I miss the old ‘FOR SALE’ signs in south Florida….

September 29, 2007

I saw this in my local newspaper this morning.

I found it very telling of the common thinking on the market conditions. The market situation has become so passe that it is now cartoon material.

This cartoon betrays the common belief that there is one’s options when trying to sell are limited.

Yet, there are 900 sellers and real estate agents in Broward county each month that know different. They SOLD their property.

Location is fixed, you cannot move the property.

Price and Presentation are in the control of the seller and real estate agent. Get those right and you could be one of the ‘knowledgable few’ - one of the 900 properties (out of over 30,000 for sale in Broward county alone).

Price alone will not secure a sale, as in the land of equally priced comparable properties, the one that looks the best will be the first to sell.

Get the property prepared for sale, make the repairs necessary and have the property home staged to sell.

Anything less, and you are a willing participant in the ‘Price Reduction Game’, and make sure to put your order in for the NEW ‘FOR SALE’ signs before the rush.

If you are a south Florida real estate agent that knows the winning strategy? Let us know who you are, and how you play the game to win.

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Sellers, let’s play the Price Reduction Game.

September 26, 2007

Sell your house - let’s play the Price Reduction Game

Once you start, you cannot stop playing it…. It’s a game that all home/condo sellers can play.

It’s so addictive, all nearby home sellers will want to join in…. there are some real estate agents that enjoy the game also.

How do you play?

All players start out with their initial asking price. (Work with your real estate agent to make sure that the price is high enough, otherwise they may not take the listing, and you will have to find another agent. Make sure that you choose an agent that tells you that your home is ready to sell, as the way you live in your home is the way that buyers will want to live there also. Green carpet is an added benefit.)
And at regular intervals, say 2 months, reduce the asking price of their home. (Your agent can help you here, they know the market and can advise you on the best strategy. You may be hesitant at first, but once you see the other players dropping their price and your agent continues to repeat this like a mantra, you will also. Being the first is hard, it is easier to follow suit. You may even be the first at the next round of price reductions.)
Until one of the properties is sold - thats the winner
The lower the price, the better chance of a winner - a home being sold, (Then again, you knew that from the start).
Once you start playing the game, you cannot stop, you have to continue.

Most common strategies for winning the Price Reduction Game.

Start your home for sale at a really high price so that you can stay in the game longer. Pick your agent wisely, make sure that you hire an agent that needs a listing, or is unable to tell you the market reality for fear of not getting the listing. Look at the agents previous sales, you can tell an experienced Price Reduction Game player from their past sales.
Be prepared to reduce your asking price more than the other players
Be ready to convince yourself that the market is to blame. Your chosen agent can be very helpful here, and may even start the game early once you’ve signed the listing agreement.
And there was no other game in town.

Psssst.. want to know a little known winning strategy.

You win by selling your property, so price it right in the first place? Price your property ahead of the market, it will take the other players in the game a little while to catch up with you. Choose an agent that demonstrates knowledge of the market, and can validate their suggested listing price with facts. Make sure that your chosen agent understands the Price Reduction Game and knows that there is a different strategy to be applied. An agent that is prepared to walk from a highly priced listing, is probably the agent that you should be most interested in talking more with.

Make the necessary repairs/improvements, and have the property professionally home staged so that it stands out from the competition. A real estate agent that understands the value of making an investment in preparing your home for sale, and isn’t afraid to tell you that you need to do so, is an agent that understands the winning strategy, and is only prepared to play to WIN. There are not many of them out there, you may have to spend some time to find them.

Your sale price will still be higher than if you had joined in the Price Reduction Game in the begining. As the agent understands the Price Reduction Game, they can clearly articulate this fact using an absorption analysis and current inventory review, to show you that their strategy is the best availble strategy to get your home sold, and for more money than if you play the Price Reduction Game like all the other players.

No home stands out if all sellers play the Price Reduction Game. There are many Price Reduction Games started on any given day, and as each game drags on, everyone gets disinterested and find another game to play. You can tell when this phase starts as communication between team members starts to go silent.

Winning allows you to sell your property before the other players, and allows you to move straight onto the ‘It’s a Buyer’s Market Game” to buy your next home. Chose an agent wisely as they can be the first critical playing move you can make.

If you are a south Florida real estate agent that knows the winning strategy? Let us know who you are, and how you play the game to win.

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NAEBA says “do not get tricked by home staging”

September 25, 2007

As reported in a featured article in Realtor magazine, the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) released a report last month advising that home buyers be on the lookout for home staging when looking at properties.

With the advent of TV shows like “Designed To Sell,” “Buy Me” and “Flip This House”, home staging is becoming an expected part of a property selling strategy.

To address this development and in an effort to protect their clients (buyers), NAEBA released the August 2007 report “How to not get tricked by staging - and potentially save $5,645 when you buy your home.”

The report outlines some of the common staging practices and how they might influence a buyer to purchase the wrong home, or a home that might be hiding serious defects. The report includes examples of staging and cautionary tales from real estate agents working directly with buyers.

“The whole intent of staging is to get the buyer emotionally involved with the home. Our member agents want home buyers to see things logically, to “see past” the staging,” said Jon Boyd President of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents.

“When we surveyed our brokers and agents, 82% of the respondents stated that buyers were likely to get distracted from important issues when viewing a staged home.

The report mistakenly touted staging being used to cover up defective areas of the home, professional home stagers know the boundaries between deceit and staging a home to look better than the competition.

This report validates the effect that having your property professionally staged can have on potential buyers. When the organization that claims to represent buyers only starts to pay attention, you know it is working for those savvy real estate agents and sellers that know that home staging can have a great impact on home buyers.

Those are the properties that are selling first in every market. In the land of equally priced properties, the staged home will sell first, leaving the other homes to play the price reduction game.

The way you live in your home, and the way you market and sell your house, are two very different things.

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