Archive for category Strategies
Why A Realtor Is Not The One To Get Your House Sold
Posted by Deane in Strategies on February 17, 2010
People erroneously believe that realtors are the ones who make the sales of houses happen. Not really. Realtors only bring buyer 
and sellers together, which is something the buyers and sellers already could easily do. But the “king” of the transaction, the one with veto power and virtually no accountability, is the lender. It is MUCH more important to be working with a good mortgage broker who will be HONEST with you about your buyers’ genuine chances of getting a loan than having even the best realtor.
A few months ago I posted that my son and his friend were buying a house together. Their deal fell apart when the lender pulled out at the last minute. That was the week of Thanksgiving. And yesterday was the day they absolutely were going to close after applying for and getting another loan. Guess what? It didn’t happen 
. I don’t know what went wrong yet, but how sickening is this for everyone? I, of course, am mostly concerned about my son who has been living out of a suitcase for 3 months. But I also really feel for the sellers. Their life has been on hold for 3 months, too. Their realtor gave them VERY bad advice. When the first loan fell through, they should have pulled out of the deal. If one lender turns you down, it is very likely so will the next lender.
So I always recommend sell your own house, but be sure you have the ear of an honest, experienced mortgage broker. In the Truth About FSBO, I explain why a mortgage broker will be happy to help you sell your house for free. One of your bonuses is an audio of me interviewing a very successful and experienced mortgage broker. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to listen to that. It’s a real eye-opener! It will change the way you look at selling houses.
Internet Gaining, Realtors Losing Ground – It’s Very Clear
Posted by Deane in Strategies on September 8, 2009
Below is a very interesting chart published by the National Association of Realtors.
In 2001, 6 times more buyers found their house through a real estate agent than from the internet. As of 2008, real estate agents and the internet are running almost even. It’s very clear that the trend in buying houses is favoring “do-it-yourself”. This echoes the increase in the selling “for sale by owner” trend.
Is Using an Agent to Sell Your House “Just Because” a Good Enough Reason?
Posted by Deane in Strategies on September 8, 2009
Have you ever thought, really thought, about why we all do certain things? Too many times the reason is “because that’s the way it’s always been done”.
Here is a good example. In the Netherlands, a country where the bicycle is a serious form of transportation, kids learn to ride bikes WITHOUT training wheels when they are 2 or 3! But we wait until kids are 7 or 8 AND use training wheels. Read the post below, complete with amazing photos of little kids on really little bikes, and find out how they do it. And why we don’t.
I’m sure you’ve connected the dots and figured out what this has to do with selling your house. Most people will call an agent to list their house “because that’s the way it’s always been done.” Whether it is the best, most effective way to sell their house or not.
Since you are reading my blog, you probably already selling FSBO, so you aren’t one of those people!
Even I Was Stunned at These Realtor Tactics
Posted by Deane in Strategies on September 4, 2009
You may be figured out that I’m a bit cynical about the real estate industry. 
After all, my mission is to empower you to sell your own house, if that is what they choose to do. But what I just heard stunned even me.
This week I saw a local real estate company offering FSBO classes. “Wow! Aren’t they becoming enlightened?”, I thought. Wrong. After doing some research, I found that there is a realtor/guru who teaches other agents how to hold “FSBO classes”. The intention of these classes are to daze, confuse, and bewilder attendees so they drop their idea of selling FSBO and list their house on the spot! The agents also offer a free book, something with the word “guerrilla” in it, designed to do the same.
Here is a direct quote from the website, “The more tools you give them (homesellers), the more they wish someone else would do the work!!”
So please beware of gift-bearing real estate agents, OK?
“Sorry Sellers” – I Bet They Wished They’d Tried FSBO
Posted by Deane in Strategies on August 23, 2009
This week in my local newspaper was a story about a couple that added a $30,000 deluxe covered back porch to their brick row home, violating their neighborhood’s strict homeowners association rules. The predictable happened. They were mandated to tear it down! The homeowners were so embittered by this experience that they tore it down, and decided to move.
They live in a highly desirable neighborhood known for its tight knit community, great schools, and excellent location. They listed it with a real estate agent the day after the roof was taken down. And sold it two days after that!
Although I don’t know exactly how much they got for their house, it was in the $300,000+ range. So now they can kick themselves in the behind twice – once for the roof and once for using a real estate agent, when they really didn’t need to.
