Dear Mr. Seller, Please don't lump me in with the other...
I was grocery shopping this past weekend when I stumbled across a home seller who I had met over a year ago. At the time, we were right in the middle of a huge price drop and prices were spiraling down around us.
I presented the comps and explained that the key to selling in that type of the market was to price the home ahead of the market and to sell it quickly. I demonstrated our pricing strategy and showed him how we could have him into a new home with 45 days.
He kept pushing back on the price. I refused to take the overpriced listing and a few days later one of my competitors gladly planted his sign in the yard. They listed the home at $400,000, only $45,000 over its market value.
"Hey there!" I pleasantly greeted him. "How have you been? Did you sell your house and move to the lake yet?"
"No!" He grumbled. "You agents are all the same! You make promises that you don't keep. You claim that you can sell things and then you only put in the least amount of effort."
"Be careful," I retorted, "and remember that you didn't hire me to sell your home because you thought that my price was too low."
"Well, you wouldn't have done anything different! I am on my 3rd agent and you are all the same. You just put it into your computer and let it sit. Aren't there any real estate agents who work for a living?!"
Still smiling and ignoring his last comment, I asked, "What do you have it priced at now?"
"We agreed to list it at $355,000."
I didn't have the heart to tell him that he is now only overpriced by about $30,000. Lucky for him that the market has leveled off a bit!
So:
Dear Mr. Seller,
Please don't lump me in with the other agents who have allowed you to bully them into over pricing your home. If you will remember, I am the only one who told you the truth about pricing your home and I am the one agent who refused to guide you down a path to failure. You chose an agent who either didn't have the experience to price your home correctly or didn't have the courage to walk away from your listing. Either way, you chose weak real estate agents who couldn't get the job done.
I am neither inexperienced or weak. Please don't put me into the same bucket with the others.
Sincerely,
Mark Hall
Photo by zappowbang
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Mark, If he listened to you, and it sold quickly, he would have said you priced it too low! With some people, you just can't win!
Nicely said. Agents who continue to put overpriced homes on the market are not doing sellers or themselves any favors.
Mark,
Many of us are going to xerox your letter for a mass mailing tomorrow! Still feels bad, doesn't it?
Mark, what a terrific post. It's sad how we do get clumped into a big heap of dirt when a seller has a bad experience. Did he even give you a nod of recognition that you were right in the advice you gave him to start with? A very experienced agent told me as I was starting out: when presenting your listing info be sure to write the list price you recommend. Sometimes sellers forget.
There are "those who refuse to get it!" They delude themselves into thinking it's worth more and "they are going to get it!" Ha....guess this came around and bit him in the butt didn't it. While he won't outwardly admit he was the one that screwed it up for himself...not you!
It does continue to bug you I'm sure, with that said, you know you approached it the right way and told him how it was NOT what he wanted to hear!! These kinds of sellers just aren't worth fretting over.
Patricia/Seacoast NH
By the way, I'm going to re-blog this I like it so much. It will be worthwhile to get it "out to the public eye" in more ways than one.
Thank you,
Best,
Patricia/Seacoast NH& ME
This was a great post! Good for you for walking away and staying strong. I love it... Let the other agent waste their time and money....not to mention provide false hope for the seller. The seller is the one that looks foolish and knows exactly where you were on price.
Good grief, just like children - selective hearing. The only thing about this is that price out of the gate was not the only issue had you listed this home. I'm afraid it would have been a constant challenge to be where you needed to be to get this sold
It's a hard lesson for them to learn, and I think that some of them will never learn it. They will never take responsibility and the Realtor will always be the scapegoat.
Well, Mark, I would lump this guy into a category of prospective clients who do not pass the fun test. This guy didn't hire you because he really, really wanted to have a big problem.
Mark you hit the nail on the head. I wish we really could send such a letter to stubborn clients who want to over-price their property. I would also have turned down the listing. Good for you.
Mark
Good post. We lost a listing the other day because someone said they would list it higher. Not that it might sell but got his expectations up.
Hi Mark,
You'd think the comps would speak for themselves, nothing to do with the agent! Good job sticking up for yourself.
Mark,
Great post and many agents if they would learn to walk away from listing that are overpriced would be better in their career and actually make more money. It may seem tough, but it is the right thing to do in the long run and the clients should respect you more for telling them the truth.
Perfect example of the power of positive pricing. Unfortunately the seller has been so blindsided he cannot remember that you were the one who gave it to him straight.
Mark,
Some of those sellers are still out there. They refuse to accept any of the blame for their home not selling. I guess it's just easier to blame the Realtor. Ugh!
On the positive side...you weren't stuck with a listing that couldn't sell.
Rich
It happens all the time unfortunately. We will see how long it takes until #4 agent lists his home!
You clearly are doing what is right for your sellers and that is what you are supposed to do, not lie to them like so many of them do.
Beautiful example of why we must price it right from day one.
Great price and boy would'nt it have been nice to say you are still overpriced $30K LOL!
I think this is classic! Blaming the agent, when it is the unrealistic seller who is at fault. I spoke with a FSBO today, with the intent to try and get the listing. I knew, because a neighbor told me, that the house had been up for sale for THREE YEARS! When I finally reached the owner (after several calls and unanswered messages), she insisted that house was worth $200,000 more than anything similar selling in the entire community! I offered to send her some comps, which I did. But with that attitude, it doesn't surprised me that (a) it's still up for sale after three years, and (b) no other agent has taken it over. They would be foolish to do so, unless she is willing to be reasonable about the price.
