S.M.,

Did you ever realize that getting an acceptable contract (marketing) on your home is only part of what listing agent does and that there are between 18 and 21 other professionals that are required to sell your home and get it closed?

Your competition is BANK OWNED (Foreclosed homes). I showed a home in your neighborhood yesterday that had the following features:

3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
Den
1800+Square Feet
Vaulted Ceilings
PebbleTec Pool
Mountain Views
Corner Lot
Move In Ready Foreclosed home

** $147,500 ** is the asking price and the same model is down the street for $179,000.

Are you ready to compete with these listings?

We can have THE BEST marketing and have you on the MOST internet exposure, but until the Foreclosed Inventory goes away you are going to have to compete with these homes. I currently have a database of over 400 buyers looking for specific homes that I have accumulated since May of 2008. 95% of them are asking for a foreclosed home (because they represent the best bargains).

I wish you the best - let me know if you have any more questions.

Dear S.M. Homes Seller in Arizona,

I think Listing on Mls and you say some other internet sites, your property should go on as many internet sites as humanly possible, so if you say some, I am not sure what that means, a nice color brochure and a nice virtual tour is wonderful and none of these last 2 are inexpensive!

Now as far as open houses and brokers open houses go...... for the first one it may be because of the location of your property or the agents experience in your town that there is not a lot of attendance, as far as brokers open houses goes, could very well be that brokers because they do not have a lot of buyers they are working with are just not going, although your Agent should at least have one or two brokers open houses.

Caravans may not be done by offices, there are less and less offices doing caravans these days.... Although agents must inform themselves about what is on the market and brokers open houses make that easy, but an agent can just pick their own time and preview properties for comparison for their sellers or their buyers.

Advertising in local papers is very costly and here is my experience, although not in Arizona, the buying public does not search in papers anymore, they all start on the internet, and then connect with an Agent who can research all properties available and then make appointments to show them.

It is what You the Seller and your Agent consider necessary when it comes to the listing agent to accompany all showings, I usually do it only if and when there are a lot of special items in the property that a buyers agent showing the property may not know about or see by himself, otherwise may be not a necessity.

I am assuming that when you interviewed several and you say 6 agents and you got obviously similar responses, did you ask why they do one thing and not the other. Their experience with other listings they have had, could heavily influence their decision...

The price point of your property, your location etc. may all influence the Agents' decisions. The best is go back to the two you liked best and ask them the same question you posed to us!

Good luck and I hope this helps you a little.
Edith edithsellshomes@gmail.com

Hi S.M.:

I am not from AZ - apologies to all AZ agents, but I am interested in this topic because there is always rooms to learn about new things and methods to help my clients.

I am in Marin County, CA. I personally do Open Houses because although I have never sold a house at open house, I have heard others that have. I feel that the more exposure you can give a house, the better opportunity there is to sell the house. I also do them if it makes my clients feel better - that's very important to me!

This is just pure fundamental of statistics - the more exposure, the more people see it, the more one of those will buy.

Great marketing and wonderful presentation of your home; other that deep discount, are crucial to getting the interested parties in; whether via open house or calling agents to see. My number 1 priority is to present my properties in their best light

I actually don't like to use professional photographers because I am the one who is selling the houses and I know what will attract the buyers to come and see.

I will take hundred of pictures - thanks to Digital cameras - come back and take more if the lightning is wrong. I photo shop, stitches them, ..etc to make them look great.

I then put them on the sites that will showcase the property the most - there are many different kinds of property website providers, and some properties show better on one website than the others. So I pick the website I use according to the property.

I then market it online all over the places - many I don't even know because each site gets populated to others.

And I get calls from people who saw the houses online. They either ask if they cacn make appointment or if they can come during open house - yes, that's when Open houses work.

So, I get them in either way. But they won't buy unless everything fits like a glove. But they get to see the house.

I think if somebody sees a house that look great on the internet, print, etc. AND they are in the market, they will find a way to see it; open house or not. .

By the way, I never have a dull moment at my Open Houses. I always brings my laptop with me. If the traffic is slow, I work. There is no wasted time for me either way.

Best,
Sylvia .

S.M. (and inlookers): Go to this site to find out what your listing agent should be doing: http://abetterlisting.com/Comprehensiveness. I'm not pitching for your business, but I detest these rationalizations for laziness. As a matter of general principle -- in all of your market transactions -- demand better. Why would you settle for mediocrity with the most precious asset you own?

S.M.

Hopefully that agents you interviewed told you that "unless you absolutely have to sell your home - then don't".

Also If if matters I am a CNE - Certified Negotiation Expert - here is the website to check out potential listing agents: http://www.negotiationexpertise.com The President of the company personally trained me over 2 years ago and I was one of the first REALTORS in the country to get this designation.

