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The pain of over pricing and poor photos… and how not to get bit by them, 9+ questions to ask your listing agent. July 3, 2008

I’ve noticed a trend in my business lately.  Several consumers are contacting our team for help in re-listing their home after having a poor experience with a prior agent.  While it is true that selling activity in Puget Sound is lower this year than last, there is still some positive selling activity occuring with some areas of Puget Sound continuing to grow in housing values. 

So, with there still being some sales activity why is it that these folks are contacting us?

What I’ve seen as key factors in the lagging sales of these homes is poor pricing and presentation of the properties.  In one case the price had been overinflated by hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus it had poor presentation in photos and staging, so the home languished sitting on market for over a year.

In the majority of these situations things could have been handled differently with the past agent.  And, while I believe that me and my team provide a higher level of service than many others, we know we aren’t the only game in town that can figure out the right mix of marketing, presentation, and pricing for a property.  However, in these instances, I do believe the former listing agents could have done a better job - for certain - but, as a seller, it is also up to you to do a good job of interviewing a prospective agent.  A few good questions by the seller might have led to a different decision about how the house was marketed and led to a better discussion about what impacts the value of a home.  This, in turn, could have led to a more informed decision about where to place pricing.

So, to try and help those of you out there who are considering putting your home on the market, here is a list of 9+ questions you can use to qualify and interview your prospective listing agent.

1.   What methods of advertising do you use, and why?  Can you tell me which will likely be the most effective?  How comfortable are you using Internet advertising methods?

2.   Do you think my home will need prep work or staging to get it ready for market?  What types of things do you suggest for sellers and why?

3.   What is the typical timeline for selling a home that you have represented and how does that compare to the local marketplace?  What percentage of selling price do you typically get compared to list price?

4.  Do you offer any particular programs or services for each home that you sell such as a home warranty, professional photos, etc?  Does your fee determine whether additional services are included or not?

5.  If you don’t provide these additional services yourself - do you at least have companies you can refer me to that if I choose to use them directly to prepare my home more effectively, I can do so?

6.  Are there any special considerations I should have while selling my home such as security, prep for showings, etc?

7.  How often will you communicate with me about the sale of my home?  What kinds of reports can I expect?

8.  Will I get a chance to review and approve any of your advertising or marketing materials such as the flyer, MLS ad, or otherwise?  If not, why?  If I am not satisfied with a piece, will you work with me till I am?

9.  How will you determine the price that should be advertised for my home?  Will you include me in those pricing decisions and explain to me any reasoning for a price above or below my own estimate?

This list isn’t meant to be exhaustive but it will definitely open up a lot of good (or what should be good) conversation between you and the agent you are interviewing.  If the agent is unable to respond to any of these questions then you should seriously reconsider whether or not you will use him/her regardless of if it is a “family friend” or otherwise.  In today’s marketplace it is important that you make the right choice the first time, if you can.  The buying public is much more sophisticated today than even 10 years ago because of the Internet and because of the onslaught of home focused television shows and channels like HGTV.

 

 

Rain City Radio: A West Seattle Story June 24, 2008

I really enjoyed today’s conversation with Tracy Records of the West Seattle Blog.  Tracy shared a ton of great stories with us and I learned a ton…

Click here to listen to the entire interview!

And below are some links to some of the things we discussed:

We covered a lot of great topics in the interview including her perspective on the elements of the media that has fundamentally changed.  As someone with 25 years experience in the traditional media space AND a successful local blogger, her perspective was fascinating!

Click here to listen to the entire interview!

*Note: If you’re wondering why this post looks different then when it was originally published, I didn’t like the outline that I originally provided, so I changed it around a bunch.

A West Seattle Conversation! June 23, 2008

Screenshot from the West Seattle Blog

I’m extremely excited about tomorrow’s Rain City conversation!

I invite the entire RCG community to join us at 4pm on Tuesday for a conversation with Tracy Record, the local community expert who runs the West Seattle blog.

My plan is to talk with her about the vibe of West Seattle, what’s she’s learned running the blog and what some of her favorite neighborhood places.  In addition, I’ll open up the phone lines to YOU so please come with your questions for this person behind this wonderful local resource!

If you’d like to join the conversation, then please consider calling in.   All the details on our the Rain City conversation page of Talkshoe!

And to answer the most common question from last week: You can listen into the conversation by calling in using ANY phone… However, if you want to get on-the-air, then it really helps me if you log into TalkShoe so that you can ping me in the chat room when you have a question or comment! Again, all the details (and there aren’t many) are on the Rain City conversation page of Talkshoe!

