Passing on Overpriced Listings Everyone knows this famous passage from The Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” —Reinhold Niebuhr Here’s my version for listing agents (Realtors representing home sellers): “God, grant me...Read More
Novice Realtors Rush In Where Pro’s Fear to Tread “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” Realtors who don’t know the above rule ” or forget it ” soon get the opportunity to (re)learn it. That’s because negotiating the sale of personal property, particularly furniture, can be more challenging than dealing...Read More
Qualifying Buyers #101 In the course of holding hundreds (thousands?) of Sunday open houses over the years, I can usually tell relatively quickly whether a given prospect is serious or not. See if you can guess which of the comments below indicate serious Buyer interest: A. “I LOVE this house. Why is it so cheap?!?” B. “What...Read More
“Old Wine in New Bottles?” No, the homes didn’t debut on the market at 12:01 a.m. (the earliest time I saw was 9:29 a.m.). And no, the would-be Seller didn’t win a lifetime supply of diapers, detergent, or some other promotional item (I suppose the housing equivalent would be a Home Depot gift certificate, or maybe a...Read More
Or Should That Be, “Whddya Know?!?” “What do you know?!” might very well be the Swiss Army knife of expressions. I count no fewer than five different meanings: #1. What do you know about something nefarious; accusatory. Police to burglary suspect: “a Rolex watch is missing from the hotel room; what do you know [about it]?” #2....Read More
” . . . and Your Dog’s Ugly” I recently heard about an agent who shows up at every listing presentation ” essentially, a job interview for Realtors ” with a conspicuous “Sold” sign that they leave in plain view of the prospective Seller. Apparently, the agent thinks it projects confidence, “go-getter” hustle, etc.** However, it backfired...Read More