S.M. - You are also right about SAFETY. Even though I can do VIRTUAL TOURS, VIDEO TOURS and provide LOTS OF PICTURES - sometimes that is not in the best interest of the client because of delicate situations and safety. Open houses are sometimes out of the question too because of safety.

Jan is right about viewing your competition - I also invite my sellers to see what the competition looks like first hand.

Hopefully you don't have to sell in this buyers market but if you do I am sure you will pick the right agent. Remember you can request an easy "If I'm not happy with your service will you let me out of my listing agreement" clause.

I wish you only the best. Sell only if you have to move.

First off, you are not expecting too much. What you are asking of an agent, who will be paid full commission, is reasonable. The agen'ts office does have to be within the boundaries of your home, but I'm sure there are other home tours that might be available. My approach to listing a home is to physically take my clients to see the "competition" so that we are viewing them together. Once the home is listed, I would view anything new that came on the market. That has to be evaluated weekly, but a custom search that automatically hits my inbox is very effective. A question for you is, are there special circumstances regarding the showing of your home? Most agents allow buyers agents to contact the homeowner directly for showings, unless there are pets or other limiting circumstances. Open houses do not produce buyers for your home, as statistics show, but will give your agent new buyer clients. I did an open house this past Monday, Labor Day, and met one neighbor in 4 hours. Open houses in this marketplace aren't very effective. The best motivator right now is price and condition. If your home is "show ready" and priced right, it will sell quicker than others. If your home is painted, clean, has no odors, and is neutral in decor and not cluttered, it should sell. And since I'm on the Executive Committee for the RE/MAX Northeast Valley Tour, I can tell you that seldom does a tour produce a buyer either. I have yet to sell a house from mentioning it at the tour, but I do it anyway. Same goes for my office meetings. Featuring a home can be done on the internet with much more effective results, ie AZCentral.com, Sikku.com, office websites, custom websites for the home displayed as a sign rider (and mentioned in the public remarks on the MLS), and Realtor.com with pictures. Last month, my $250,000 listing received 454 viewings on Realtor.com, much more exposure than an office caravan or any other type of open house. With the price of gas, more buyers are using the internet to locate homes.

All this talk about open houses reminds me of a couple who had their home listed and had a bad experience with someone who came to their open house. From what I understood, the cops were called because a stranger wandered into the open with a camera and started to take pictures (he was not a licensed agent) and the REALTOR sitting the open felt really uncomfortable and called the cops. The man became enraged, went to his car, took out a tire iron and began damaging the property. He was arrested I believe. So, all the comments about safety, strangers coming in unsupervised to a certain extent (all it takes is a few seconds) or to case the house to commit a crime later are all really good reasons to not have opens. If an agent uses the time to market themselves, they are absolutely entitled to do so. Does anyone really think we want an agent sitting there for 4 hours doing nothing? Or talking to our neighbors who we don't talk to? Or the amount of time it takes to clean and prepare and remove yoursellf and pets for more than 4 hours? However, in my last experience, the buyer came from the second open house my REALTOR sat so I have to disagree that they simply don't work. In this market, you just don't know where that one buyer will be and I suppose you have to weigh all the options to sell the house effectively. Maybe broker opens are the best option? How does a REALTOR get other REALTORS to attend? It would seem to me to benefit BOTH REALTORS because the listing agent gets to network for a buyer and the visiting agents get to preview a potential house that they can email their clients about. WIn-win.

On having someone take great photos, I can't agree more. It is so vital. I stipulate that the photos must be approved by me. If I see horrible or bad angles, lightening, I won't agree to use them (the photos) and they must come back and take better ones. All the agents I have talked to agreed with my stipulation and said no problem. I also look for certification, not just verbal experience in negotiations from my REALTOR because if they are not trained, it will be a nightmare. Thanks for all the great responses from everyone!!

Nat you are right when it comes to photos.

Not only am I a professional REALTOR, but I am a trained photographer and take an average of 150 properties of any listing that I take using a "real" high quality professional camera. I sort through them, take the 6, 10 or 12 best photos, use Photoshop to make them look their best (adjustments) and then present them to the public on the internet sites. I do this if the home is $150,000 or $750,000. Both of my clients receive the same exact service.

I also have 3 different professional staging companies for the client to choose from, that don't charge thousands of dollars to make the home look like a model for the photos.

On Open Houses - First of all I ask the client if they are interested in Open Houses. Second I use a 180 degree different proprietary method that gets between 6 and 12 "real buyers" not "agents" looking at your home during a "15 minute" open house - not 4 hours.

S.M. 80% of marketing your home is getting the right price where buyers will even look at your home. 20% is marketing. You can have the best photos, virtual tour and video tour (is anyone beside me doing video tours too?) of a home but if the price is too high the buyers will go - NEXT! The opposite is true too. You can have the best price home with really bad pictures and the buyers will go - NEXT!

