The ad above was clipped from my Facebook.
I had sent a Redfin link of my new listing to the sellers. The next thing I know, Redfin is advertising the house back to me on my own Facebook account!
We had four offers on this Tierrasanta house, and sold it over list, effectively (agent was buyer’s mom and she reduced commission). We had a great turnout at the open houses over the weekend, which helped stir the urgency.
I did experiment with Periscope, and ran about 30 minutes of live broadcast from the open house on Saturday. I’m hoping to include some clips of them here soon.
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This has been a great week to be on the market. I’ve had four listings sell in the last seven days, and have seen several properties (10+) go pending that seemed like longshots. Was it the rising rates? Grad week over? Dumb luck?
Probably some of all three, but we should monitor these hot flashes- they seem to happen about the same time each year. Could there be a pattern?
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A commenter wondered yesterday if I’m screening/deleting comments – I’m not, there just aren’t many comments left here. The topics of the day tend to be fairly mundane, with buyers and sellers grinding it out.
The blog traffic has been consistent – about 7,500 unique users each month. We know that many, if not most, are those sexy bots that come in the middle of the night, but there must be enough readers that discussions are possible.
Could there be more things to discuss here? Yes, I’m sure – and I’m willing.
If you have any topics to kick around, let me know.
*Grin* Knowing you, Jim, it must have been “dumb luck”. Wow, four listings sold in one week. Well, Mr. Realtor, you’re like butta–you’re on a roll! Congratulations!
And topics? I’d like you just to tell some great stories!
1. Most memorable sale over your 31+ years as a realtor.
2. What is your favorite negotiations and/or technique you used to get a deal to go through whether you represented buyer, seller or both?
3. What’s the most # of houses you’ve sold in a month and when?
4. Who was your craziest client and why?
5. Where do you think mortgage rates will end up in 2015?
6. And finally, will the Padres or the Dodgers win the NL West in 2015? If not, who? (For the record, my Giants-loving daughter says SF won’t win this year, because they skip a year between World Series. She says it’s a no-brainer they’ll win in 2016 tho’ 🙂
1. Most memorable sale over your 31+ years as a realtor.
My first sale. I was sitting the up desk at Century 21 Pacific on Garnet and Cass St in PB. A guy pulls up on his bicycle and walks in, flip-flops and all. He tells me that he will buy any oceanfront condo I could find for $100,000. This is 1984, so I went back and looked through the MLS books. I found a condo listed for $100,000 at 4767 Ocean. I called the listing office but couldn’t find anyone who knew about the listing. The other newby agent next to me points out that I’m looking at an old MLS book, and lo and behold, the listing is expired (the expired dates were published then).
With some coaching from my manager Rex Downing, I called the homeowners at their residence in Solana Beach. They said the reason the condo wasn’t selling was because the tenant wouldn’t show it. My buyer was a retired broker, and he says he’ll look at it the week of closing. Boom, the next thing I know I’m representing both seller and buyer! We inspect the condo the week of closing once the tenant had vacated, and deal closes. Rookie Jim makes 6% on his first deal.
The story continued for years, and I’m still friends with his son Bob Jr to this day.
Just part of our history was the story I told about the transvestite that got stabbed to death at the Riviera Motal on 6th and Pacific while we had it in escrow. Bob Sr owned that one too. I could keep going…..
Comments? O.K. Love the blog and recommend it to those who express interest any in R.E. Along with a recommendation for my “Realtor for Life” (a phrase coined by JTR that cracked me up).
Observation? Social Media is a siren on the rocks. Oh, that seductive “connected” feeling with family and friends (and smell of baking bread).
Reality? They want every scrap of personal information you have so they can sell it over and over and over again. Beware the Faustian bargain my friends! “FacePlace” and the like are not in it for egalitarian reasons.
2. What is your favorite negotiations and/or technique you used to get a deal to go through whether you represented buyer, seller or both?
All that matters is the buyer’s agent.
An affluent and fully-committed buyer can get screwed by having a lousy agent, and a questionable buyer with a great agent can score.
Today was a good example.
Of the four offers, we took the contingent offer.
Huh?
Consider the ingredients:
The buyer just got married last year, and his agent was his Mom. Do you think she is motivated to get the newlyweds into a nice tract house in the ‘burbs? You bet – and she started throwing in commission immediately, which eventually was the difference in the decision.
The contingent-sale house was already in escrow – they had multiple offers and it got bid up 5% over list. It’s a decent house in Midtown in the $500,000s sold to military with 20% down. That deal is probably going to stick.
She upped their offer twice without a counter from us, and took out the appraisal contingency.
She called, emailed, and text me 10 times in two days – that’s a committed agent.
There were love letters submitted with two offers – both were awesome, and balanced out.
The other buyer agents were lackluster and sluggish – including one from the red team that typified the problem with non-commissioned sales people. Who are you in crunch time?
I check the sales history and she’s closed 5 this year with a couple over a million – that’s good – she can get people to the finish line.
