An Oversimplification Of Selling Houses
Logan D. Mabe has written a short article which appeared in the St. Petersburg Times' BayLink section on Saturday, July 12. Mabe's credits indicate being a freelance writer and a licensed real estate agent in St. Petersburg. To my knowledge I've never met Logan Mabe as a real estate agent or as a writer. I'm purely objective in my comments about Mabe's article, or as objective as I can be.
So, believe me when I say Mabe's story entitled "You CAN sell your home" is a well-written piece advising sellers that despite the rather sorry state of the real estate market today, houses can be sold based on a formula that emphasizes location, condition and price.
I advise every seller of real estate, be they a property owner or real estate agent, to get a copy of the Saturday Times and read Mabe's story. The advice is excellent and should be followed closely.
That said, the story does not go far enough given the complexities of today's marketplace.
Mabe did not include what I consider to be two other very important keys to successful selling: marketing and seller motivation.
Marketing
There's an old saying in marketing: "You gotta tell 'em to sell 'em". Nowhere in Mabe's story is the word marketing ever mentioned.
The simple fact is that if people don't know a property is for sale, nobody's going to inquire about buying it even if it is in a great location, excellent condition and is bargain priced.
Lack of marketing is one of the biggest problems faced today by non-represented sellers (FSBO's) and by many listing agent's who simply do not know how to do a proper job of marketing and do not have access to effective marketing tools.
Many real estate agents today don't understand the need for marketing, and others won't make the financial investment on behalf of their client to pay for the necessary advertising and marketing materials. More and more, marketing is the reason sellers list their properties with real estate agents. Frankly, if an agent is not willing to do the marketing they should not accept the listing because they are doing the seller a grave disservice. Now you know where I stand on that little ethical matter.
I've written many times in this blogsite about the need for comprehensive marketing programs in selling property. It is essential that an investment in marketing be made to drive prospective buyers and agents to inquire about the property. Perhaps Mabe doesn't understand the need for marketing, or perhaps the subject could not be mentioned due to space limitations. I hope space limitations are the reason.
Seller Motivation
A motivated seller will do the things needed to sell a property. An unmotivated seller won't do them. Motivation was a word not mentioned in Mabe's story.
There are way too many unmotivated sellers with property for sale today.
It's easy to spot an unmotivated seller. Eventually they always say something like "I won't sell below (insert number)" or "I won't negotiate based on condition, sell it as is", or "I have to get an ROI of (insert figure)". Those are dead giveaways that the house is probably not going to sell soon in this buyer-driven marketplace.
An unmotivated seller is likely not going to do many of the things necessary to sell a property in today's marketplace. Keeping the price low in the face of falling real estate values, not making an effort to keep the property in A-1 showing condition, not investing the money necessary to properly market the property, not following the good advice given by their real estate professional -- these are sure signs of a lack of motivation on the part of the seller.
Other signs of an unmotivated seller? How 'bout these phrases which are all too familiar to those of us in the real estate business: "I'm in no hurry to sell", or "We don't have to move", or "I'll sell when I get my number" or "We'll just rent it until the market improves". Hogwash. If you want to sell the property you have to sell it within the context of today's market conditions.
In short, I wish Mabe had written a few well-chosen words telling sellers they have to be motivated to sell and do whatever it takes in today's buyer's market to get their property to the closing table.
Other Selling Challenges
There are probably a few other things I could write about that were left out of Mabe's story --like problems with taxes, insurance, mortgages, job security, gas prices impacting sales, credit issues and others -- but this is a blogsite not a seller's manual. I really liked Logan Mabe's story, but I thought it was an oversimplification of the problems sellers and agents have to overcome in today's marketplace.
For more information about real estate in Pinellas County, visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
So, believe me when I say Mabe's story entitled "You CAN sell your home" is a well-written piece advising sellers that despite the rather sorry state of the real estate market today, houses can be sold based on a formula that emphasizes location, condition and price.
I advise every seller of real estate, be they a property owner or real estate agent, to get a copy of the Saturday Times and read Mabe's story. The advice is excellent and should be followed closely.
That said, the story does not go far enough given the complexities of today's marketplace.
Mabe did not include what I consider to be two other very important keys to successful selling: marketing and seller motivation.
Marketing
There's an old saying in marketing: "You gotta tell 'em to sell 'em". Nowhere in Mabe's story is the word marketing ever mentioned.
The simple fact is that if people don't know a property is for sale, nobody's going to inquire about buying it even if it is in a great location, excellent condition and is bargain priced.
Lack of marketing is one of the biggest problems faced today by non-represented sellers (FSBO's) and by many listing agent's who simply do not know how to do a proper job of marketing and do not have access to effective marketing tools.
Many real estate agents today don't understand the need for marketing, and others won't make the financial investment on behalf of their client to pay for the necessary advertising and marketing materials. More and more, marketing is the reason sellers list their properties with real estate agents. Frankly, if an agent is not willing to do the marketing they should not accept the listing because they are doing the seller a grave disservice. Now you know where I stand on that little ethical matter.
I've written many times in this blogsite about the need for comprehensive marketing programs in selling property. It is essential that an investment in marketing be made to drive prospective buyers and agents to inquire about the property. Perhaps Mabe doesn't understand the need for marketing, or perhaps the subject could not be mentioned due to space limitations. I hope space limitations are the reason.
Seller Motivation
A motivated seller will do the things needed to sell a property. An unmotivated seller won't do them. Motivation was a word not mentioned in Mabe's story.
There are way too many unmotivated sellers with property for sale today.
It's easy to spot an unmotivated seller. Eventually they always say something like "I won't sell below (insert number)" or "I won't negotiate based on condition, sell it as is", or "I have to get an ROI of (insert figure)". Those are dead giveaways that the house is probably not going to sell soon in this buyer-driven marketplace.
An unmotivated seller is likely not going to do many of the things necessary to sell a property in today's marketplace. Keeping the price low in the face of falling real estate values, not making an effort to keep the property in A-1 showing condition, not investing the money necessary to properly market the property, not following the good advice given by their real estate professional -- these are sure signs of a lack of motivation on the part of the seller.
Other signs of an unmotivated seller? How 'bout these phrases which are all too familiar to those of us in the real estate business: "I'm in no hurry to sell", or "We don't have to move", or "I'll sell when I get my number" or "We'll just rent it until the market improves". Hogwash. If you want to sell the property you have to sell it within the context of today's market conditions.
In short, I wish Mabe had written a few well-chosen words telling sellers they have to be motivated to sell and do whatever it takes in today's buyer's market to get their property to the closing table.
Other Selling Challenges
There are probably a few other things I could write about that were left out of Mabe's story --like problems with taxes, insurance, mortgages, job security, gas prices impacting sales, credit issues and others -- but this is a blogsite not a seller's manual. I really liked Logan Mabe's story, but I thought it was an oversimplification of the problems sellers and agents have to overcome in today's marketplace.
For more information about real estate in Pinellas County, visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 5:00 AM
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