S.M.
What about AFTER an offer is received? REALTORS do 25% of the work up front (before contract) and 75% after the contract is received. We are often described as Ducks - we look real smooth on the surface and we "paddle like crazy" underneath in order to make sure transactions close. We deal with anywhere from 12 to 18 people in order to get the home SOLD, dozens of forms and deadlines to meet. People skills should be very prevalent in a good agent. What about negotiations – I, like a few other REALTORS are trained, certified negotiation experts to make sure we stand up and go to bat for you and get you the highest dollar for your home.

I hope you have received some great advice here and I hope your home sells fast and for top dollar.

I just want to say as a person that just sold a home this past June, that not all agents are the same and I don't think an open house is usually the best method. Stage your home, clean up any clutter and make sure the agent can take some GOOD PHOTOS. If not they should have a company take them. I can not tell you how many listings we looked at that have crappy (sorry) photos and misspelled words in the details. It is unbelievable to me that agents are allowed to do this. We have been looking for a new property and I can not help but wonder why the seller lets their agent put such photos in as part of the listing. And is it too much to ask for them to take more than 2?? I think that the photos are a big part of getting the interest of a buyer especially with so much online. Virtual tours are awesome also. My agent brought my buyer, everything went very nicely and I didn't pay 6% commisson.

I once sold one of my listings while I was standing at the pump filling my car with gas. The couple behind me noticed my 1CASA4U license plate, asked if I was a Realtor and told me they were looking for a home. After a short conversation I mentioned that I had a home listed that might fit the bill.

Long story made short they bought the home.

I have sold a lot of houses. But, I have sold more houses at the gas pump than I have at an open house... Guess I should spend more time at the gas pump on the weekend. Makes about as much sense as sitting in an empty house hoping someone stops in.

Reading through the list of answers here, I hope you have noticed how the answers from agents outside Phoenix differ greatly from the answers by the agents that are from Phoenix. As Jay pointed out, real estate is local.

Personally, I have sold houses as a direct result of open house. In fact, I've sold 4 of them. But all 4 were back in the 2004-2005 frenzy period. As well, before I was an agent, my agent once sold my own home as a direct result of open house. I know from experience that it does indeed work, even if it's success rate is relatively small.

Fast forward to today, and 4 hrs sitting a house open usually results in 4 hrs of my time being completely wasted. I lost track when it hit double-digits the number of times I'd sat a house open that had received no visitors at all. And these were homes in the same neighborhoods that I had succeeded in not just getting traffic, but selling those open houses. With a track record like that, it simply became clear to me, that inconveniencing my client to have the house open for 4 hours on a weekend, while I sat there alone by myself, wasn't an effective use of anyone's time. If it was just my time, I suppose I could see spending it, but it's also my client's time, as well as the serious risk of loss or damage resulting from strangers being allowed to tour through the home.

I'm not saying that an open house cannot be effective, or that it cannot possibly sell a house in the market we have in 2008, but the house needs to be darned special in some regard. My office has been successful marketing unique short sale properties that are held open. For example, we had a high rise condo in downtown Scottsdale, where entrance requires an appointment. In that case, we marketed the condo open via the newspaper, and the phone honestly rang off the hook. We haven't sold our own listings via this method yet, but the effort and cost are yielding the type of result that may lead to success.

What I'm getting at, is that I do what I feel is "appropriate" marketing for the home, and I'm open to sharing my successes and failures, so that it's not just a unilateral, NO or YES.

I've also done broker tours and office tours. In fact, I've done a lot of them. The networking that goes on has led to successful business. But honestly, they've been very poorly attended for the last 18 months, and often only attended by that green agent that has their first and/or only listing. The worst, is the owner/agent selling their own home. The networking with that type of agent is simply worthless, as I 'm sure you can understand. There's no hope that they are working with buyer's that might consider my listing. They just want the free feedback from the other agents on tour.

These days, I do a fair number "meet-ups" with some of the agents that have responded to your question (at least the local ones), because those of us that focus more efforts on internet marketing still see the value in getting together and meeting in person. At these events, we often have occasion to tout a listing, if we haven't already seen it via some other method, or we have a need/want that isn't quite "public". I can't say I've closed any business from this relatively small networking group, but I've definitely had occasion to put my client into a colleague's listing that we otherwise would not have looked at.

Finally, getting around to how listing agents are potentially earning the money that is being paid them via commission, if we aren't sitting open houses or doing office/broker tours. If you get a chance, take a close look at both Jonathon and Jay's blogs. You'll notice that they write nearly every single day, and that they have literally 100's of articles they've authored regarding real estate in the Phoenix market. Those articles result in them each having a fairly significant pool of buyers that are working with them to buy a home. Now, it's quite true that they will rarely sell their own listing, but it's also true, that the marketing they are doing is attracting a bigger percentage of the buyer pool to them, than the vast majority of agents. The time they spend, focused on that type of marketing results in 100's more potential connections, than if they sit an open house and are fortunate enough to meet 1 or 2 new families that are looking for a home similar, but not quite exactly the same as your home. It's difficult to "buy" into, because they aren't necessarily marketing your personal home, but they are indeed out there marketing. And what they are doing is effective. Very effective.

