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I don't know about other people, but the chances of selling my own listing have always been pretty slim. I always found it curious that so many were focused on such a rare occurrance? Twelve years and I've only been on both sides of the transaction 3 times and only once did I have agency duties to both parties. I made sure to explain to both that I could no longer favor one over the other and that my job would be to help them come to a mutually beneficial agreement and that is exactly what happened. Dual agency doesn't affect our image with consumers as much as the confusion about what we really do. Thanks to Kris for saying what I've been saying for years! I have been fighting the salesperson label for so long and have only met resistance from the majority of agents. I came from a service industry and I NEVER saw this as a sales job. I feel marketing is different from selling. 99% of what I do has nothing to do with sales. I've never tried to "sell" someone a house. Like Kris said - I'm, not selling the house, the Seller is. If we continue to identify ourselves as salespeople, instead of the representatives and couselors we really are, the public will never accept us as experts and only as overpaid bottom feeders. Consumers simply do not see value in salespeople (unless they own a store) and that is why they don't believe we have any real skills to offer THEM. That's why they think the only advice we give them is to get the deal done to get our commissions and not necessarily in their best interest. Consumers usually go out of their way to AVOID salespeople in stores and on car lots and tend to see real estate salespeople as a necessary evil. Most people view a salesperson's only skill as being able to talk them into buying something. That blinds them to all of the skills we have to offer as real estate professionals and lowers our value in their eyes. Buyers think we are just trying to sell them something and sellers think we only offer some cheap sales skills and that is not worth a huge commission. Funny how our licensing test really has little on it about selling and a LOT about representation, laws and agency. And NARs consumer ads don't help any either. They look a little pathetic - like a car dealership claiming that now is a great time to buy a car - yeah, but for whom? People don't trust "salespeople" and do not see value in an agent who is just in it for the sales. They will trust and see value in a representative, an expert, a skilled professional, a knowledgable counselor....and that is what we really are. At least, that's what I believe we SHOULD all be and that is what I always strive to be. Glad to see more agents understanding what they really have to offer the consumer! http://bestmilwaukeehomes.com http://blog.bestmilwaukeehomes.com
Days on market can be very helpful to sellers - in how to price and market their home. I recently used DOMs from a certain neighborhood to price my seller/buyer's house AND help get them an accepted offer on their new house. By showing the sellers of the house we were trying to buy that the neighborhood had DOMs of 25-45 days vs. the 180+ days in other areas, they not only took our offer with a house sale contingency, they didn't bump us when they got a secondary offer with a house sale contingency. The DOMs were better in our area! Used correctly, DOMs are a powerful tool! DOMs aren't "unfair" to sellers. If they are priced correctly and being marketed properly, their DOMs won't be a high number and it doesn't hurt them at all. Low DOMs can even get a HIGHER offer for a seller. If the buyer is working with a knowledgable professional, they will be told WHY the DOM is high - because the agent should be an EXPERT and do their due diligence. If my buyer CLIENT asks why a DOM is so high, I'd better be able to tell the difference if it's because of marketing, the market or price! It's ignorant real estate practitioners who make DOMs "bad" for sellers. http://bestmilwaukeehomes.com http://blog/bestmilwaukeehomes.com
My son thinks I'm insane because I am sitting at my computer, laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face!! Kris, you are not alone - I must have spent an hour last night trying to get my Twitter to auto-nudge me, since I always forget to post. Only to find out the feature is broken - not my intellect. And now you tell me I'm supposed to have it linked to Facebook, too?? And that line about the children in therapy...so true! My 15 year old son was mortified to know I had a Facebook page! (Yet I was honored that he still became my first Facebook friend back then!) Now I need to go check if I got accepted yet to the Inman group I applied to yesterday. All these groups and I still feel out of the loop sometimes! Thanks for the great laugh - I needed it! http://bestmilwaukeehomes.com http://blog.bestmilwaukeehomes.com