Hi Mark -- It's SOOO obvious you understand the shifting market and provided exceptional advice. If we were attorneys, we would have received a non-refundable 500-1,000 for this value-added advice. Your advice was worth 5x your commission as you are one of the few agents who get a shifted market.
It's unfortunate he didn't listen to you at the time and save himself the loss of so much money and frustration.
Great little story. We can't always control the perception of the public. If someone were to comment to me like that then I would know that I did not connect with him personally. There is little that can be done in a situation like that. Good work.
Well, Mark. I can lump those sellers all together. I was once told by my wife that I shouldn't worry. The customer will come back to me once he realizes I was right. No, I retorted. He won't ever call me again. My wife wanted to know if it was because the customer would be too embarrassed. Ha! They are never embarrassed. They will be too angry was my reply. Your little story tells it better. Thanks for sharing.
Mark, good post. We've all been there on the price issue. I find it interesting that everyone who has commented has focused upon the price issue when the seller was really making a comment that shows that we don't do enough to educate sellers about what we are doing behind the scenes to market their homes. The differentiationisn't in pricing, it's in marketing efforts.
Sure price is the most important issue, but without all of the marketing efforts that are going on, beyond just planting the sign in the yard, having the right price wouldn't make all that much difference. When I take a listing there is 2-3 days worth of work involved in getting all of the photos of the home and creating the home flyer and creating the virtual tour and getting the video done and then getting all of that marketing material presented properly on all of the Webs sites that it needs to be on. I try to keep the seller updated on what I'm doing and where things are located, so that they can see an appreciate the work involved in marketing their home.
Many Realtors don't do enough to show their clients the efforts that they are putting in on the marketing, or maybe they just aren't putting in that effort. If you let the seller see the results of your "work" to sell their home, maybe they'll be less focused upon just the price issue. At least they may assign some value to your work and not tend to lump you in with those real estate peoplel whom they think just throw the sign in the front yard and do little else.
LOL, I would have told him he's been chasing the market. "Hey but good news: instead of being overpriced by $45,000, you are now only overpriced by $30,000. Give it another dozen agents and you will eventually meet the market and sell the property!"
Edited for typo
Your on the money Mark. Like Chris Olsen's comments! Yeah Chris. Mark, you sound like you gave that seller excellent advice. Strange though isn't it, when they realize their error in judgment, they don't call YOU back, Sellers!
Mark, Unfortunately we are hearing stories like this on a regular basis. Sellers that are holding out for that high price. It's tough, as so many of them have their life savings wrapped up in their homes. I hate hearing of sellers that wind up chasing the market. Pricing too high, can cripple a property.
Mark,
Been there...we all have. I too just hate to hear that....it is always the same....frustrated people take their frustration out on the nearest person.
It should be reassuring that you didn't spend any part of the year with the unhappy person. Thanks for the post and the reminder to not knuckle under to the unrealistic.
There's a difference between being on the market and in the market. That seller will continue to hire agents that validate what he wants to hear.
AMEN! I had the wife of a Broker....largest company in the area.....ask me a while back why my listing inventory is so low....I told her that if I didn't think the house would sell that I was not interested in listing it. She promptly asked me to give them her phone number because, "I will put a sign in their yard!"
I have handed out her name and number numerous times this year!
And I wonder why that brokerage has 40 agents out of their 104 with 1 or less sales last year!
looks like he is not going to come to his senses. Good thing you did not waste your time with him.
It happens way too often that we hear those words that "All agents are the same" then we have to set out to prove them otherwise. But, it is sad when you have already proven it and they still won't believe it.
WOW that has a sound we're hard before. We took a listing just as the market went south and priced it to sell in 45 days, however the seller push us and we took it anyways on (bad) advice from our broker. He said you can push down the price in a few weeks. We started to chase the market dropping the price weekly finally stopping 80K lower then the original price. Still over price by the end of the listing we told the seller we did not see any reason to relist the home if we could not price it to sell. Well you guessed it the listed with another agent at the same price, and there is sat on the mark got another six months.
Now I get a call from the seller and now they are in trouble and need to sell short. We price the home now 330K lower then the then the original price! Get an offer in days and approval from BoA no less.
The kicker, the seller doesn't take the deal and lets the home go into foreclosure...
Now if we had gotten the price we wanted originally all of this would have been avoided and the seller would have made money...
We don't take listing if we don't get the right price anymore, period.
All too common. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."
Mark,
Sellers of course want maximum for their property, but they have to be realistic as to where the real estate market is. Or the home won't sell no matter who lists it.
But did you say this to his face? I like those where you can just turn around and say "told ya so" behind their back!
Mark - At least you have the satisfaction of knowing you provided accurate advice. A reasonable seller in your area who reads this post will no doubt contact you.
Mark, Good post! I have walked away from more listings than I have taken in the last year. It hurts ....but I refuse to deal with the overpriced properties and the headaches they cause! Hang in There...It is obvious to me...You are way above being lumped in.
Mark i think you're quickly becoming my favorite blogger - I just had to re-blog this too! :-)
I see the parallels between residential real estate and commercial. After revealing the sale comps of commercial, I have had to say, "We're better off not working together at the price you want because the market does not support your desired price. And in the end, you're going to be frustrated and mad at me because it did not sell. Best of luck."
Well you have saved your self a lot of headache by not getting the listing when you first tried! It is amazing how a house priced to high at the beginning can never seem to recover and get to the "right " price...we just continue to "chase" the market......and the sad thing is that if they had listened to you in the first place you would have ended up getting them more than they will ever see now! So sad!!!