Whoa, doggies! The halcyon days of summer are upon us. It’s nice
to sit with friends in the cool remainder of a hot day, enjoying
good food and lively conversation. Tiny plants dropped into the
earth two months ago have kept their promise and glow vibrant
purple and white and red in the garden. Hummingbirds flash
iridescent among the blooms. It’s tough to beat the watermelon, hot
dogs and burgers, and starchy salads of Fourth of July
barbecues.
Whoa, doggies! The halcyon days of summer are upon us. It’s nice to sit with friends in the cool remainder of a hot day, enjoying good food and lively conversation. Tiny plants dropped into the earth two months ago have kept their promise and glow vibrant purple and white and red in the garden. Hummingbirds flash iridescent among the blooms. It’s tough to beat the watermelon, hot dogs and burgers, and starchy salads of Fourth of July barbecues.
All this is to say that last week was – as expected – slow in the real estate world. Why look at houses when you can be at the beach in Santa Cruz, enjoying amusement rides and fireworks?
Anyway, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share with you a few general ideas about real estate. Let’s talk about Realtors (a copyrighted brand name for members of the National Association of Realtors).
If you live in your own home, you probably used the services of a real-estate agent for your purchase. How did you find that agent? Could it have been through a referral from a friend or family member, or through some sort of advertising or marketing gimmick? The agent then helped you find the house, make an offer, close the deal, and move in. You may or may not have had a good experience.
Imagine it is now time to sell your home and you need a real estate agent again. Most home sellers, especially those selling their first home, tend to think all agents are similar to the one that helped them buy their home. They may even use that agent again.
Although real-estate agents can (and do) work with both buyers and sellers, many concentrate more on one than the other. They specialize. When you bought your home, you may have worked with what is known as a “selling agent” – the agent works mostly with buyers. Because of the nature of real estate advertising and marketing, the public’s main image of the real estate profession is that of the selling agent. Nice clothes and a fancy car. Or worse. You probably know that offensive ad about Realtors baking cookies to close a deal!
As a result, many homeowners expect their listing agent to do the same things that a selling agent does – find someone to buy their home. After all, they do the things you would expect if they were searching for buyers. A sign goes up in the front yard, maybe with a box filled with fliers. Ads spell out the key features of the home in the local newspapers and real estate magazines. Your house is prominently posted on a few key Internet sites.
But this is only cosmetic marketing. As with almost any industry, more important activity occurs behind the obvious facade. After the “for sale” sign goes up and flyers are printed, your agent’s main job is to market your home to other agents, not to potential home buyers. Agents sell your home to other agents, and they in turn sell it to their clients. This is only one of the reasons why it is important to have a local agent who knows the area. It is also essential your agent have a reputation for being honest, ethical and easy to work with. There are difficult agents who indulge in temper tantrums and allow ego to get in the way of performing a good job for their clients. If you were an agent, would you want to write an offer for one of their listings knowing your life will be hell for the next two months?
And what about Open Houses? An open house for a property first placed on the market could be important, but not for the reasons you might think. Most visitors to open houses don’t buy the house they come to look at. They probably won’t even know the price of your home when they stop by to visit – they just followed the “Open House” signs to your door.
An open house performs a similar function to a “Just Listed” announcement – it lets your neighbors know your house is on the market. But this time it invites them to come “take a peak.” Your neighbors will take advantage of the invitation. They may tell their friends about your house.
There are other reasons for holding open houses, but they are about the agent, not selling your house. Agents use them as an opportunity to meet with other local home owners who will someday sell their home. They also hope buyers who wander in are not yet working with an agent and will become their clients.
Open houses held later on do not serve a useful purpose in selling your home. It’s sad, but true. Generally, it will just force you to be out of your home for hours at a time and force some agent to spend a day eating the cookies they bought for the home buyers who never show.
The moral of the story is this: Get a good agent. Find one who works full time and works the system to its maximum. (This is not the time to use dear Aunt Sally who does two deals per year in her spare time.) Make sure the agent has a sterling reputation.
And be kind to your Realtor!