Finally, best of luck in your search for the perfect REALTOR. I do know of a brokerage that would be almost ideal for what it is you say you are seeking. The brokerage will do open houses and office tours, and you'll quite possibly feel you are being well taken care of, because of all of the attention you receive. But that brokerage has a very limited online presence.

JR, I've organized the office caravans. And after a couple of weeks it ended up being the same few agents who had their own homes on there showing up week after week. Why? Because I can find the perfect home for my client combining the MLS and my knowledge of the area. For several of my clients I have RSS feeds set up so homes matching their criteria come right to my feed reader for a first glance. I don't need to waste hours of time that can be spent in a more productive manner.
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I guess your area is like Jay's. We do it every week, have great attendance and I myself find it easier to preview at caravan and broker's opens rather than spending the time taking buyers to houses that as soon as I walk in with them I know they're not going to buy it.

If you hold opens and that takes away from marketing the listing in the more effective ways, which I am sure we both agree that there are, then yes open houses are not effective. But if you do market your listings in effective ways, adding open houses are only a plus, most definitely not a negative. There are plenty of great ways of marketing a home a la 2008, but adding in a little 1978 as you put it, is only a good thing. There are still PLENTY of buyers that shop a la 1978, in fact I am working with 2 right now that do not use email nor do that have a computer, and to reach those buyers you do need to market a la 1978. Technology is great, but depending to much on it and forgetting about those that are not tech savy can only hurt you.

Your'e entitled to your opinion, Tonje, but it's unfortunate that you continue to cast aspersions on those who choose to market in a way more reflective of 2008 than 1978.

Part of my listing presentation is my promise NEVER to hold a house open. When I take a listing, I take it with the sellers' full knowledge and consent that the house will not be held open. Physical work? We're not talking about building a house. We're talking about marketing and selling it. The basic fact is I can reach more potential buyers by a magnitude of 10s online and from around the country in the same time that others spend working on their computer in someone's living room after evicting them from their own house for the afternoon. The only "physical work" I've seen at an open house is taking the cookies out of the oven.

I would have to disagree with that Jonathon, agents that won't take the time to actually spend some time selling their listings just isn't worth it in my opinion. There are tons of agents that does nothing other than putting the house on MLS and getting a couple of ads in here and there and think they are done. To make the kind of money you make in real estate you actually should work for it, and I mean physical work. and if you are too busy to sit an open house then maybe you shouldn't have taken the listing.

JR, I've organized the office caravans. And after a couple of weeks it ended up being the same few agents who had their own homes on there showing up week after week. Why? Because I can find the perfect home for my client combining the MLS and my knowledge of the area. For several of my clients I have RSS feeds set up so homes matching their criteria come right to my feed reader for a first glance. I don't need to waste hours of time that can be spent in a more productive manner.

> The agents that say they don't sit opens is in my opinion lazy

Lazy? No. Busy? More likely. Smack a dog on the nose once or twice for jumping on the couch and the dog learns not to jump on the couch. But it's amazing how many real estate agents will hold the same house open weekend after weekend after weekend after weekend after weekend without learning that the house will not sell. Unless, as I pointed out, their intent isn't to sell the house but to find buyers for themselves.

"Well, Jay, you do caravans there differently than we do them."

Yep, real estate is local. For buyers, sellers, agents and brokers. That is why I struggle with blanket statements like, "All agents need to go on caravan".

No one can preview 50,000 houses. The point I was trying to make is what good is attending a caravan of 10, 20 or even 50 homes when there are 50,000 homes available. As a buyers agent in our market, I have to be more efficient than caravaning or attending broker's opens allows. With properly targeted MLS and internet searches, I can screen many more homes than I could possibly caravan. Some of those screenings may lead to me previewing, some may lead to showings with the buyer client and some may lead to exclusion.

Well, Jay, you do caravans there differently than we do them. We don’t have mortgage companies and title companies drag us around and do sales pitches. What kind of broker caravan is that? Once a week an agent in our office organizes a caravan with our new listings and new listings from other agencies and after our office meeting we preview them. Other agencies do the same, and we put our listings on their caravans also. There is nothing better than having 40 agents go thru my new listings, and taking out their cells on the way out the door and calling their customers if my house is PERFECT for them. I can’t imagine who would preview 50,000 listings or how you would assume I meant you should see so many.

"The agents that say they don't sit opens is in my opinion lazy..."

I don't really see the need to call people names just because they have different business practices than you Tonje. You're entitled to your opinion of course, but if that opinion includes name calling is this really the place for it? Why not just sell your services rather than attack others?

