Lane, you're a gem :-)  If this article doesn't get sellers attention as to the importance of pricing and appearance nothing will.  Nothing.  Yes, I'm rating this post.  I don't do that often, but you have earned it!

Now if only the necessary people will read it!

Who are the Car People? 

Dear Mr. Realistic Realtor,
You hit the nail right on the head!  Great post!

Nice post,

I have made several lists big mistakes sellers make when they select a Realtor.  The biggest is usually picking the realtor who assured them that he / she could get the price he / she suggested even though he / she was 5% or more above the other told you is reality. 

Home owners should never give any wait to the price suggested by any Realtor when deciding which one to choose to market their home.  If they do, they will almost always pick the wrong Realtor and end up getting less for their home than they would have should they have selected the proper Realtor.

Great post. I believe if more people would listen, there might not be 795 million 362 thousand 146 and one half homes on the market that are overpriced. ...... great post and keep them coming......

Nice post Lane!  You had me laughing and agreeing throughout.  Like Karen said, now if only the right people will read it..

I got scared reading that first part. I'm sweating even. And, the telling the truth part, I don't think most sellers want to hear the truth.

Thanks for the post, a little honest amidst some humor.  It was a great way to get your point across.  Thank you!

On one hand it is funny but the reality is the sellers for the most part were set up by in experienced agents. Look at what happened the last several years. You sneezed and the house was sold. For ridiculous prices at that. I keep going back to the SF and Berkeley area homes that had failed foundations, failed roofs, needed new windows, needed new plumbing and electrical, needed earthquake bracing, pretty much needed to be rebuilt and most of the time got $700000 or a million or more.....  oh did I mentioned you sneeze and a new agent was born?

Now, sellers are painfully aware that the market is changing , not in their favor......

Great:

Two thoughts on these potential listings

1) Consider sending an advance CMA ... Not with a price, but with all the Expired Listings in the area and all the Current Listings in the area ... area meaning not their specific neighborhood but anything remotely close ... I have used this technique before and will send it over a few days before my listing presentation ... with a note that reads ... in case you haven't been following the market here are ALL the homes that are listed and those that FAILED to sell ... please review before I arrive.  I am amazed at the change in tone when doing this.

2) Does anyone find it funny that several years ago sellers were asking buyers to write essays as to why they should have the house ... how the tables turn

Kris - My wife thinks at least part of me is geologic, but I don't know that she would say gem... head full of rocks she could get behind. 

Karen -  Rest assured, the right people will NOT read this.  Neither the sellers that think their house is obviously different than any other house on the market (in a good way), nor the agents that feel that getting over-priced listings is a valid business model.  The "pay me now" discounters just don't care, and so it won't matter if they read it or not.  And the "Car People" are my peers...  I have 10w40 in my blood. 

Jeannie -  Thanks. 

Jim - No doubt.  And we as REALTORs(R) have made mistakes, too... but we need to step above it, and bring the good sellers with us. 

Gregory - Your market must be BBAAAADDDD.  We only have a 100,000 + listings here..  ;^ )

Lisa - I bet 41,000 of the agents here could have written this post... many could have written it better.  

Roy - It's ok.  We're here for you.  I feel a Jack Nicholson quote here... "Truth, you can't handle the truth."

Lane,  Bringing honesty to the table usually results in one of two things:  (1.) You never connect with the  seller due to your message, or ( 2. ) Because of your message you connect with the seller and benefit from the credibility.  Good selling to you.

Chris - What if I wasn't going for humor?  Ok, I was... I'm glad I got that part right... Thanks.

Terry - You just gave me a new movie quote.  "That's right Daddy, every time a bell rings a new real estate agent just got their license." 

Allen - Tables turned...  That is a good strategy.  I try to make sure that my buyers and sellers both have the info that they need to make a good decision. 

Bill - If I don't connect with the seller because they want me to blow smoke up their skirt... I don't want to listing.  I don't want an employee that can't tell me the truth, and I don't want to work for someone that doesn't want to hear it...  

Lane - you need to insert some relevant graphics into your posts. You'll find that they help attract greater readership....Nice job with your article! You are clearly overdue for getting a 'featured' post!

