Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Upside Down House In Germany
A worker stands in front of the 'Upside Down House' in Trassenheide on Usedom Island, northern Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. The house of an entrepreneur from Poland is part of the project 'The World Upside Down' that should allow visitors a different view of every day items. The building is expected to open its doors for visitors in the upcoming week. (AP Photo/Frank Hormann)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Realtor Malaise?
September 12, 2008 5:23 p.m. EDT
DOW JONES REPRINTS
No Sale: A Bad Agent, or a Lousy Market?
Here's how to tell whether your agent is suffering from market malaise.
My 12-year-old home has been on the market for almost three months now. It's in excellent shape, and from the start we set the price close to recent comparable sales, at our agent's recommendation. In the beginning, we got a lot of showings, but lately, nothing. Our listing agreement is about to expire, and we can't decide whether to keep this agent. (Since we've already moved away, it would be tough to interview new agents.) How we can tell whether our current agent is doing a good job, or if the problem is just this horrible real estate market?
It's easy to get depressed about selling your house these days, when bad news about the housing market crops up daily. It's especially discouraging when you've been keeping up your home, following professional advice about staging and are trying to be clear-sighted about your price.
That real estate agents, as well as sellers, can get into a blue funk these days about the real estate market is also understandable—but far less forgivable. Given that you typically pay $25,000 in real estate commissions on a $500,000 house, you deserve an all-out effort to bring in buyers. And the blitz should be unrelenting, not just when the listing is fresh.
Too often, that's not what I'm seeing. I'm not sure whether it's caused by despondency over market conditions, laziness or simply incompetence, but many agents are overlooking the basic tenants of marketing these days.
To illustrate, I've been randomly driving around Northern Virginia for the past several months looking at homes for sale in the $500,000 to $1 million range. In many cases, the for-sale signs have plastic boxes to hold listing sheets and brochures, but inevitably, these are empty. So home shoppers must guess if the home fits their basic needs and price range before calling the agent, which some people find intimidating or embarrassing, especially if the home turns out to be above their price range.
Then there's the question of open houses. Although sellers often insist on them, many agents can't be bothered to do them any more—or they just hold so-called "broker's opens" for the benefit of fellow real estate agents. Worse, many of the agents who do hold open houses spend their time hanging out in the kitchen rather than engaging buyers in conversation and determining their ability and willingness to buy (I've been to some where the agent didn't even ask me my name). The oft-repeated rationale that no one ever buys a home they've seen at an open house is simply untrue—in fact, a buyer did exactly that when I sold my first home in the late '80s.
Similarly, according to an article written last month by Bill Shue, president of Realty U Group in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for National Realty News1, a Web site targeted to Realtors, some agents are failing to return buyers' e-mails promptly. He cites one instance where 50 real estate agents were sent an urgent e-mail message from a buyer saying he was in town and wanted to buy immediately; all failed to respond. He also criticizes agents who spend a lot of money to drive traffic to their Web sites, but fail to provide enough "content rich" material when they arrive.
I can appreciate how hard it is for agents to stay motivated and upbeat when anxious sellers are constantly pushing them for results. And having to handle more listings, for a longer period of time, during these troubled times is a double burden.
But sellers shouldn't be shortchanged. That's why it's critical for you to do some detective work before you relist with this agent. Ask a friend from the old neighborhood to go to check your brochure box, visit your open house and send an e-mail asking a few questions about your listing. You'll soon learn whether the problem with selling your house lies with the market or the marketing.
Write to June Fletcher at june.fletcher@wsj.com
DOW JONES REPRINTS
No Sale: A Bad Agent, or a Lousy Market?
Here's how to tell whether your agent is suffering from market malaise.
My 12-year-old home has been on the market for almost three months now. It's in excellent shape, and from the start we set the price close to recent comparable sales, at our agent's recommendation. In the beginning, we got a lot of showings, but lately, nothing. Our listing agreement is about to expire, and we can't decide whether to keep this agent. (Since we've already moved away, it would be tough to interview new agents.) How we can tell whether our current agent is doing a good job, or if the problem is just this horrible real estate market?
It's easy to get depressed about selling your house these days, when bad news about the housing market crops up daily. It's especially discouraging when you've been keeping up your home, following professional advice about staging and are trying to be clear-sighted about your price.
That real estate agents, as well as sellers, can get into a blue funk these days about the real estate market is also understandable—but far less forgivable. Given that you typically pay $25,000 in real estate commissions on a $500,000 house, you deserve an all-out effort to bring in buyers. And the blitz should be unrelenting, not just when the listing is fresh.
Too often, that's not what I'm seeing. I'm not sure whether it's caused by despondency over market conditions, laziness or simply incompetence, but many agents are overlooking the basic tenants of marketing these days.
To illustrate, I've been randomly driving around Northern Virginia for the past several months looking at homes for sale in the $500,000 to $1 million range. In many cases, the for-sale signs have plastic boxes to hold listing sheets and brochures, but inevitably, these are empty. So home shoppers must guess if the home fits their basic needs and price range before calling the agent, which some people find intimidating or embarrassing, especially if the home turns out to be above their price range.
Then there's the question of open houses. Although sellers often insist on them, many agents can't be bothered to do them any more—or they just hold so-called "broker's opens" for the benefit of fellow real estate agents. Worse, many of the agents who do hold open houses spend their time hanging out in the kitchen rather than engaging buyers in conversation and determining their ability and willingness to buy (I've been to some where the agent didn't even ask me my name). The oft-repeated rationale that no one ever buys a home they've seen at an open house is simply untrue—in fact, a buyer did exactly that when I sold my first home in the late '80s.
Similarly, according to an article written last month by Bill Shue, president of Realty U Group in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for National Realty News1, a Web site targeted to Realtors, some agents are failing to return buyers' e-mails promptly. He cites one instance where 50 real estate agents were sent an urgent e-mail message from a buyer saying he was in town and wanted to buy immediately; all failed to respond. He also criticizes agents who spend a lot of money to drive traffic to their Web sites, but fail to provide enough "content rich" material when they arrive.
I can appreciate how hard it is for agents to stay motivated and upbeat when anxious sellers are constantly pushing them for results. And having to handle more listings, for a longer period of time, during these troubled times is a double burden.
But sellers shouldn't be shortchanged. That's why it's critical for you to do some detective work before you relist with this agent. Ask a friend from the old neighborhood to go to check your brochure box, visit your open house and send an e-mail asking a few questions about your listing. You'll soon learn whether the problem with selling your house lies with the market or the marketing.
Write to June Fletcher at june.fletcher@wsj.com
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