For the record, I don't sit opens and I am far from "lazy".

"In my experience, the agents who never go on caravan are usually the power listers, who would rather sell their own listings and rarely show other people's."

Well, I'm not a "power lister" and I abhor dual agency so I don't sell my own listings, and I show other people's listings all the time. And I never go on caravans.

With 50,000+ listings in the Phoenix metro area, spread out over almost 10,000 square miles, it's impossible to see even a minute fraction of the available inventory.

Caravans are incredibly inefficient and a waste of time. Time better sent actually marketing and selling my clients homes or servicing my buyers.

Yes, I preview listings. I don't need to be hauled around by a title company or a lender, listening to their sales pitch on their schedule to do that though.

> I don't know why you are against broker/agency caravans.

Because here in the greater Phoenix area, they don't work. Caravans here usually are arranged by title cos. or lenders. Those on tour are there only because they have a listing to promote on tour.

I don't need a caravan to familiarize myself with the inventory. Maybe it's different in New York, JR. But when it's 108 outside, I've got better ways to market without the shvitzing.

A lot of brokerages do set minimum commission, but not all of course. My agency requires 3% to be offered to the buyers agent, so if we take a listing at less than 6% we take the cut, not the buyers agent. I believe that every advertising channel helps. Yes some have better efficiency. The agents that say they don't sit opens is in my opinion lazy and they use the excuse of "open houses does not sell a house", in most cases this may be true, but a good majority of people that do visit opens are looking for a house and would not even come in if the house did not fit their criteria on paper.

Yes the time period of a listing contract is negotiable, however you should be prepared to sign a 6 month contract. If you do not you risk the agent not putting in any money in advertising your house. In a slow market a 3 month listing in a lot of cases will be too short to be able to sell and therefore there is a good chance the agent will not see their money spent coming back to them. However you should list with someone that will allow you to cancel if you are not happy with them, after all you will have to interact with your agent and if you don't get along for one reason or another, there is no reason to continue the relationship.

A listing agent should market your home and always be available for showings to potential buyers that show interest in the property. He/She should always make sure your home get the exposure it needs, make sure signs, advertising material etc. are always available.

A listing agent does not usually accompany buyers that already have an agent, however there are discount agencies that require their buyers to see the property through the selling agent, so make sure your agent is willing to do that. Amazingly enough some are not willing to do that, which I do not understand??? A buyer is a buyer, and it is the listing agents job to show the property to whomever would like to see it ( assuming they are qualified, serious buyers). A listing agent should also advice you on what upgrades, repairs are necessary to better sell your home, as well as give tips on what can be done for your property to show better. Another very important thing to look for in a listing agent is that this agent has showcase membership on Realtor.com. Realtor.com is the most important advertising channel there is, and if your agent has not paid extra to showcase their listings, you home will only have 1 photo and very limited description. Also make sure you get a good rapport with your listing agent, if you don't get a long you are in for a long ride. Good luck!

Broker tours/company caravans are not effective. Who attends these tours? Agents who have listings on the tour because those are the rules ... show a listing, you have to be present. These agents have next to no real interest in any home on the tour other than the one. So why do they do these tours? To be able to point to a stack of business cards on their sellers' counters.
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I don't know why you are against broker/agency caravans. If your office doesn't get participation, other than from agents who have a listing, then the broker needs to explain why caravans exist. All agents need to go on caravan. All agents need to preview homes, and familiarlize themselves with inventory, whether or not they have listings. In my experience, the agents who never go on caravan are usually the power listers, who would rather sell their own listings and rarely show other people's.

S.M.

The Honorable Mr. Dalton answered your second set of questions well.

"Anti-trust" kicks in when a group of brokers set commissions. Individual brokers are free to establish commission levels -- minimums, maximums and "standard" -- as they see fit.

The same can hold true for the length of a listing contract. A brokerage office may for example, tell their agents "no listing contract for less than 'X" months". Other brokerages give their agents more independence to do as they see fit with regard to commissions and length of listing contracts.

You might also want to keep an eye out for an agent that puts a "fire me" clause in their listing agreements. In my brokerage, we will release a listing agreement at the sellers request. Some brokerages will not do that.

Hello again, S.M. -

On the commission side, you're correct. An individual broker or agent does have the ability to set his or her own standard commission. There only are so many integers to choose from so some seem to come up more than others. On the length of the listing contract, that will vary from agent to agent. For me, I usually ask for three months. My thought is at the end of the 3 months if the house hasn't sold, either I will have proven to the seller that I did what I said I would and will get an extension or I won't. Or maybe I won't want to extend the listing ... that happens, too.

