All Forum Posts by: Irene Nash

Another thing you can do is adjust your bid so that the ending number doesn't end in 5 or 0, which is where a lot of people naturally go to. So if you do your market analysis and around $255K sounds right, consider $256K or $257K, for example. 

Plenty of people do those kinds of numbers as well (and the absolute most crucial part is to make the bid based on market value and also based on knowing your walk away price) - but once you've figured out market value, tweaking the number so that you bump upward from a 5 or 0-ending number, as long as that's still OK with what makes sense financially, might help boost you past a few others. 

Market value estimation is never a specific percentage range above or below list price, I realize a lot of 'methods' teach this, but that is starting from the wrong end of things.

The question is, what is the market value (regardless of list price, which the listing agent seller could have set at high, low, or spot on)? 

To figure that out you need to do a market analysis, the same as if it were your home and you were putting it on the market. So you and your agent need to look at the data for comparable pending and (very) recently sold homes, as well as whatever active homes may be available - because solds and pending aside, the value of this prospective home will be comparatively lower if there are 15 similar homes on the market for buyers to look at compared to if there are just one, two, or zero other homes like this for buyers.

And I know it's tough with HUD homes because they don't take escalators, but in the end, armed with your market analysis data, you need to bid your 'walk away' price, meaning that if you bid a dollar under what it goes for you'd be OK with not getting it, rather than kicking yourself and wishing you had bid a dollar more. Good luck!

It's only a natural progression if you've always dreamed of owning a combination dairy farm + restaurant. Just kidding. :) But owning a brokerage takes you from managing yourself and your clients and transactions in your own quite independent business (still operating under the guidelines of your brokerage, obviously) to managing and being responsible for a large number of PEOPLE - plus a lot more liability.

So the main point I would make is that IMO it's not a natural progression, the huge shift in business model and activities and responsibilities means examining it as a new business and evaluating the trade-offs just as one would any other new venture. For some people owning a brokerage is the right dream and goal, for others just the thought evokes a 'run screaming through the woods' reaction. You can probably tell which one I am. ;)

One thing I heard 20 years ago at a Brian Buffini seminar and never forgot was to not dress down for your friends when they decide to work with you. 

If you dress for them the same way you dress for anyone else (which could be suit, business casual, or jeans and boots, depending on where you work and your typical client demographic), you're sending them a message that you're treating their business as seriously as you're treating the business of people who you 'need to impress' because they don't know you yet. 

(If you dress more casually than you normally would and mention it they'll always say it makes no difference and to not worry about it, but I still think it's best to control that message and 'go the extra mile' by dressing for them the same way you'd dress for anyone else.)

Keep in mind my preferred working attire would be surf shorts and flip flops, so I totally understand any incentive to dress down. :)

It completely depends on what the agent will do for you in terms of helping to increase the market value of what you are selling BEFORE it goes on the market, and also in terms of doing an accurate market analysis so that you are priced at the sweet spot.

IMO this includes:

- Consultation beforehand to determine what projects are or aren't going to make a significant difference in your sale price.

- Nearly always (unless your home is like a staged new construction model home) staging - meaning even if you have your own items in the home, usually moving things around, removing some, replacing others with rental items if the original items make the rooms look too small or dated, adding/replacing decor and art work, making sure flow and decor maximize space and positive features, repainting walls if the paint color is lowering appeal.

- Same concept for outside.

- Professional grade photos.

- Pricing that takes into account your home's unique features, which could mean going higher or lower than just lumping it in with the mix of comps that appear to be similar.

This is agent specific and not necessarily related to a specific company, I see high end 'premier' listings poorly marketed by mainstream traditional companies sometimes and some 'budget' agencies where the agent just did a great job with this stuff. 

You're less likely to get a 'discount' with that level of service but in my experience it can increase the market value of the home by 10's of thousands compared to not doing it.

Just a heads up that not all stagers are good, some are excellent but some get caught up in staging and over-stage with too much clutter and furniture items that make rooms looks small.

Look at an agent's previous listing photos because ultimately they are the ones who work with a lot of buyers too and should know how to handle listing prep so that it appeals to buyers (aka staged for SALE). Or they might do it themselves like we do, the point is the proof is in the pics.

And also in having a history of reasonable market times and not consistently having to do price reductions (which would indicate a tendency to overprice.) Good luck.

Hi @Stacie Pearman, thanks for posting the link. A few thoughts:

- The home at 1040 is around 330 sq. ft. larger, I know it has 3 beds and not 4 but the square footage does make a difference and it would have a different floor plan and therefore 'live' differently.