Hi Lane,

You get my vote!  Loved this post more than any I've seen regarding pricing.  So well said with just the right amount of humor to ease the pain.  :)  You are officially on our Subscribed List!  Congrats on your Feature.

Great Post. Yes, it's all good. I have to bookmark it. I'd love to work it in my presentation. Verry, very good.

Rich - Thanks.  i know I need to put graphics in more... but then i get sidetracked... 

Lisa and Robert - "I'd like to thank the Academy, and the members..."

Maria - Thank you.  

Great way to start off my day. I can always use some laughs. Thanks for the post.

Graphics added...

Thanks Yolanda.   

Thanks for a great Monday post! We all know what it takes to prepare a home to sell.  But sometimes, with some sellers, it just isn't worth it!  I just got through helping a couple prepare their really neat, unique home for the market.  We talked over the highest priority needs and they readily agreed to repainting, new carpeting, new tile floors and updating the landscaping  Of course, they wouldn't use the contractor I knew would save them a bundle.  They used some sort of buying club they saw on TV.  I shudder to think what they paid.  Anyway, once it was all finished, the house looked very nice, but it's still a 20 year old home and needs updates in a lot of areas.  I think it should sell for $350,000-$365,000.   After completing the repairs and updates, they wanted to list it at $500,000.  UMM HMMM...  Well, I can't see it.  I even consulted local appraisers to be sure I wasn't missing something.   Needless to say, some other agent is going to have to handle it from this point!

I love the cat in the sink.  Did you taje this shot when you were showing a home?  

We can't crumple under the pressure to start buying listings.  We have to stay firm and honest.  Lying to get the listing won't  sell the house or make it appraise.

 Great post!!

You are so right!  Realtors do their clients a big disservice when they don't address the condition of the home.  As hard as it may be for them to hear, it is necessary.  Unfortunately, this objective feedback is often a surprise to a seller.  A professional stager can be your ally in this situation.  Of course, condition is only a piece of the formula to get a house sold.  Price is key.    

Three major points for a seller to consider...seriously. Great article with a little humor to give me a chuckle with the am coffee. :)

Great post.  Love the pic of the cat in the sink.

Yeah. When the sellers realize there are 5 bank owned homes on their block selling for $400,000 and they want $500,000 because thats what it was worth 3 years ago when everyone told them to sell but they said "the market will always go up" and refused to! Now they are eating their words and arrogance

That was so Right ON... I had the same experience many times, I now only take listings that will sell, where the Sellers are Realistic about Price,  its in Fabulous Condition and the Right Location.

could've have said it better myself....wonderful post!

Lane:

That was a great post. Funny but true. The cat reminds me of many a showing. I have a listing that is only 250000 do you think you could get a million for me?

Gee.  If they will just listen, maybe we can sell their home. 

Fantastic blog,  gave me a good laugh!

Lane - you had me worried there for a minute! I hope the sellers out there see this! Most do not understand the damage done by pricing too high in the beginning.

Great sarcasm. I think I'll have to suscribe to your posts... Good work.

Lane Great post with humor I like that. I have only done ONE listing this year, I have been referring out every appointment. Its just not worth the expense and the headaches that come along with it. By the way I have referred these to competant agents and not one of them have sold this year. Overpriced! OPT (overpriced turkeys as my principal brokers calls them)

How about the sellers who turn down OFFERS that are in the fair market range! Ugh

Yeah folks just "can't handle the trueth" sometimes

LANE - This was one of the best posts I have read this week.  Very well done!  I only wish we could actually say everything from your list in exactly the way you expressed it here.  Great job!

Too funny!  Yes, definitely a market adjustment is going on, the buyers now, want everything new for $10,000 less!  The Sellers need to realize that they must be the best price on their block!

That's hilarious! Love the cat in the sink picture.

Congrats on the feature - it's well deserved!  I love this blog, and actually do explain this to potential clients on listing appointments.  Thanks for spreading the word!

Don't forget about the agents who overprice it and tell their sellers that "the price is fine.  It will sell eventually..."

I just scored another listing thanks to those agents!

Love it Lane!  Kudos to keeping the humor here on AR!

