sells faster and with multiple offers which in turn brings the price of the home up.

Yes, I agree we are professionals and I wish most sellers and buyers understand this.

I didnt saw that anyone mentioned FAST response to customer email. For me that sell house the BEST.

Sinisa

For the seller, location, condition and price are the keys. The agent has to professionally market the property with excellent pictures and a detailed description.

Anything less is a disservice to their seller.

Great points!  Interior photos are definitely important.  No interiors screams something is wrong with this house.  It also screams lazy agent!  Price is very important as well.  But as agents we need to make sure people see the house online or are directed to it.  It could be a great home but if nobody knows about it, they won't buy it.

Marketing aside, condition and price are the two factors controlled by the owner.  You can do everthing in the universe to sell a home, but if condition and price are not correct, you are wasting your time and money.  Try this, spend more time and money on finding good listings and don't take bad listings period.

Hmmm... this thread would be a great link to place on my web site for sellers to read.  "What REALLY sells a house? Click here to read what REALTORS say"

Would that be OK??

I'd like to take Carol and Steve's statement one step farther: no interior photos does indeed raise a red flag for viewers (agents as well as buyers), but more often than not it really IS 'lazy agent'. As Nancy pointed out, even the worst homes can have features worth showing...even a 'fixer'. The pictures should tell the story of the house. I have never seen a house where there wasn't some sort of story that could have been told (I have however seen homes inhabited by uncooperative renters whose presence did not help the house; in that case, I would think some kind of discrete remark in the agents-only area is in order).

Secondly, you're right about needing to direct people to our online advertising. Too many agents 'have websites', but do nothing to drive traffic to them (insert billboard in the wilderness analogy here).