Although stories like this are somewhat amusing (as long as its not you or anyone you care about!), they also break my heart. If these homeowners had invested had tried one of my suggestions, that everyone should try selling your house yourself (the right way) for at least a week or two, they could have saved themselves $15,000. A total of $45,000 if they’d not done two things wrong. Yikes.
But not everyone is as smart as us. Not everyone has learned how to sell “for sale by owner” the right way.
Real Estate Agent Scare Tactics Against FSBO Selling
Posted by Deane in Strategies on August 2, 2009
I just read another article by a real estate agent trying to scare the daylights out of homeowners like you, that are selling for sale by owner, that has me fuming! This article was “57 Reason Why You Can’t Sell Your Own House”. The reasons listed ranged from silly to totally manufactured. Notice the how it uses “real estate speak” to make the questions harder to understand than necessary, too.
I don’t want to bore you with debunking all 57 (!) so I’ll just pick three so you can get the idea:
Reason #1 - What is the condition of the current title? You may be thinking, “Gosh, I have no idea!” You may not even fully understand what a title is. Not to worry! That is something neither homeowner or real estate agent would find out anyway. Your title company or attorney that will be doing the closing will always do a “title search” and let you know if there are any issues on your title. Most likely, there won’t be.
Reason #8 – Did you review your existing financing to determine whether is can be assumed? Again, you may be thinking, “I have no idea! How can I find out? Why do I need to know?” Assumable loans stopped being issued in 1989. If you obtained the mortgage on your house after 1989, the answer is “no”, it won’t be assumable. If you obtained your mortgage before 1989, it’s possible. Contact your lender and ask – it probably won’t be, but there is a chance. An assumable loans means that your buyer can “take over” your loan and not have to get their own loan, which can be a great selling point.
Reason #39 – How will you prequalify a potential buyer? Good news. You don’t have to! Only a lender prequalifies buyers, not you and not a real estate agent. Prequalified doesn’t mean anything, anyway. You only want to work with preapproved buyers. So I guess this was a trick question!
I resent real estate agent resorting to scare tactics like this to try to make homeowners selling FSBO feel stupid and powerless. They must be pretty desperate if they to resort to having to scare homeowners into listing with them.
At the risk of sounding like I’m trying to scare you, if you are selling for sale by owner and didn’t know the answers to those questions, you should consider investing in The Truth About FSBO – Complete Selling System. My mission is empower FSBO sellers like you so that you can proceed in selling your own house with confidence. Isn’t it always better to make decisions from a place of empowerment and knowledge, than to make knee-jerk reactions from fear? And that, I believe, is the difference bewteen what that agent was trying to do to you and what I’m trying to do for you.
P.S. Let me know if when you come across this sort of thing. If you do, I would LOVE for you to send it to me so we can stop this emotional assault on people selling “for sale by owner”.
My Next Door Neighbor Finally Sold Her House
Posted by Deane in Strategies on July 28, 2009
Selling your house with an agent is no guarantee of a fast sale, any more than selling fsbo is. My next door neighbor listed her house in November of 2007 and my new neighbors just moved in, almost two years later. Watching her try to sell her house was getting an education in “what not to do” if you want to sell your house. Since the entire family is deeply embedded in the real estate industry, I kept my mouth shut and watched her do everything wrong.
You might have a house or two like this in your neighborhood. Pay attention and notice why you think the house won’t sell. Make sure you don’t repeat any of the same mistakes!
Here is how not to sell your house:
• She used her sister, a part-time “dabbler”, as her agent.
• She let her two small, adorable dogs bark non-stop when potential buyers were there.
• There were times agents let themselves in and found “doggie deposits” on the white living room carpet. Horrors!
• She listed it the week before Thanksgiving in a bad market.
• Her sister/agent did no proactive marketing, held no open houses, put up a sign you could barely read, and seriously overpriced the house.
• The listing pictures were taken in the fall and stayed up all year long. They made the house look dark and gloomy. There was one shot of the back yard totally covered with dead leaves!
• Her bushes had overgrown so you could barely see the front of the house, screaming “project”.
• Her kitchen appliances didn’t match, another immediate, obvious project for the buyers.
I could go on, but you get the idea!
I hope she never reads this. If you ever meet her, please don’t tell her, OK? Let that be our little secret.
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