Dave Jones, Prospect Ct Broker/REALTOR's Dave Jones Realty, llc

Well ActiveRain has helped another.  The help and encouragement I received from this post really helped me get a new listing tonight.  I concentrated heavily on pricing and justifying my price.  I would have been more inclined to do a fancy power point presentation, maybe a dvd, but i didn't.  Come to find out I didn't need to.  They felt my research on the price was so good I was the agent for them.  They had previously been listed at $639,000 and had ZERO showings.  The reduced to $620,000 the last month and still didn't get much interest.  I recommended a list price of $599,000 and they agreed.

Thanks to everyone that posted. now, the next question is...

Does anyone care to share some good Marketing words for the limited description our MLS allows?

I have an appointment tomorrow with a couple whose listing expired with another agency.  I know one of the reasons it didn't sell was price.  I am suggesting a reduction and also have a list of different marketing we offer that they didn't.  What I am curious is, what d I need to ask them.  I remember reading about "interviewing" expireds to find out what was tried, and what did or did not work.  Does anyone have suggestions on what to ask.

I want to find out if there were any offers while it was listed.

What is their motivation for selling?

What do they think makes their house worth what they were asking?

Any advice is appreciated!

Well I am a relative Newbie still.  I have been an agent for about 8 months.  In that time I have really have gotten the feeling that people just do not value your time. 

The have a preconceived feeling that since you are a REALTOR, you have extra free time.  This is shown when people consistently show up late at showings, and occasional (today) don't show up at all. 

At least let the agent know you are running late, or wont be there.  I really get frustrated with people wasting my time.

I have a full time job as a Sales manager of a Huge automation company.

I am the father of two (both under 4 y/o, which is a handful)

my family owns a restaurant that I help out at.

AND

I am a VERY active REALTOR with 4 listings and several buyers I am working with. 

Common courtesy is all I ask.  Am I asking too much? 

Do others have similar experiences? 

Is it because I am relatively new to the business that I am not getting respect or is it just the way people are? 

Any similar experiences you have are appreciated.

ps....Thanks for letting me vent

 How many people here are active Advertisers (or Past advertisers) of the Real Estate Book?  I have been thinking about investing some money into a small campaign with them.  Unfortuantely it is very expensive.  A minimum of 8 issues and at close to $600 per issue (full page ad, gold level). I would love to hear from you.

I'm not sure how many people out there caught this on the news a while back, but now it is on YouTube.  I'm not sure if I believe the mere fact that you say "Motivated Sellers" will account for 50% more DOM.... But there are some good points. Sorry if this is a repost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDiD-xb93Vo

Have a look.  Anyone have their own list of good working keywords? I find that if it is a decent house, priced right, people will look.

What is causing the somewhat "Soft" market we are experiencing here in Ct?  One reason the market has taken a Dip is due to the surplus of property currently listed.  From September 1^stto December 12th of 2005 there were 522 new listings in Waterbury, Prospect and Naugatuck.  That same period of 2006 there are 730 new listings.  That is a 40% increase.  Obviously there is not an influx of 40% more buyers into our area. The result will be houses sitting on the market longer, and a steady decrease in list price. The best thing a seller can do in today's market is price their home aggressively, and be at the front of the pack.  Otherwise the seller will continue to "chase the market".  An example of this is a house that is priced at $400,000 when the true market value of the home was $370,000.  If the Market continues to drop, and the seller reduces the price to $370,000 they may have missed the boat.  The Market value of their home may now be $355,000 and they continue to try and catch up.  If the house was listed aggressively at $370,000 in the beginning they would actually have made more money on the sale. 

I had a open house yesterday for one of my listings.  Any time I do an open house I bake brownies and cookies.  Now to me this isn't really an art or any science.  I simply buy the box mix, and follow the directions.  I had a very large turnout at the open house (20 sets of people, probably 35-40 people counting children).  Anyone who asked where i bought the snacks was informed that I made them.  This often led to a giggle and a "surrrrrreeee you did" comment.   I just found it funny that so many people think that I was lying about it....

Is it that hard to beleive I baked brownies and cookies.  I'm pretty sure when my wife does her open houses and I make brownies cookies for her people don't even ask where tehy came from...  All I want is a little equality ;)