A listing's agent sole purpose is to market your house in a manner that gets it sold. Personally, I eliminated nearly everything but online a ways back because none of the other methods were effective. They amounted to busy work and I abandoned that when I left corporate America. Our goal is to get as many buyers (or buyers' agents) and their clients into your home as possible. In this market, honestly, that amounts to one or maybe two per week.

Rather than use flyers, for example, I use an 800 call capture system. Flyers usually are taken by either the kids in the neighborhood (usually dozens at a time) or by neighbors wanting to see how much your home is selling for and, by extension, how much their home is worth. Experience has shown the folks who take the time to call the 800 number for information tend to be more serious.

Back to online advertising ... when I list a home, I place it on close to two dozen separate web sites from Zillow to Trulia to Realtor.Com (as a showcased listing, incidentally) to RE/MAX.com, etc. Throw in attractive photos and descriptions (along with a competitive list price) and buyers usually will click through to learn more about the home.

I'm not someone who usually promotes myself in these answers but I will brag in this one final thought ... Google "Arrowhead Ranch Real Estate." Then look at the top. It's not by accident. And it's also the reason why I said before there is online advertising, then there's online advertising.

Best of luck to you with the sale!

Thanks to everyone who answered my post. One more question: Is the amount of time a listing agent contracts with the seller negoitable? Is 6 months a common period of time? Pros and cons?

The questions I have been asking in selecting a REALTOR I got from this Trulia site from many other REALTORS posting replies to sellers. So, all the open houses, advertising, personally showing the house where not my standards, but seem to be what many REALTORS say "could, might" improve the houses exposure to as many buyers as possible and that is my goal. It is interesting to see half of the replies in favor and have against. I appreciated the comment about the 6% coommission always negoitable. (3% buyers, 3% list ) In my area, I was told that their BROKER set the standard they could not accept a new listing at less than 6% (so buyers agent/broker gets 3% and listing agent/Boker split 3%). If this is true, than doesn't it conflict with anti trust laws? It does seem "fixed". But perhaps a Broker can set a minimum standard for his agency? I have never considered a FSBO and have used several REALTORS in my life and will continue to do so. I don't think agents are lazy. I think the person who posted this is a buyers market and that is where the majority of an agents time is now being spent may have hit the nail on the head. It would also explain "getting the listing" and then basically going back to work with new buyers. If the house sells, they get their 3%. I also think there has not been effective communication on the listing agents role. I would really appreciate comments on what this role should be. Thanks again for such good responses.

S.M.

First of all "a full commission of 6%" is misleading. Commissions are 100% negotiable. There is not such thing as "a full 6%" in our industry. The 6% you are talking about could be LOW or HIGH depending on what you are being offered. You can negotiate the commission if you choose.

Second is it a "buyer's market" or a "seller's market" right now? Of course it's a buyers market, so do you think most agents would prefer to work with buyers or sellers? Buyers of course! It cost money to put a home on the market - a lot of money if it is done properly and the listing agent has to put up that money out of pocket.

Third - You said the listing agent "will not personally show my home". Well If I was your listing agent I wouldn't personally show your home UNLESS I had a buyer interested in the home. Now granted I am personally working with over 200 buyers right now even though I am a listing agent. But if one of my 200 buyers is not interested in your home then why would I show it to them? As for setting up for showings you can ask your agent to arrange all showings if you want so you don't have to be bothered. That is lack of communication on part of the listing agents during your meetings.

S.M. Did any of the agents ever explain the role of the listing agent? It doesn't sound like it by your comments. There are over 100,000 licensed agents in AZ and in your area there are about 1400+ "active" agents (have done at least 1 transaction in the past year). By the way did you know the "average agent" sells between 1-2 homes per year in your area! Did you interview a bunch of "average agents"?

I would love to have 5 minutes of your time and explain what a listing agent is supposed to do so you can be an informed seller. You can call me at 623-337-8965 Ext.1 and I will personally answer all of your questions. I live, work and sell homes in your immediate area (My office is 83rd ave & Bell Rd.) Looking at the latest statistics, it looks like I am in the top 2% of all agents in the area based on production and number of homes sold. This means I am a full time agent that helps people buy and sell homes every day.

My phone line is open to answer all of your questions (as long as you are not currently listed or under contract with another REALTOR).

I understand your frustration. Let me know if I can be of service.

Glendale, AZ I live here - I work here.

Agents only are paid when one of their listings sell. With that in mind, most will perform those acts that are most likely to cause a buyer to write an offer.

Open houses are extremely ineffective. Most agents who hold houses open do so in the hopes of picking up a buyer, not of selling your house. Why? Because they know the odds of a qualified buyer just happening to drive past their sign, then decide to turn, then decide to walk in, then fall in love with the house, then make an offer and then actually go through with the purchase are extremely thin. Having traffic at an open house doesn't mean anything if not a single person through writes an offer when it's all said and done.