I look her up online, mostly to see how she presents herself visually – does the buyer’s agent have it together? The web presence is always weak so I don’t expect much there.
The whole time – and this went on for two days – my job is to do as well for my sellers as possible while creating a win-win.
If the buyer and buyer’s agent aren’t happy with the deal, they might not close. This is a big mistake made by hundreds of listing agents every day who think their job is to work over the buyer at every turn. They rub too hard and the buyer blows out just because of the treatment from the listing agent.
We took the contingent deal because it was more money, AND because the agent was the most committed. But there are times when you have to choose between the money and agent, and that’s when the interviews are so important.
CB Mark was there the day in 1995 when ‘Jim the Realtor’ was born. There were so many people coming through the open house on Los Robles that I started introducing myself as Jim the Realtor just to differentiate myself from the pack.
That house sold for $246,000 in May, 1995.
It just resold for for $1,200,000 last month – with a master bath that had tub only (no shower).
3. What’s the most # of houses you’ve sold in a month and when?
I do better when the market is in upheaval so I went back to 2011. I closed 7 sales in April, 2011 for over $6 million in volume. It included a buyer-sale where we paid $111,000 over list price, and also closed my first Fannie Mae REO sale for $100,000. I had a 5-month and two 6s that year too.
It’s different now.
4. Who was your craziest client and why?
The first name that popped into my head was Lorne B.
Two reasons he was the craziest:
1. He starting drinking vodka before lunch every day.
2. He bought a house with a $300,000 pool that was half finished.
The seller was in trouble, and couldn’t finish the pool.
We took over after paying $935,000, plus another $100,000 to finish the pool and hardscape. The funniest part was just after he closed escrow, he ventured into the existing pool half-filled with green algae water and he slipped and fell right in over his head. He came out a slithering mess!
His drinking got the best of him, and his wife finally left. We sold it for $1,112,500 in June, 2006. Here is the lead photo from my listing:
https://www.bubbleinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Lorne.jpg
The video tour we did of his house/pool was the first video I did, and it literally sold the house. A couple from New York saw the video and came out and bought it on the spot. I wish I still had the tape!
5. Where do you think mortgage rates will end up in 2015?
30-year jumbo at 4%, same as today.
There doesn’t seem to be enough solid improvement in the economy to warrant a rate hike by the Fed. Even if they get juked into it, the big banks seem determined to kill each other over mortgage market share.
6. And finally, will the Padres or the Dodgers win the NL West in 2015? If not, who? (For the record, my Giants-loving daughter says SF won’t win this year, because they skip a year between World Series. She says it’s a no-brainer they’ll win in 2016 tho’ 🙂
You know my Dad was a Giants fan all his life and died right before spring training, 2010. We got him a brick outside of At&T Park – look for it!
I tried to find the photo of it, but this is all I came up with:
https://www.bubbleinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/manny-protest.jpg
The Padres are soft, San Diego is soft, and nobody really cares much if they win.
I’ve turned into a Dodger fan purely because of Vin Scully, and try to listen to as many games on the radio as possible just to hear the remainder. Here’s the most recent – listen to the first one:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/06/vin-scully-world-war-ii-d-day-stories-dodgers
The Lakers aren’t the same without Chick, and the Dodgers are facing the same fate.
Who will win the NL West? With the Giants no-hitter tonight, you have to like their chances. The Padres will fade, and the Dodgers will get hurt or choke.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/06/san-francisco-giants-pitcher-chris-heston-no-hitter
Mattingly is learning on the job, and I thought he was to blame for losing in the playoffs last year. He doesn’t like to bunt, he doesn’t take chances on the base paths, and he’s too dependent on the bullpen.
Thanks for the questions!
P.S. What happened to that earthquake?
More Q’s, JtR!
1. What’s the #1 characteristic that buyers or sellers should look for in an agent? I know your “trademark” is “get good help” but it’s so much more than that. Should a buyer or a seller approach the search differently?
2. Why and what are the special considerations if you’re a first-time home buyer–and know little or nothing about real estate?
Although I’m not an agent, I sometimes get frustrated that I seem to know more than some agents. I first discovered RE back in 1988. We built a sweet little 1,248 sf home (*our first*) in Hawaii. Long story short, we learned a lot about the power of “sweat equity”. Our sweet little home (only w/ a carport) doubled in only 4 years. It was in a down market in 1992, when we decided to sell and move back to the mainland.
Are you open to having a new feature on bubbleinfo, Jim? Maybe “Ask JtR” anything (*real-estate only*)once a month.
There’s a reason why when people ask if I have a mentor, I say: “Yes, several, but in real estate it has to be JtR. I always tell them about bubbleinfo, and how it’s the best real estate blog out there. 31+ years experience means everything.
Another mentor is in business. He sold 3 natural food stores to “Whole Paycheck” after 10 years and retired at age 49. The money hasn’t changed he or his wife. They’re still generous souls and live in the same house they bought right before the deal closed. Friends said: “Why, you’re an overnight success!” His reply? “Yeah, it only took 30 years to get there.”
