 Posted 7/2/2007 8:49:27 AM
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I listed my house back in May 13th and have had 552 viewings but not ONE call or interested party.
However, I broke down and listed it with an agent on 6/8 and we have had 3 showings. My question is, do people even take this website seriously? Why haven't I gotten any showings off this website?
My home is priced competitively and it is in really good shape.
Is something wrong in my ad? my id is DAD3516
I want to advertise here and have people come in with their agents as I am willing to pay an agent's fee. It is in a really good area of town.
Any ideas?
www.myjafra.com/pmartinez1
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Posted 7/5/2007 2:11:32 PM
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Hi,
My wife and I are doing an FSBO for the first time in our almost 30 years of marriage. I think in this market one needs to be patient and price your home appropriately. Our neighbor is selling his townhouse for $15k more than us (with a realtor) and while his unit is quite nice, we have all of the bells and whistles including central A/C, central vac and a goregeous cherry and granite kitchen which he doesn't have. We had a realtor come in a do comps for us and have done 3 open houses with some interest, but no offers yet. We're having another open house this Sunday. We use our local newspaper for advertisements as well. It's a rough time of year to sell, but again, PATIENCE is needed. We know where we want to move to and there are plenty of available so we're trying to stay focussed. PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE and it ain't easy.
Good luck to you,
Mark
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Posted 7/13/2007 12:22:17 PM
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Same w/ us. We listed our house 5/20/07. A lot of viewings, but ZERO calls. I wonder too if this website
worked at all. If it worth my payment at all.
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Posted 7/13/2007 1:05:10 PM
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Hi NORHELE,
What is your listing ID? I'd like to take a look at your listing to make sure it's presented as well as it could be.
Two of the most common reasons for lots of viewings and no calls is how your home is presented in the ad, or an asking price that is either too high or too low.
I can take a look at your listing, but definitely make sure your asking price is not only within fair market value, but also competitive in this buyer's market.
Good luck,
FSBO Guru
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Posted 7/15/2007 11:58:13 AM
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Although I'm not an expert I'm an old man and have bought and sold many properties through agents and FSBO. I don't see anything wrong with either your house or your advertisement. I'm not familar with prices in your area (I'm in N.E. Florida) but compared to where I live it's an absolute give-away price. My only comment about your ad is that the description may be a bit too long. I know you want to get all the good selling points in but Americans have a short attention span so if it were me I'd try and edit it to make it shorter.
Other than that you may be expecting too much too soon. I sold my last house through a realtor during a down turn in the property cycle and it took a year to sell. I advertised FOR the house I'm in now and the seller had had it on the market, both FSBO and before that through two realtors for two and half years.
If you go with a realtor one of the things I have learnt is that many are dreadfully inefficient. My experience is that women are the worst - probably because so many are married/have children and do it part-time. They just want the listing, stick it on the MLS and let someone do the actual work of selling. My experience is that full time male agents are both more efficient and dedicated. If you go with a realtor try and get a referral from a trusted friend.
Another thing I have learnt is that many appraisers are useless. I just had one where he wanted paying up front and brought his dad with him, who just happened to be a real estate agent. Another one had so many factual errors and omissions it was an absolute joke. Better to do your own research, VISIT whatever you use as comparables and ask a realtor or two. Be up front and say that if you decide to go with a realtor then you'll give them a bite at the listing. Bear in mind that many realtors will overprice a property just to get the listing.
Last but not least there are other FSBO Internet services out there. I certainly would not pay to list with any of them. The Internet abounds with scam artists and I'm afraid that includes many FSBO websites so my advice is not to pay for a listing. The latest Internet scam is people trying to sell FSBO websites. So bear in mind that any FSBO site you list with could be owned and being run by a spotty faced youth from his bedroom . However, there is no such thing as a free lunch and FSBO site owners have to make a living so if your property sells through an FSBO website then you are honor bound to try and buy whatever you can from them.
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Posted 7/15/2007 12:27:11 PM
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| P.S. Another thing to remember Patty is that most of these FSBO sites (including this one's) main object is to sell you something, especially an MLS listing. So, it is very important, before you part with your money for an MLS listing, to ask what sort of MLS it is. There are MLS web sites operated by the local board of realtors and then there may be others.
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Posted 7/17/2007 4:31:33 PM
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Posted 7/19/2007 11:11:44 AM
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Wow, what a beautiful home you have!
I do have a few suggestions:
1. Make sure you specify the square footage of your property. That's a very important metric for buyers to gage value.
2. Your description is a little hard to read as it's one continuous line. I'd recommend reformatting it so that it's a bulleted list. If you'd like Customer Support to take care of that for you, let me know.
Cheers,
FSBO Guru
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Posted 7/19/2007 12:53:29 PM
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Thanks for your feedback. I have edited my webpage and made it much shorter. I had some people come look at the house a couple of times and the realtor mentioned they did not like my neighborhood??? HUH It's not like it's in a rich part of town, it's in a really nice part of town and it's not like we have drunks hanging out at the corner. I wonder why they said that. But it's bothering me since it was two different buyers that commented on this. I thought about putting out a brochure that lists all the attributes of the neighborhood, ie. trees, playground and parks next door, on bus line, etc and leaving it on the kitchen table with cookies to see if that helps. What do you all think?
www.myjafra.com/pmartinez1
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Posted 7/20/2007 4:58:41 PM
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Hello PuggoWuggo-
That's a very valuable piece of feedback you've gotten concerning your neighborhood.
I think adding information as you've suggested regarding the niceties of the neighborhood is a great idea. You may also want to see if you can obtain community reports (crime/school) that show your area in a positive light and either include them or have the available for prospective buyers.
The good news though is, soon someone will come along who likes or doesn't mind the neighborhood, and is actually looking in your price range.
Hang in there!
FSBO Guru.
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