Great post. It seems seller's these days are starting to come around. I like going into a listing presentation and educating sellers. Some listen and some don't. I usually don't bother with the ones who won't. 

Funny Post.  One question...if this is a buyers market, where the hell are the BUYERS?

How Funny Lane,

I was in a seminar last week for 3 days( that I paid for!) where the instructer said in every other breath to quit arguing with the sellers and just take the listings. He made a case for all that you rallied against in your post, and almost in your order!! I have been taking a get tough/smart/honest with sellers lately and have been not taking several listings a week. I soon see other agents signs up on the property and for the price I did not list it for....Several were over 50 thousand higher and one has already done a major price reduction. (Is the first offer coming soon?? and not with me!!!)

For THE RECORD, I totally agree with everything in your post. In the past, I have written the same stuff and meant it. But, for the first time I have under ten listings and vey little traffic from them so the seminar guy had one section of his talk that made some sense. ...What if everyone had to play by the same rules and the sellers had no choice but to price thier home accordingly. In this fantasy, there would be no need for Realtors, just a bunch of buyers agents with endless choices of a perfect symphony of wonderfully priced model homes........hahahahaha NOT!! NOT EVEN GOING TO HAPPEN. Sellers have a choice and this is not what they choose......

 As long as we are allowed to let the seller find out for himself, and then come down, then we will have to acknowledge that some of the best listings will only go to the agents who make thier case, but then "Try it for a while" at what the seller wants. I have used this as a way to get listings, and then not been allowed to drop the price as agreed. But, Eventually, sellers drop the price until the home is sold, and all the rhyme and reason for getting it right from the beginning  doesn't seem to matter much!!@#$%^

The fact of the matter is that I see only two types of homes being sold here locally.

 First, its the really ready to go, beautifully staged, below appraisal homes that come on the market with everything done perfect.

Second, its the homes that had some of the above, and then later on got the rest of the ducks in a row a little at a time. Yes, time was lost, and money was wasted, but this category is bigger than the first by a lot!!! Why ?? because the seller cannot make the right decision without trying to get more first.

For as much as I like being able to ride on my high horse lately, missing this many listings for the sake of being right is feeling wrong. I promise to make a small booklet of nice posts like this and make copies for my future sellers amusement.

PS>>>>>I just got off the phone with a FSBO that I have talked to several times that has two investment homes and I just agreed to list them at his price and come down a little at a time until it sells. Will this help me in the short term??? Yes it will. My phone will ring and I will get sign calls that I can turn into potential buyers for other homes that are being discounted as we speak, or desperately awaiting any kind of offer after more than 5 months on the market...AHHH.. I love being a Realtor.

Great Post Lane... gotta go now and list 2 overpriced houses with built in price drops!!

Best Wishes

Mike Norvell Sr

Great post, you made me smile throughout. It is really frustrating trying to do the right thing for the client, only to have someone else come along and tell them what they want to hear.

Boy.  I got featured and now I get all of these GREAT comments.  This is going to take a while. 

First, thank you all for the comments.  I REALLY enjoy the feedback... even when it isn't as good as the feedback on this post.  Feel free to visit some of my other posts.  Now, on to the replies.

Mary Ann - I'm with you.  I know that I can help people, but if they aren't willing to help themselves, I can't afford to spend my time and energy supporting their ego.  Too bad the other agents take these people on.  If everyone looked at them in the eye, and told them the truth, the prices would get back to where they need to be.  

Virginia - Not my pic.  If you park your cursor on it, you should see the attribution.  I got it from someone on Flicker.  It is a great shot.  

Linda - Went to a house yesterday that had the deck propped up with 2x4s to the retaining wall.  There is a winner.

Sally - I won't rest until I get someone to squirt coffee out of their nose.  It is my goal in life...  I'm glad I could deliver a chuckle, though. 

Eric - Thanks.

Ryan - I had someone get REAL irate with me for telling them that their bills and what they paid for the house have little to do with its current value.  Just like the financial limits of a buyer have nothing to do with the value.  It's always fun to ask a seller if they will lower the price to a buyer because the buyer can't afford it. 

