Greg Swann just published a post lookin’ for help from the professional community for one of our own. Barry Bevis, a Realtor in Tallahassee, has a listing that’s been giving him fits. He and several knowledgeable agents around town are in agreement — the current listing price is where it should be. The house is well kept. The lot is over a third of an acre. Very nice yard, and a hot tub. He’s done just about everything right to get this puppy into escrow. Its own site. Buncha cool pictures. Even had a custom sign made. Still, no sale.
No sale? Not even an insultingly low offer.
I went to the listing’s site. Plenty of info, and many photos, easy to navigate, and easy to get ahold of Barry. He obviously cares, and has clearly gone the extra mile as he markets this home. So what’s the problem? What might be going unaddressed?
Before continuing, let’s be real here. We’ve all been where Barry is with this listing. How many of us have scratched our heads, totally mystified by a listing that simply seems to defy a mountain of empirical evidence dictating it should’ve sold a dozen times by now? I have, many times. It’s maddening. Shortly after studying what Greg Swann does to market his listings, I had an epiphany — well, actually two. For me it was a good news/bad news joke. On one hand I was elated to have stumbled onto such a gold mine — which is surely what it is. On the other hand, I felt like such a doofus as I mentally compared his method to mine. But as often admitted, I’m ‘Japan’. I’ll steal anything cool and make it mine — screw my ego. Thanks Greg
First, I realized as experienced as I am, and as many properties as I’ve sold in the nearly 40 years of my career, I still couldn’t carry Greg’s jock when it came to the nuts and bolts of marketing listings from A to Z. The guy is head and shoulders above anyone else I’d studied.
Then the second epiphany hit me like a ton of bricks.
How likely is it you’d be able to market a Kobe beef cheeseburger to a guy who’s been eatin’ burgers exclusively the last 10 years, but recently decided he wants and can afford a juicy porterhouse steak? It occurred to me the answer was — not freakin’ likely.
So quick! Check the fridge for a fresh steak, or you ain’t makin’ the sale.
It’s my contention this is what Barry’s seller is attempting to accomplish. He’s in a mildly upscale neighborhood with what I’ve always called an “I Love Lucy” home. I spoke to Barry while writing this, and he agrees with me wholeheartedly. Off the top of his head, he said homes offering what his doesn’t, are moving for $20-40,000 more than his listed price.
Epiphany: My firm needed to have an experienced interior designer on call. It’s been the best arrow we’ve added to our quiver in I don’t know how long. A miracle worker. I won’t list her resume here, but trust me, it’s impressive.
I told Barry of an eerily clone-like example my firm faced just last month. Sean Purcell, a brother Bloodhound contributor, is an eyewitness. Sean didn’t see the house before ‘Julie’ had her way with it, but he saw it after, and he also saw how quickly it sold.
Like Barry’s listing, this home’s area sported prices roughly 15-20% above San Diego county’s median — nice, but just a tad above average. It had been a rental for eight years. We advised our client to sell and move his equity outa Dodge and into an out of state growth region. As usual, we followed Greg’s marketing methods almost word for word. During this process we brought in Julie, our designer.
Note: Our policy when listing clients’ income properties is as follows: You must do what Julie says, or we’ll refer you to another local broker. Period. Don’t believe me? Sean just closed a sale on a listing I referred to him for that very reason.
Anywho, nothing sold in the neighborhood in less than 90 days. There were several expireds and many active or pending with 100-150 day market times. Here’s what Julie recommended our client do to obtain top dollar very quickly.
1. Eliminate entryway coat closet, thereby making the hallway bathroom roughly three feet bigger at one end.
2. Erect pony wall in master bathroom and change the way toilet faced, so as not to give showering spouse a front row seat to you know what. These two easy design changes made room for a fairly large storage closet at the end of this bathroom. Very nicely done.
3. Finish the garage in drywall.
4. Eliminate 18-20 inches of the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. That part of the wall wasn’t necessary, plus it had a claustrophobic affect. When done, it was amazing how much difference it made to what you saw. The living room looked bigger and airier. The transition from living room to kitchen no longer seemed like a prison passageway. It was amazing.
5. This one made our client’s eyebrows raise a bit. Julie hated the way the covered patio looked, and the affect it had on the living room and dining area. She told him to raise the actual cover on the house side, so it rested and was anchored on top of the roof, instead of coming out of the wall below the eaves. This move had an even better affect than shortening the interior wall. It allowed far more light to enter into the living and dining areas, which only added to the feeling of openness. It also made the patio itself feel much roomier.
6. Re-floor 70% of the home with hardwood laminate.
7. Repaint everything inside that didn’t move or talk. The outside was fine.
The total cost of all this work was give or take $15-16,000. My son and I, mostly Josh, spent much time studying the neighborhood to establish value. Our opinion before the above work was completed — $385-400,000 max. The highest, and most recent comp was $408,000 and that one took two price reductions, and over three months to sell.