Print advertising isn't effective. It's expensive. It looks impressive because an agent can show the ad to their seller. There's a reason the Los Angeles Times has abandoned its weekend real estate section - people are not looking in the paper for homes. They're looking online. Some agents advertise in those glossy real estate magazines you see in the store. Why? Because they're hoping to use their listings to attract buyers to purchase any home, not necessarily the ones in the magazine.

Broker tours/company caravans are not effective. Who attends these tours? Agents who have listings on the tour because those are the rules ... show a listing, you have to be present. These agents have next to no real interest in any home on the tour other than the one. So why do they do these tours? To be able to point to a stack of business cards on their sellers' counters.

Most listings agents will schedule showings with buyers' agents but will not attend for one basic reason ... the buyers agent does not want them there. Buyers and their agents want to visit your home without having someone tag along listening to their every word. They don't want you there. They don't want the listing agent there. There's nothing a listing agent can accomplish by being there other than antagonizing the other agent. If a listing agent was at a home I was attempting to show, I'd politely ask them to stay in their car so my client and I could discuss the home candidly.

Many agents are focusing on online marketing because that's what works. That's where the buyers are. Of course, there's online advertising and then there's online advertising. Settling for one photo on Realtor.com and their company site (or their own site no one visits) doesn't really get the job done. But it's eminently possible to provide a large amount of exposure when done correctly.

You have been talking to the wrong agents. Yes opens rarely sell homes, and broker opens are mostly for agents to get together to network. Print ads have little efficiency. That does not mean that they should not be done. Every little bit of advertising helps. The one buyer you are looking for may very well be the only one showing up at an open house, or be a client of someone at the broker open. I know you have probably been advised to use one of the bigger agents, there are pros and cons to that. The pro is that they get more leads, the cons is that you get less service. The bigger agents tend to list your home on MLS and that’s pretty much it.

My advice to you would be to find a smaller agent that you can have a more personal relationship with that will care about your listing. If you are priced right and your home shows well you should have a great chance of selling in that area. I sat an open house in Hamilton Arrowhead Ranch last weekend and I had tons of traffic, it is a very desirable area with tons of traffic. I am very familiar with the area. I used to live in Arrowhead Ranch, and if you need any help at all give me a call, even if it is just for advice. Have a great rest of the holiday weekend!

Dear S.M.

I don't think you are asking too much. At Prudential American I can provide everything you need plus the Prudential Online Seller Advantage which provides weekly reports showing how many times your home has been returned in searches on various websites. With regard to personally showing your home, I'm afraid there is no substitute to the lockbox for making your home readily available for showings. In this market you don't ever want to miss a showing by insisting that your listing agent be present.

With regard to the fee, please remember that if I charge a 6% fee, half of this is going to be payable to the buyer broker. Therefore, in effect, I am working for a 3% fee part of which is then payable to my Broker. I'm not making excuses for chargeing the fee but the amount I receive is not 6%!

You mention that you have "agreed" a market price. Is this your price or is this a figure you have arrived at following the presentations by the 6 agents? In this market you really need to be guided by the market evidence when listing your home. In order to sell your house has to be the best house at the most competitive price.

You can email me at dcourt@pruamerican.com if you wish to discuss. In any event, I wish you the best of luck.

Kind regards.

David

I'd like to reiterate that print advertising does very little. If you've talked to 6 agents, and you're getting consistent answers it is probably because the open houses are not bringing in traffic (the best advertising for open houses is signage, and if you are off the beaten path, this is not likely to be effective); it is very hard to get agents to come to brokers opens anymore, there is just so much inventory - it can be a big expense and if you are far from the office, or there aren't many listings near you, then it's possible no one will come. The best way is to let buyers agents escort their buyers through your home with no one else (not even pets) present. You or your agent will not be able to sell to the buyers personally (in other words, you don't know what they are looking for - their agent does), and you can interupt that agent's ability to truly SELL the property. Believe me, buyers agents do not want to show 100 homes before making a sale. They try to narrow down the search by using the MLS listings (hopefully lots of photos go with that), making calls to clarify any specific buyer needs, etc. Ideally, we will show 5 homes and the buyers will chose one of those, if we screen and qualify properly. You may have noticed, gas is expensive these days. I do think that the listing agent himself should be touring new listings that might be comparable to yours in a buyers eyes - there's no way to see them all, but atleast the handful that are likely to be your highest competition, so he knows how to help you stand out.

Having said all that - you do need to trust your agent, communication is key. Doesn't sound like you trust any of these guys nor could them effectively communicate the truth to you in a way that you understood. So, you have not found the right agent. If you'd like a referral, I'd be happy to try to find someone for you - I know a couple people that service the Glendale area. If interested, email me at vchrisner@kw.com

S M.
It may be that the agents you have interviewed are having difficulty expressing how residential real estate works and how they market your home.

If you want to talk with a top agent in your market, I will be happy to refer you to one whom you can interview.

