| Hey all, All month I have been talking about our out-of-the-box listing approach that nets our sellers more money while we get to make more commission. I realize it sounds too good to be true, especially if you aren't in one of those "hot markets" where throwing a sign in the yard gets the job done. Not only does our approach work, but it will instantly set you apart from any other agent in your market. There are more than 1.3 million REALTORS® in America , and I guess you could say that there are 1.3 million ways to sell a house. But the truth is that there are really only two ways to sell a house: you can sell it by price, or you can sell it by traffic. Every other sales method is a subsidiary of one of these two. We'll explore the two different approaches at length and discuss how they differ and how one of them will yield far better results for your client while making you more money. The Traditional or "Price" Approach. I've read dozens of books – probably hundreds of books – on the subject of real estate. Many of these books speak of the importance of listing real estate, and all of them describe nearly identical listing approaches, with only slight differences. Now, the reason for all this sameness is obvious: it's the way listings have been done since the beginning of real estate. It's the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing. Well, I'm here to tell you that it's broke! If you expect to make a lot of money in real estate, you need to determine what everybody else is doing and then do the opposite. Okay, here's the basic formula for the "traditional" or "price" approach. As you'll recall, we talked earlier about building a CMA, or comparative market analysis, for your client. The traditional approach teaches us to find the "reasonable range" of value and then try to list the property on the low end of that range. If the home doesn't sell within a month or so, we're all taught to…what? You got it! To ask for a reduction in price. Then if the property still doesn't sell, we lower the price again, and again, and again, until eventually we find a buyer for the place. Think about it: we're selling the house by price. We're using the price as our marketing tool. That's why we continue to lower the price, or wait for appreciation in the market to lower the price for us, until the house eventually sells. One of the reasons this approach works well for the agent is that it places the entire burden of selling the home on the seller! Another reason for using the traditional approach is that the agent doesn't have to spend a lot of money marketing the house. He doesn't have to spend a lot of time or effort devising a marketing plan or promoting the property because the price is doing the selling for him. There's no doubt that this approach will work, of course: it's been working for decades with good and bad agents alike. However, there are a few drawbacks to the traditional approach that are seldom mentioned. First and foremost is the agency issue. It's your job as the listing agent to represent the seller's interests, which include getting the absolute top dollar for the property. However, most agents don't get top dollar when they use this approach, and the reason is as simple as supply-and-demand. When there are fewer buyers competing for a home, the sale price may need to be discounted substantially in order to attract interest. In economics-speak, "with a fixed supply and a scarce demand (i.e. fewer buyers), prices drop." Another drawback to using this approach is lack of speed: several months may pass before the traditional approach begins to have an effect. In the process, the home often becomes stigmatized. After several reductions, it's not even shown to potential buyers because it's been on the market "too long" and is now assumed to have something wrong with it. If the agent starts the process too high and then reduces the price too slowly, the home becomes very difficult to sell at any price. Many times, listing agents unwittingly become de-facto buyer sub-agents; and even though I don't know a single listing agent who would intentionally sell out his client, it's entirely too easy with the traditional listing approach to help the buyer rather than the seller. And, yes, I realize that my judgment may sound harsh, but if you'll honestly examine this method, you'll have to agree that, very often, it doesn't yield the best results for the seller. The Traffic Approach. To understand the traffic approach, we need to turn our attention again to the "reasonable range." Real estate is entirely different from liquid investments with absolute values. For instance, anybody can look up a share of stock and immediately see its current price. But because values are subjective in real estate, there tends to be about 10% flexibility in the price range. Consider a home that's valued at $100,000. It's not worth exactly $100,000! It's really worth between $95,000 and $105,000. If the price drops below $95,000, nearly everyone will agree that the house is a good deal; and if the price goes above $105,000, nearly everyone will agree that the property is priced a little too high. However, within the "reasonable range" there is little price resistance. Here's how the traffic approach works. Instead of listing the home at the low end of the range, you raise its price to the high end. The problem? Now there's no compelling reason for anyone to show it or buy it. Now here's the secret weapon: you raise the commission by 2%! What you're doing, effectively, is "bribing" agents to include your listing on their show lists. What I do is raise my commission from 6% to 8%, and then I raise the price about 10%. The client then nets about 8% more money before any negotiations! Sometimes, not often, the appraisal knocks the price down a bit. When that happens, it's usually a minor adjustment, and then the seller has the option of lowering the price to match the appraisal, or else the deal, as written, falls apart. The buyer also has the option of paying, out of pocket, the shortfall in the appraisal or canceling the deal if there's an appraisal contingency. When that happens, the client knows that he got the absolute top dollar for his home. Now, I know that almost any agent will immediately say, "I never look at the commission when I'm working for a buyer." But I don't believe that noble-sounding claim because statistics clearly indicate that it's not true. I don't know any agent who would willfully sell a buyer client a home that wasn't right for him; but if there are sixty homes in the market that generally match the client's criteria, and if three of those homes pay higher commissions than the rest, it's certainly not unethical to make sure that those three properties end up on every show list. In addition, there's nothing wrong with hoping that your client chooses to buy one of the three. If he doesn't, no big deal; but if he does, you just got a big bonus! In our market, this traffic approach has statistically netted our customers 2.7% more money on average (based on the average discount) while selling their home in half of the average DOM. The real beauty of having a marketing approach that goes beyond putting a sign in the yard and slapping it on the MLS is that you can have the confidence to set expectations with your seller and calm them when they get antsy right out of the gate. Tomorrow, we are going to talk about the best way to present these two approaches to your seller. If you have been enjoying this series on listing homes, then I'd like to ask you for two favors: 1) Check out our Pipeline Pro Tools system. Not only does it provide every tool you need to make your business successful, but I personally coach every agent on how to advertise and use the tools to change your business. 2) Share the presentation with a friend. This doesn't benefit me personally, but I'd love to see the discounting trend stymied. Until next time, Levi Jones Guerilla Realty |
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Price vs traffic
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