By the way, I’ll announce our guest for next week’s show tomorrow on the show!   I have a feeling that this series of podcasts are going to turn into something really special so set aside 4pm on Tuesdays so you can always take part!   And if you haven’t tried taking part in a group podcast yet, I highly recommend logging into this show.  You might be surprised just how much you enjoy it!

UPDATE: You can listen to this interview by clicking here or going to the post where I outlined the interview about with Tracy from the West Seattle blog

Fishing season is officially open! June 4, 2008

To this title you might ask, “which salmon is available?”  Well, I’m not really talking about fish with scales and fins here.  What we’ve noticed over the past month is that the fishing with low offers is getting pretty common in a lot of price ranges.  These occurred in neighborhoods ranging all over the area too including Greenwood, Phinney Ridge (x2), Bellevue (Bridle Trails), and Mercer Island.

Some of these properties I can understand the desire of investors to lowball and get a bargain.  One of these homes I had listed was already priced to be a good value for the neighborhood so my clients completely ignored some extremely low all cash offers from an investor because they weren’t THAT motivated to sell - meaning, we’d only been on market for about 30 days.  Now, 2 years ago being on market that period of time would have made some people nervous but, realistically, most homes take longer than just a few hours to sell or even just a couple of weeks. So, we ignored the first 2 ridiculous offers and another one came along (still low). We put forward a counter with a very small price change and the buyers took it. WAKE UP CALL!  We’re not in a buyer’s market in the Puget Sound region.  We’re in a balanced market.

What I’ve noticed in talking with all of the agents submitting offers for these various listings I have is that they’ve all bought into their client’s mindset of thinking that “it’s a buyer’s market” and they should be able to really drop prices via their offers. But the agents aren’t helping their clients by doing the work associated with helping “sell” those offers.

Yes, there are some sellers out there that are still hanging on and desperately wishing for the days of the high flying markets we had for 5+ years, but reality is kicking in for most and the scales are becoming more balanced.  This isn’t the rust belt where the economy has sunk and houses have sunk lower.  If you’re a listing agent you had better be able to justify your pricing.  And, if you’re a buyer’s agent you should do the same for your offer.  One lowball offer we received my partner went back and asked the guy to submit his comps that supported the offer.  The agent’s reply was, “well, I don’t have any, it’s just what they wanted to offer.”  Our client almost completely ignored their offer except for some details we pointed out that led us to believe they’d accept a counteroffer with a minor price change - and it worked.

Another listing had an agent providing comps but they just solidified my client’s view that our pricing was right on. We did go ahead and submit a counter with a faster closing date and some small concessions that we expect will be accepted.

I will admit though that with a couple of my buyer clients, who are not in a hurry to buy, we’re doing some of this offer roulette.  We submitted an offer on a MI house for about $100k less than asking price but we also put forward our pricing analysis and comps that supported the price point.  The house had had several large price drops based on other agent feedback as well and it was definitely a cosmetic fixer.  It might have worked out for my clients except that the house got another offer the same day - it was still a very low offer but not as low as ours so the seller started negotiating with them.  But, that’s okay because my clients are willing to wait for the right deal for them.  This house was going to need roughly $200-400k in updates over time so from a cost perspective the price we offered was what they were willing to spend knowing the costs they’d incur later.

Having watched the low offers come in for one of our listings my client provided the impetus for this post by saying in an email, “well, it looks like fishing season is officially open!”  I’m glad that she’s got a good head on her shoulders and a good sense of humor too.  These are the clients you really enjoy working with especially when you can have sensible discourse with regard to your work together, market conditions, strategy, and more.

Happy fishing! 

8 New Seattle Neighborhood Blogs Added to Neighborhood Round-Up May 29, 2008

Since my last Neighborhood Round-Up, we have 8 new Neighborhood blogs added to the Rain City Guide Blogroll.  When I go through the existing blogroll reading the neighborhood blogs, I am always looking at their blogrolls to find new ones to add to RCG.  Two weeks ago I emailed Dustin the most recent ones I found, and he added them…did ya notice? 

So I want to introduce our 8 new Neighborhood blogs, please welcome….

Over at My Ballard , the struggle to FREE Ballard from 101 years of oppression is being marked with a free prize at Archie McPhee…just say the Secret Word!   

Moving to Southeast Seattle, The Rainier Valley Post announces all (it’s quite a list!) the fresh goodness now at the Columbia City Farmers Market.  

Central District News reports that a CD P-Patch will soon be growing from a vacant lot. 

 A Tree Grows in Capitol Hill…8 Block Walk is worried about a favorite Pocket Park tree. 