We listed the home on a Friday (last month) and entered escrow after a couple counters on Tuesday morning. Our listing’s price range was $429-449,000. Realtor bylaws prohibit me from revealing the sales price. What I can tell you is that the offer came in 2-3 days after being published on MLS. It established a new high for the area by a significant amount. Our client got back all the money Julie made him spend and more. (almost 2 to 1)
That’s what I told Barry his client might wanna consider doing. He’s trying to sell a really nice burger to folks in the market for a steak. Not gonna happen, in my opinion. Home buyers want what they want. If Barry’s seller eliminates the negatives, he’ll then be marketing steak to hungry steak buyers.
Make sense?
Beth Incorvati says:
AMEN!
March 20, 2009 — 1:37 pm
Al Lorenz says:
Now, finding a good designer in a small town! Very well stated. Thanks!
March 20, 2009 — 2:41 pm
James Boyer says:
Very good. That is what I have been pushing my clients to do. It works very well, I listed a condo here in early Feb, and it was under contract after only 3 days on the market, no open house just priced to sell, and conditioned to sell.
March 20, 2009 — 4:18 pm
Jeff Brown says:
James — Do you recommend some of the changes mentioned in the post? We either addressed bad design, or kinda sorta functional obsolescence.
March 20, 2009 — 5:29 pm
Barry Bevis says:
Thanks for the call today Jeff- really good stuff!
I’m building a case for to talk the seller into some changes. I hope they pay off.
Got to love the BHB!
March 20, 2009 — 6:10 pm
The Mortgage Cicerone says:
Jeff – Darn you are good! You just articulated what I on a daily basis tell at least one person…the fundamentals NEVER change, it’s the vehicles and means of delivering on the fundamentals that do. Yes, you are “old school” in that you adhere to the fundamentals, but you evolve in your delivery of meeting those “old school” fundamentals!
I also LOVE the processes Greg has build into his business!
Super post Jeff!
The Mortgage Cicerone
March 20, 2009 — 6:37 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Always cool to hear from TMC.
Greg’s listing marketing checklist is pure gold. The only thing we’ve not done is create a coffee table book. It goes against my anti-artsy fartsy gene. 🙂 Of course, all of our listings are income producing properties whether they’re homes, condos, or multi-unit buildings.
March 20, 2009 — 6:41 pm
Doug Quance says:
>Properly adding value should always be an option to be considered… and adding a half bath might help Barry’s listing sell – or at least make it where he doesn’t have to lower the price so much.
Great Balwdguy insight, as usual.
March 20, 2009 — 8:10 pm
Cheryl Johnson says:
And then ….
There are those times when a seller will go ahead and spend a few thousand dollars making improvements, and the property ~still~ doesn’t sell.
So you end up reducing the price anyway. And in the seller’s mind he/she “lost” the money spend on the improvements.
So I’m thinking some kind of written contract addendum would be a good idea. Something saying that “in your experience such-and-such improvement will increase the property’s marketability, but you cannot guarantee that the property will sell”.
Anyone ever written up something like that?
March 21, 2009 — 4:05 am
Jeff Brown says:
Only about a million times. 🙂 We usually invoke our policy on investment advice: If it’s not a no-brainer, why would we advise them to do something?
Excellent point — as usual.
March 21, 2009 — 10:22 am
Jeff Brown says:
Barry — Let us know how it turns out.
March 21, 2009 — 10:27 am
Sean Purcell says:
A little late to the party, but I wanted to attest to everything Jeff is saying. The house where they listened to the designer was night and day different from what it was and head and shoulders above the competition. I was going to make a custom sign for the listing and never got a chance it sold so fast!
Sometimes good marketing means the product itself needs changing. Great post Jeff, you are a constant reminder that the important stuff never goes away.
March 21, 2009 — 8:57 pm
Shannon Ensor says:
Very wise to have a designer on hand – I especially liked her advice for the small bathroom remodel.
March 22, 2009 — 8:08 pm
Jeanine naviaux says:
As an interior designer, it is smart business to haveone of call for clients. I have helped close the deal so many times for realtors because most people can’t see the changes and I take the time to explain them, and next thing you know, the paperwork is signed and the house is in escrow.
March 23, 2009 — 9:16 am
Jeff Brown says:
Jeanine — What most sellers and their agents miss, is that even if the dollars don’t come back, it’s often the difference between going to escrow or not.
March 23, 2009 — 10:45 am
Phil Hutson says:
Good points! That make complete sense. Its funny how easily you can forget about these things.
March 25, 2009 — 8:31 am
Susan Zanzonico says:
It certainly sounds like thats one heck of a designer. I especially like points 1, 2 4 and 5. Those are changes that definitely take someone with an ‘eye’… Painting, reflooring and finishing projects to me is more obvious. Those other items made a real difference in space, light, etc. in my opinion. Very interesting post.
March 25, 2009 — 9:36 pm