The point is this:
The Realtor's job is expose the value of your home to the market. That requires expertise in two primary areas: Assessing specific points of value and then increasing their visibility so your home screams VALUE to the market.

I agree with the prior post, some of the items you are mentioning, specifically newspaper advertising and open houses are NOT effective marketing tools.

From your post it seems to me that you do think that print ads and open houses are effective, which goes back to my first point. It may be that these Realtors are unable to explain to you how the business works, or it is also possible that you are not interested in a different point of view.

It sounds as though you are trying to sell on your own, which is another indicator to me that you have a high degree of self confidence. Am I right? You might be able to sell on your own, but 86% of homeowners selling without professional representation eventually list with a Realtor. However, if you think that all Realtors are lazy and you can do better job yourself, this post makes complete sense.

And I cannot say that I would feel different if I were in your shoes. However, I do have a different perspective because I spend a lot of time educating sellers on how to get their home sold for top dollar, and we do cover the fact that most buyers first see the home they buy with a Realtor (90%) of the time.

That is why proper preparation for the sale, including cleaning, decluttering, staging, and photography are major factors in homes selling. And of course proper pricing. The Realtors know values, so an overpriced listing will be ignored, and homes that project the best value will sell within 30 days closest to asking price.

I am very sorry for your frustration, I'd be happy to try to point you in the right direction.

It can be frustrating!

You may want to ask for the following: A complete list of all advertising they will provide! An agent should offer open houses if that is what the seller wants. Tours are way down,in this market so many buyers are looking for price and have such a large selection to choose from! However a tour can be schedule periodically upon your request. A well staged home, a home priced correctly and a good location will sell if it includes all the factors.

You may also request for referals from other clients and years of experience!

Feel free to call with any questions!

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but the simple fact is, a lot of what you mention simply doesn't work.

Open houses rarely sell homes. They are great at finding the agent buyer clients, but the chances of someone buying your home through an open house are remote. You're opening your home to total strangers, and hoping no one rifles your medicine cabinet or is staking out the goods to rip off later. It's not much better with broker opens or caravans.

Traditional print media is rapidly dying and is basically a waste of time.

Hopefully these agents have explained that the commission you pay is split between the buyers agent and the listing agent. A listing agent can't show your home to a buyer who is using another agent. That agent has to be the one to show, and most don't want the listing agent present (though your agent should be more than willing to set up showings)

Now that being said, there are things any agent should be doing. In the Phoenix area market, buyers are golden. There aren't a whole lot of them out there, so reaching the maximum buyer pool is critical. There is more to marketing a home on the internet than putting it on listing sites. Spotlight ads, single-property websites, email blasts to a buyer data base and more should all be done.

The smart move is that you are not going with a angent who discounts commissions.....

I am a Realtor in CA....I cannot address all of your concerns but I have a comment about newspaper advertising...IT DOES NOT WORK! However, there are a lot of other things your agent could be doing.....while open houses are not always effective, I have found that brokers open ARE effective. Make sure you are working with a REALTOR (not just a real estate agent) and don't be afraid to go with a less experienced agent. 90% of home buyers find theur homes online....don't discount the internet! Good luck!

Unforatanetely i agree you have probabily not spoken to the agents that do all the things you are looking for. You need to consider the smaller agencies, family businesses or owner/brokers as well. There are certainly people who still offer full service. My agency strives on providing the best in personal and professional service. I know there are still agents who share my "old fashioned" view of service while utilizing the internet as a marketing tool but not relying on it to do my job. I have a real person answer my phone, i assist all my buyers through my properties and dont send buyer agent to my properties to do my work. There are many different philosophies and many who dont see eye to eye with how i see things, so i wont say they are wrong. The most important thing for a seller to do is find someone who meets their expectations. There are other agents who still beileve. Just keep checking, you will find them. Good luck with the sale of your home.

I can understand your frustation! Sounds like you are very willing to meet and understand the challenges of todays market. I will be happy to help you get in touch with a first rate Realtor in your area with my company Long Realty we have a referral and relocation department to assist you in finding just the right agent to meet your needs. It does not seems that you are asking anything out of the ordinary. Please contact me at my website and we can get you on your way to where ever it is you want to go.
My pleaseure to be of assistance.
Vera Wallace
Long Realty
Dove Mountain
Marana, AZ http://www.vwallace.longrealty.com
vwallace@longrealty.com

Hi,
I provide full service along with a discount listing fee of 4.5%. For information on the range of services I provide, please visit my website or feel free to contact me for further information. Kind regards, Eric

Your either talking with the wrong agents or your price is way too high and they know it but just want the listing. It seems strange to me though that they would not want to have a broker open. There are also many other ways to sell a home these days. It isn't all done on the internet. Call me if you want an aggreassive agent to sell your home. Elaine Lekas Realty Executives, 602-421-8158