Search results matching tags 'FSBO', 'Kansas City', and 'Investors'

When is an old idea, a "rerun", a good idea??

230330 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:21:00 GMT

Location, condition, price, traffic...These are the cornerstones of successfully selling your client's home.

Ever get a longing for the "good old days"....Or talk with your friends about..."back in the day"? Nostalgia aside, our memories of the events of our lives almost always exceed the events themselves..."Selective perception" is a great thing, except when your memories are enhanced by the feelings of the event. Make sense?

In our business, (residential, and residential investment real estate), we are getting a huge gorundswell about Open Houses...A large local brokerage is touting Open House activity as a major indicaor of their efforts to sell homes, and the evidence that they'll do whatever it takes to sell a home....Hum.

Statistically, less than 1% of all homes ar sold through an Open House....Experientially, almost every realtor I know has sold a home thorugh an Open House....Just not the house held OPEN.

How can that be?

Open Houses attract buyers....Buyers who may or may not be working wth a Realtor. If they are unattached, (not working with a Buyer's Agent), the Open House agent has the opportunity to share what they know about the subdivision, the city, the school ditricts...based on the questions the Buyer asks...Great channel to build relationships. I like it so far. You too?

Sure we get to sell the benefits of the home we are holding open...and believe me, we are in it to win it...working diligently on behalf of our Sellers....Make no mistake about it.

Irony is, many agents and brokers are touting Open Houses as the next big throwback idea....

An Open House will attract attention, especially if the OpenDay, (where other agents in an area work cooperatively) is used....Many Open Houses stirs a bigger pot and drives more traffic. More buyers means more opportuity to sell the home for your Seller.

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20020103_open.htm

Open Houses are great tradition....and when the internet fails, a great way to drive traffic.

Our clients expect results, and while Open Houses are one way to drive traffic....Should we talk about ALL of the other channels we use?

"I thought all sellers are desperate"; "Why can't I get the house I want at 30% off the listing price"

230330 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:30:00 GMT

The good ole "lowball offer"....Welcome back friend.

Foreclosures across the country are up, but trending downward in Kansas City, and especially Johnson County, Kansas.

Why? Simple....Our market didn't suffer from an overdose of skyroeckting, overinflated housing prices. We sufferred from an increase in overvalued BUYERS. People who had little or no business buying the $350,000 home, and should have stuck with $225,000 homes....Not the fault of mortgage lenders, nope....

Excited, pumped up by all of the economic news, "pie in the sky" visions of living in a home they couldn't afford....And on occassion, there were unscrupulous lenders, appraisers, sure....But by and large each of us is responsible for where we are....Agreed?

The article attached tells all about foreclosure rates....

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-01-14-foreclosure-record-filings_N.htm

...But what it doesn't tell you is that maybe a pro can help you out of your mess. Should we talk?

And if you believe a professional is expensive, hire an amateur.

The truth is messy and complicated....

230330 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:17:00 GMT

As Chris wrote to many of our clients, the answer sounds a lot like a contradiction.....With foreclosure rates falling in Kansas City, interest rates also falling, prices still falling....a little....

Sounds like "blue sky" to me....The truth is...Messy, complicated....Our market is still strong for sales as well as purchases, and for those sellers who are willing to ask fair prices for above-average condition, sales will keep chugging along. For those sellers who are in "la-la" land about the value of their "baby", 2009 will be as miserable as 2008.

Our clients expect straight talk, and that exactly what they get. Sometimes that means, "I don't know, but this is what my intuition and the data are moving me towards....".

A client sent me a great article regarding 2009, our economy, real estate, the whole shebang....Check it out....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123103188733751647.html?mod=yahoo_free

Then give us a call for the straight talk you need to get to where you're going. And if you are trying For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, well, welcome to your fantasy. Call us and we'll tell you in 3 minutes or less why that strategy doesn't work, cannot work in a strong Buyer's market.