Jane - That is the goal.  We'll leave the over-priced listings to one of the "Pay me now" companies.  

Dee - Maybe you could have. 

Allan - Sure.  I need to be paid up front though... and there is no performance guarantee.  

Lenn - But isn't it so much better to ignore our advice and then complain that we didn't do anything?

Scot - Glad to help.

Paula - Don't worry.  It's all good.  And I always try to wrap it up at the end.  

Michael T - I hope I didn't just peak.  Feel free to wander around my blog.  You'll laugh, you'll cry.  You may or may not read it again and again.  

Sean - More of us need to refuse listings.  Or we need to collude to raise prices.  (that was a joke!).

Michael C - Gotta love-em.  I guess they figure the hook is set, and they can reel them in.

Jeff - Some can't, and some can, but nobody tells them the truth.  

Jason - We can say it all... just not while expecting to get hired.  

Frances - Sometimes the buyers win... sometimes not.  But, in order to win, you have to play.  Pricing way out of the range is a great way to stay out of the game. 

Kevin and Monica - Thanks.  Have 25 points on me... for the comment... if you haven't done it too much already.  ;^ )

Joslyn - Those properties will sell eventually at that price.  Perhaps not in our lifetime, but eventually is a LONG time.  

Richard - Thank you.  My wife is the one with the real sense of humor.  She puts up with me.  

Ryan - Some are.  The others don't need to sell yet.  They will come around when they need to sell.  I'd rather deal with sellers that are ready to sell.  

Jim - If there were a bunch of buyers, it would be a Seller's Market.  Go figure.  A bunch of sellers is a Buyer's Market, and a bunch of buyers makes a Seller's Market. 

Mike - Best of luck.  Since your investor should already know that the homes aren't priced right, he is walking in with open eyes.  The bigger problem I have is with agents that mislead sellers into thinking that the highest priced offer to list should win.  We are the professionals.  It is our job to look out for, and educate our clients.  

Woo hoo.  I caught up.   

Alecia - Yep.  Sometimes the right thing to do is the hard thing to do.  Maybe we can bankrupt a few bad agents with their bad listings and get our side of the market equation back in line with what it should be.  

Lane:  You absolutely bought me into the material  GREAT JOB.  I love the closing statement. 

This was brilliant!

Thanks for sharing it :)
 

Hubba Hubba, reality hurts sometimes. 

Terrific piece .... I have shared with others in my office. Thanks! Pamela

Thanks for bringing some humor to a serious situation!

Funny. I like it.

What a powerful way to the point across. Thanks for the laugh and keep doing what you do.

Terry said:  "On one hand it is funny but the reality is the sellers for the most part were set up by in experienced agents."

Actually in my area, it's not the inexperienced agents who quote off the wall prices - A LOT of agents will do it just to 'get a listing' - with so many agents in competition they'll say and do anything to get the listing. 

Great post.  Unfortunately, some sellers never "hear" what you are trying to tell them.

You forgot to let your seller know that those shells (broken conch shells) that they added in huge numbers to the top of their fence are what will make the TRUE value difference to the lookers- that's worth an extra hundred grand.  Tying them up with rope was genius- true art.

Becky - You bought... I closed... It's nice to know there are still sales happening somewhere...

Renee - Brilliant?  No.  Merely willing to say what we all are thinking.

Long Beach Laurie - Reality hurts me all of the time.  Getting old sucks.  

Pamela - Thanks for sharing this with your office.  If they would like more, I'd be happy to send each of them an invitation to AR.  

Un-named Ones - I'm glad you enjoyed.  

Vincent - Should I say that no matter what I do, it's what I'm doing?  Or should I take it to mean that you want me to do more things like this?  I'll take it as a compliment and say... Thanks.

Karen - I find that inexperienced agents take over-priced listings out of ignorance.  Experienced ones do it out of spite.

Brett - I know that I need to listen more... and I am not alone.  

Laurie - Duct tape.  You don't need knots.  And for many sellers, the fact that they lived there adds the $100k in their minds...

Hey Lane. Just for the record, you only exaggerated a little bit. That scenario happens more often than not. It's good to know that there are professionals out there like yourself representing the craft. Keep up the good work.