- Also it has not yet gone under contract, so there's no way to know to what extent it is or isn't priced for the market.

- In my experience social media won't convince people who have seen a home listing to buy it or to see it if they've decided not to, and the buyers who are looking typically find everything that comes up in their price range, usually they have searches running with even wider parameters than their agents. I realize that's just my experience and things may be different in your area.

Some possible things to consider:

- I know you just reduced the price, but if things continue and you're not getting showings or offers that is typically a price reaction, regardless of what people say. If it turns out another price adjustment seems justified, being at $250K or a hair under will put you in the search parameters of a lot more people because they tend to search in 25K and 50K increments.

- Before trying that, if you have the time, you could try this, which may sound gimmicky but I have found it to be very helpful: Get the cloudy skies in your photos replaced with realistic blue skies. 

I don't think Bigger Pockets will allow me to post the link for the guy who does this for me on the Fiverr site but just Google "fiverr photo_panda" and the link to his page on Fiverr will show up in the results. I have found absolutely that it does make the house more appealing to online viewers. (Obviously if a house is severely overpriced it can't make up for that.)

Attaching an example of what I mean. Not a startling difference, but clearly more friendly and appealing IMO.

He would need the full resolution files from your agent. Fiverr is super cheap so please leave him a great tip if you use him, he's a good egg. Best wishes for a successful sale.

Would you be able to post the Zillow links for the other two homes you mentioned? Their size and stats are important in reference to your question. Your photos are good and your home presents nicely online.

(Also just a heads up that some areas have rules against taking a house off market and popping it back on, depends on the regulations for your area's MLS.) Please tag me if you reply and I'll check back.

Seriously @Nick Boring, you're asking the wrong people. :) ASK YOUR TARGET MARKET!!! :) :) Smiley faces to show I'm not trying to be obnoxious but yes I am yelling, in a hopefully friendly way.

The answer you are seeking lies with your target market, not with agents. This is why companies who spend millions on marketing track ad response, because until they put it out there to their market they don't know which ads will perform better and that is all that counts, regardless of what the experts in their marketing department think is the best ad.

I've come up with a couple of marketing ideas in the past that when I ran it by some clients and friends for feedback they just had to say 'nope'. I'm really glad now that they did.

Recommend creating that simple survey, don't say which version you like best, just ask your people to pick the one they're most prompted to click on.

And if you post back here with results please tag me because I'd be interested to hear what they said. Good luck.

Also if you decide to go with your original version, I would recommend first asking actual consumers, not agents, what they think is best. They are the ones who decide how good your marketing is, not by what they say but what they do.

So if in doubt, create a survey using a free survey tool and send it out to 50 or 100 or however many people you know that you can, and ask them to click on the first name that appeals to them out of just two choices, 'TheBoringAgent.com' or 'TheNotBoringAgent.com', for example. 

Tell them a marketing person gave you two ideas and you're testing them out, so they're not afraid to hurt your feelings.

No matter what we think we know as agents when it comes to marketing, it's how our target market responds that tells us what we really need to know.

Hi @Nick Boring , I'm sorry but I have to agree with people who said it was a bad idea, I really think it is - I do have a suggestion, but first to explain why I think 'boring realtor' is not a great idea:

They say a top rule in marketing is to prioritize being clear over being clever. Here the goal of being clever results in a very clear message that you are boring. I personally don't like to be bored and am certain I would be less likely to call someone called The Boring Realtor - whether subconsciously or not - it doesn't matter, it's a call you don't get. And most people would tell you I do definitely have a sense of humor. 

HOWEVER - why don't you work with "the NOT boring realtor" as a catchphrase? You could do a lot with it, it's totally memorable, helps people remember your name, it has a positive message and also shows you have a sense of humor. 

The 'boring realtor' message comes across like 'I'm sorry, you're stuck with me' whereas 'not boring' tells me this person has a sense of fun, is not boring, and knows how to laugh at himself. I would be way more likely to call you.

Plus you could do all kinds of things with it in a marketing sense, showing yourself doing real estate (or even other stuff) in a humorous, maybe slightly off the wall and definitely not boring way. Fantastic branding opportunity.

Hope this was helpful, good luck either way.

PS. This might be overkill but I can't stress enough how much I think you should NOT go with the 'boring realtor' thing. Another great rule of marketing is 'first do no harm'. Also about NAR, I don't think you can use 'realtor' in a website name but other words would work fine. If agents are brokers in your state like they are in WA you could do 'the not boring broker'.