Calibrate def. to make corrections in, or adjust a procedure or process.
I don’t know if re-calibration is a word, but I’ll use it to describe what realtors have had to do over the last few years.
It wasn’t enough to just make corrections or adjustments to our thinking and practices from the bubble years. The market conditions changed so radically that agents needed to re-program their own thinking. But have they?
Whether you are buying or selling, here’s how you know if your agent has re-calibrated:
Agents Who Haven’t Re-Calibrated from Bubble Mentality
1. Complain about how bad the market is.
2. Promise that “The market will come back, it always does”.
3. Say things like, “The market is picking up” in a vague, non-specifc, non-involved way.
4. Tell their sellers to list high, you can always come down.
5. Think their job is to defend the list price at all costs, even if it means no sale.
6. Have listings sit on the market for months, and expect that ‘somebody will come along’.
7. Tell their sellers to hold out over 1-2% on price.
8. Reject a $2,500 request for repairs on a million-dollar sale.
9. Tout the comps as the reason for every action taken.
10. Tell their buyers to offer full price, or higher, with no justification.
Agents Who Are Re-Calibrating
1. Recognize that price is everything.
2. Know when a house is priced too high.
3. Don’t have listings that are OPTs (over-priced turkeys).
4. Don’t make promises about the market coming back.
5. Know that comps don’t mean much to buyers, unless they are low.
6. Recognize that REOs and short sales are valid comps.
7. Reduce the price on listings early and often.
8. Can be reached by phone.
9. Are urgent with sellers.
10. Are patient with buyers, and know that there will be other houses.
When talking to agents, use this as a guide to figure how much they might be able help you!
I just posted this link in the last thread, but it’s much more appropriate to this thread.
Glue-sniffing in Solana Beach.
Is there any real estate data system that comes close to the MLS?I know redfin but just rtying to see if there is a database for properties that competes in anyway with the MLS?
Thanks
Tahoe is beautiful today.Just watched the sun rise over the carson valley.A little snow here at 7500′, probably a few inches.Dont think heavenly is open.
I can’t tell you how many times a Realtor told me directly that they build their clientele on honesty, hard work and great service – this was the mantra. I often wonder what relationships Realtors have with their past clients. What do they say? Is it safe to say that now there is a fight for new clients? I can not see how any Realtor (errr, well most) can go back to their clients. I NO longer get mailing from my Realtor office anymore. Does anyone find this situation awkward?
Hi Jim and others:
I only want to comment on how important #4 of the second list is:
So many times I hear people talking about “the market coming back”. I think, “Seriously?”. This IS the market it never went anywhere, the prices just adjusted to what people were willing to pay. You see, the markets are ALWAYS priced at the margins. They were in the bubble years, they are now. It’s the same market, just with a different psychology. And, that’s the crux of “when it will come back.”
It’s possible that it will never come back. With the drag of offshoring, loss of US financial hegemony, fiscal problems in federal, state, and local governments, and potentially longer-term higher unemployment along with demographic shifts means that the 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s until 2006 will likely NOT be repeated simply for mathematical reasons.
If ever there were a time to question whether the market will EVER come back (at least in our lifetimes), NOW WOULD BE IT!
I don’t blame speculators for trying. You can bet your money and everyone is entitled to do so, but just don’t go looking for another handout like we’re giving now if your trade goes the wrong way. Sadly, my concern is more for our moral fabric, since productive uses of capital are being put towards wagering on speculative activities, and less on maintaining our infrastructure. It is this type of short-term thinking that will leave us less able to compete in the future (as a region, state, and country)
But, please, anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen just does not understand enough to be sure (at least in 2009-2010). There are no free lunches here, and magical thinking does not work.
Chuck Ponzi
Good stuff!
6. Recognize that REOs and short sales are valid comps.
Yes! If that’s what it sold for, that’s what its value is.
Very good post, Chuck Ponzi.
Did you see the study that showed realtors ask more for their own homes when they place them on the market than they tell their clients to ask for theirs?
It’s much easier to tell someone else they need to lower their expectations than it is to lower one’s own expectations, apparently.