Absolutely loved your blog...you were so convincing!  I wish/hope all Sellers wouldread this...especially some of mine!

Thanks, Chelle

It's a Buyers Market BUT The Buyer's can't get Financing...

Lane - I love this post!!!  I hope all sellers read this, especially those that really NEED to!  What you wrote is, unfortunately, not too far off the mark far too many times.

Thanks for the chuckles I got from your post.  Sometimes all we can do is smile and chuckle, then get on with the business of the day.

Ann

I was going to say I spit the coffee all over my screen although I thought that was unladylike....I'll go with squirt from the nose....that may just give me a little character. :)

Lane, I love your tongue in cheek, fun post to read and OH so true.

Truth, it's such an interesting thing.  As humans, we are certain that we always have it  Historically we have arranged marriages and wars all in the name of truth.  In fact, I suppose 9/11 could be attributed to someone's interpretation of truth.

Yeah, I hear you.....

Who's the new kid spittin in our sandbox?

Good question. 

I'm nobody, and I'm not spitting either - sorry if it appears that way on the surface.  I was just being human and sharing what I saw as truth at the moment <smile>

None of us really likes the truth. Not the whole truth anyway.  My point being, who am I to determine or identify truth as it relates to the price of real estate or anything else for that matter?

Two years ago the sellers determined the price of real estate, now it's the buyers.  Tomorrow it might be the sellers again. Personally,that's why I like auctions.  In a good auction, the buyers, sellers, and brokers all work on the same team and define price together.  No struggles, no hassles, just facts and negotiatons.   Although I'm still learning that too, so who knows, tomorrow I might have a different truth on the matter, I dunno.

Anyway, I agree we might have some unrealistic sellers (and buyers) out there -- and by golly, I LOVE the picture of the cat in the sink! 

Peace~

Lane,

I'll have to print this one and give it out on listing appointments. LOL OK, maybe not, but it's a good one anyway. Thanks for posting it.

You hit it with this one...great posting!!

Trish:  "Two years ago the sellers determined the price of real estate, now it's the buyers.  Tomorrow it might be the sellers again."

I disagree.  The buyers make an offer that the sellers accept.  Unless it's a case of the seller being SOL and needing to dump the house at any price, then it's a mutual agreement between the buyer and the seller.  Neither one by themselves determines the price. 

KS - Thanks.  I hope the exaggeration is more than a little, but enough to illustrate the point. 

Chelle - C'mon, I couldn't have been that convincing.  You might have been worried for a moment that I flipped, but not that convinced I was serious.

Jane - My buyers are getting financing.  For marginal buyers, they are no longer viable... but, good buyers are still buyers.  

Ann - Tell your clients.  I would recommend finding a better way, though.

Sally - Was the coffee hot?  That couldn't have been fun... ok, it might have been fun for anyone watching.

Missy - I am having a hard time not reciting some modified Shakespeare right now.  Taming of the Shrew...  :^)

Trish - I appreciate your comments.  I always like it when those that have differing opinions pipe in.  It makes for a better conversation.  Now, let me get to the comment. 

"Who am I to determine... truth as it relates to real estate...?"

I don't know, you weren't signed in, so I can't go to your profile and see who you are, but for the majority of people in this community, we are real estate professionals.  Determining and identifying truth as it relates to real estate is our job.  Would a doctor let his patient believe something that wasn't true because he was worried they would seek a different doctor that would give them a "better" diagnosis?  

Andrew - C'mon, do it.  You know you want to..

Carey - Thank you.  This featured post thing is cool... and tiring.  

Karen - Quite true.  It ALWAYS takes a buyer and seller to make a deal, and determine the price.  Traditional listing, auction, whatever... those are just ways to make the deal happen.  

I am amazed that there are so many over-priced listings!  I was hoping that the sellers would start to get it!  Unfortunately that is not the case.  I was talking with an agent today to set up a showing and said the buyers like the house, but it was over-priced -- the agent simply replied well, it was a good friend and she didn't want to disappoint him.  -- the property has been on and off the market for a year -- I think that would be disappointing!  I just don't get it!