How to bike to work from an island…photo essay from Surrounded By Water: A Mercer Island Blog 

At The South Lake you can make your mark on a poll…”Do you pay to ride the S.L.U.T.?” 

cap to the hill reveals a secret place…joe’s bar…to spend some time.  

inBelltown …well, “it’s currently down while we undergo maintenance.  We’ll be back online soon!”…is missing it’s RCG debut! 

New Seattle Neighborhood Blogs….  Welcome to the Rain City Guide Blogroll!

Seattle Neighborhood Round-Up May 15, 2008

The weather is warming and so are the Seattle neighborhoods….

Issaquah Undressed asks: 50 to 80 in a day?   More changes happening on Beach Drive Blog.

Get your “Spring Cleaning” in gear for CHS Capitol Hill Seattle and The Garage Sale, and Miller Park Neighborhood Association announces neighborhood clean up this Saturday.

Capitol Hill Triangle and a favorite breakfast treat in a tiny cafe, and on Capitol Hill, the poster for this years’ Block Party! 

Captain Columbia City launches it’s new neighborhood personalities interviews, for more cinematic news…vote for your favorite “Movies on the Wall” at West Seattle Blog.   

Blogging Georgetown and the annual Georgetown Art and Garden Walk and Mid Beacon Hill is covering Georgetown and uncovering a new mural. 

It’s Farmers Market time again at Kirkland Weblog, and at the Outer limits: The Lake City Blog the Farmers Market is relocating. 

Broadway Seattle  bikes Broadway… The Wedgewood Blog … and the Rock Walk.   

Atop the Top: Queen Anne Highlights points out that a person can always learn something new about their neighborhood. Cosmo Seattle and new info on Denny Park. 

Pondering Fame and Infamy at One A Day -Mostly Seattle and lastly…Breaking News on Ballard Avenue!

May Day Seattle Neighborhood Round Up May 1, 2008

It’s May Day today in Seattle and hopefully we are now finally into Spring and warmer weather.  To celebrate the return (not to mention the return of the Neighborhood Round Up after its unscheduled winter hibernation) are a few Seattle Neighborhood Blog postings on Spring….  

Happy May Day Seattle! 

Alki  marks the time for Tulips at Pike Place Market, and Ballard Avenue marks an earlier, colder Tulip!  

Over on Broadway Seattle the warmer weather is bringing fresh produce…another kind of “produce” is noted on Capitol Hill Seattle.   

Arbor Day festivities last weekend in Issaquah Undressed.  Market fresh produce is coming in May to SammaMishmash .  

Kirkland Weblog and the False Spring Day on April 12th, and Spring brings color, blooms and babies on Queen Anne: All About the Neighborhood.  

Spring brought more than flowers to Lake City Blog…Tweedy and Popp!  And lastly, a different “sign” of the Rites of Spring in West Seattle Blog. 

Thank goodness Spring is finally warming up!

Be afraid, very afraid… April 11, 2008

The Tim launches the Naked Loon.

Also see: Citizen Rain and Seattle MetroBlogs coverage.

Best Pizza Delivery in Seattle February 9, 2008

Nov5eable 129

Hands down…Pagliacci. Do you have another favorite? I’d love to hear it. My “standby” is the Brooklyn Bridge…however the “seasonals” are a treat…The pizza in the photo is the current seasonal: Salumi’s finocchiona salami, Mama Lil’s goathorn peppers, roasted fennel, mozzarella and ricotta cheese on an olive oil base.

Delish! Do you know of a better pizza delivered to your door in Seattle? Bring it!

How difficult is it to find a good rental in Seattle? January 6, 2008

I have a few “Google alerts” set up to be notified when certain terms are published on the web, such as Rhonda Porter, Mortgage Porter and West Seattle.   Tonight, the West Seattle Google alert pointed me to someone who is looking to rent a 2 bedroom home with “a soul” for up to $2800.  

We are moving to Seattle very soon. Need online resources to find a nice rental home for the two of us. We are looking in the Ballard, Queen Anne, and West Seattle areas. I’d prefer non-mega corporate rentals, ie. one or two unit townhomes, a house, or a smallish apartment building. I’m familiar with craigslist, which I’ve been using a lot. Also familiar with NWapartments. The larger sites like rent.com list rentals that are just too cookie cutter and commercial for us. Please give resources to help us find a nice, unique, home with a soul. BTW, we are looking at the $1800-$2800/month rent range for a 2bedroom.

Are rents that high?  Do rental homes really lack soul?  I rented my two bedroom in West Hill Auburn on Northlake a short time for $1800 per month a couple years ago that had “the soul” of worn out shoes.   I loved that funky house.   However, it was not a “good rental” for many reasons (1/3 acre garden, septic tank, etc), I clung onto it for personal reasons and have since sold it. 

I’m just full of questions after reading this!  :)  Guess you could call it soul searching.

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