What's Your Favorite Radio Station?
In my past life I was in the advertising agency business, ending my career in that field as president of a firm in Tampa, Florida. Nice work if you can get it.
Back in the day, we had an expression that basically said that everybody listened to the same radio station -- WIFM. You see, WIFM stood for What's Init For Me.
A few years ago, WIFM played all the songs that sellers wanted to hear. It played outlandishly high prices. It played low interest rates. It played buyers galore. It played low taxes. It played low insurance rates. It played that ever-popular hit, "Show Me A Speculator And His Money's Mine", over and over again. Of course, buyers hated WIFM because it never played any of their favorite tunes.
Today, there's been a programming change at WIFM. Now buyers love it, but sellers hate it. Just look at the playlist. The new hits are tunes like "Make An Offer And I'mYours", "Loads Of Inventory But Nobody Wants To Buy", "A Condo On Every Corner" and my personal favorite, "Where Have All The Flippers Gone?"
In addition to enjoying the new musical selection on WIFM, today's buyers seem to have learned a few other things from yesterday's programming. I think they've learned about gamesmanship that is revealing the mean, nasty, ugly side of real estate. In addition to negotiating lower prices, today's buyers are requesting unheard of concessions from sellers. I've heard where buyers are demanding (and obtaining) such things as forcing the seller to pay off the buyer's credit card debt, pay for moving expenses, pay for apartment rentals through the end of the lease period, sign over automobiles and boats as part of the home purchase, even have the seller pay for vacation cruises to Mexico. Lately, I've seen cases where sellers had to pay for buyer's property and flood insurance premiums for a year after closing, and pay for homeowner's association dues for a year.
To me, this is just a case of buyers taking advantage of a situation. Incentives to entice sales are one thing, but when buyers approach incentives as entitlements, well, that's something else again.
It's all part of that WIFM attitude that we used to joke about at the advertising agency. Unfortunately, buyers now feel that it is their way of getting even for a few years in which the station played tunes for sellers. In the long run -- and maybe in the short run -- this will not be to the advantage of buyers. Why? Real estate runs in cycles. Today's buyer's market may be a very short run and sellers may find themselves back on top before you know it. If WIFM switches its format again, buyers could once again be hearing tunes they really don't like. Remember, sellers still remember the words to that favorite golden-oldie "Looking Out For Number One".
Hey, it's just something to keep in mind.
To keep up to date on Tampa Bay real estate, continue to read this blog and visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
Back in the day, we had an expression that basically said that everybody listened to the same radio station -- WIFM. You see, WIFM stood for What's Init For Me.
A few years ago, WIFM played all the songs that sellers wanted to hear. It played outlandishly high prices. It played low interest rates. It played buyers galore. It played low taxes. It played low insurance rates. It played that ever-popular hit, "Show Me A Speculator And His Money's Mine", over and over again. Of course, buyers hated WIFM because it never played any of their favorite tunes.
Today, there's been a programming change at WIFM. Now buyers love it, but sellers hate it. Just look at the playlist. The new hits are tunes like "Make An Offer And I'mYours", "Loads Of Inventory But Nobody Wants To Buy", "A Condo On Every Corner" and my personal favorite, "Where Have All The Flippers Gone?"
In addition to enjoying the new musical selection on WIFM, today's buyers seem to have learned a few other things from yesterday's programming. I think they've learned about gamesmanship that is revealing the mean, nasty, ugly side of real estate. In addition to negotiating lower prices, today's buyers are requesting unheard of concessions from sellers. I've heard where buyers are demanding (and obtaining) such things as forcing the seller to pay off the buyer's credit card debt, pay for moving expenses, pay for apartment rentals through the end of the lease period, sign over automobiles and boats as part of the home purchase, even have the seller pay for vacation cruises to Mexico. Lately, I've seen cases where sellers had to pay for buyer's property and flood insurance premiums for a year after closing, and pay for homeowner's association dues for a year.
To me, this is just a case of buyers taking advantage of a situation. Incentives to entice sales are one thing, but when buyers approach incentives as entitlements, well, that's something else again.
It's all part of that WIFM attitude that we used to joke about at the advertising agency. Unfortunately, buyers now feel that it is their way of getting even for a few years in which the station played tunes for sellers. In the long run -- and maybe in the short run -- this will not be to the advantage of buyers. Why? Real estate runs in cycles. Today's buyer's market may be a very short run and sellers may find themselves back on top before you know it. If WIFM switches its format again, buyers could once again be hearing tunes they really don't like. Remember, sellers still remember the words to that favorite golden-oldie "Looking Out For Number One".
Hey, it's just something to keep in mind.
To keep up to date on Tampa Bay real estate, continue to read this blog and visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 8:40 AM
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