!. What to look for in an agent?
Their recent sales history tells all.
Agents who represent buyers and sellers have experience (and empathy) on both sides of the table, and they typically don’t blow deals over stupid stuff. One example is the listing agent who insists on busting chops on the last day of the contingency period and sends the Notice to Perform over something that was out of the buyer’s control. Why aggravate/threaten the buyer if there is a logical explanation for what happened and a clear plan to resolve it in the next couple of days?
The number one rule as a listing agent is to only sell a house once. We only get paid to sell it once, why would you risk blowing through 2-3 escrows? Agents who risk blowing up deals do it unconsciously because they don’t have any empathy for what it is like representing buyers.
Good agents sell at least one house a month. If an agent sells 12 houses a year, they’re in the game – they have experience getting several different types of people to the finish line.
I just picked an agent in Prescott Valley off Zillow who had 29 years experience and 42 sales in the last 12 months. I didn’t like that he had 40+ listings but I guess that’s how they roll in those sleepy cow towns. The buyer I sent him reported that he was very knowledgeable with no-pressure – and she liked him.
People don’t need to know anything about real estate to buy a house – grab an agent and go. If you spend time on anything, look for the best agent available to help you personally. If you go to the big teams, you don’t work with the leader, you get passed to a buyer’s agent who is cutting their teeth on you.
We have Richard and I in the field every day, while Donna is back minding the store. Kayla is working her way into the rotation, and she does the one thing everyone should do – see houses in person. You must know the product to make good decisions, or give good advice.
4 questions, Jim:
I’m not sure about older homes, but my questions are specifically for new construction and benefits for sellers:
1) Does “staging” a house have a big impact on the final sale price? What’s the ROI?
2) Should sellers install appliances – e.g. refrigerator, washer, dryer? Again, what’s the ROI and impact on the final sale price?
3) I remember a while ago you described under-pricing a house a bit when listing to get a good action going. What are the parameters for that? Should sellers be aware of some caveats here, e.g. underpricing too much or too little and creating a negative perception, especially with underpricing?
4) What are the highest ROI areas you would improve/beef up when planning a new construction (to be sold once completed)? What about the lowest ROI areas you would avoid spending money on in the same case?
Thanks!
Arsen
just commenting for the sake of commenting.
kidding aside, kudos for you on keeping up with the social media trends. I’m talking about using Periscope.
Arsen,
1. I am reluctant to give a lot of value to staging because it is fake improvement – it won’t be there when you close. But we are researching the topic currently because sellers ask about it, and if they want to go that route I need to have reasonable options available.
2. Install appliances? Yes. I don’t think it adds specific $ value but they help sell the house.
3. I don’t think you should deliberately under-price your home – you don’t have to. Just put an attractive price on it – which today is at the comps. Auctions are a different story.
4. Higher ROI? Master bathroom and kitchen. Lower ROI? Over-improving the backyard.
Thank you, Jim!
About “staging”: I wish there was some kind of statistical analysis done on that topic. E.g. nicely staged houses sell X% over empty ones.
You are 100% correct as you are looking at this as a professional, who can calculate the end value logically. However, I’ve noticed that, even with my logical thinking, I get attracted to nicely staged houses. Logically, I know that it will be empty in the end, but it does have an emotional impact on the buying decision. I just wish there was a way to quantify that added emotional value.
About appliances: same thing, I wish there were some studies done to quantify the effect. In this market, there is no need to help sell the house. It’s more of an analytical decision – e.g. if I invest $X in appliances, I will get $2/3/4X return on investment.
Thanks!
Arsen
“Redfin is advertising the house back to me on my own Facebook account!”
I have coined a term for this kind of ridiculousness. I call it “Dumb Data.”
Thank you, Jim!
About “staging”: I wish there was some kind of statistical analysis done on that topic. E.g. nicely staged houses sell X% over empty ones.
You are 100% correct as you are looking at this as a professional, who can calculate the end value logically. However, I’ve noticed that, even with my logical thinking, I get attracted to nicely staged houses. Logically, I know that it will be empty in the end, but it does have an emotional impact on the buying decision. I just wish there was a way to quantify that added emotional value.
About appliances: same thing, I wish there were some studies done to quantify the effect. In this market, there is no need to help sell the house. It’s more of an analytical decision – e.g. if I invest $X in appliances, I will get $2/3/4X return on investment.
Thanks!
Arsen
Home selling crosses over from the logical, analytical methods we use to judge simple investments into the emotional realm where there are numerous variables.
Tori says in the recent video that her realtors report 4x to 10x ROI, but spend a few thousand on a house that backs to a busy street or has a yapping dog next door and you are still going to have a problem selling for top dollar.
Each case is different, and none of us can make definitive statements on staging ROI.
P.S. Did you play with matches when you were a kid?