Sometimes it's hard for sellers to understand why their listing expired.
Sellers typically enjoy many fine years in their home, so they sometimes
price their homes subjectively.
To understand why listings expire, it helps to imagine a listing
expiring on something we understand has an objective price. So let's
imagine for a minute that you had a five dollar bill, but -- perhaps for
some twilight zone reason -- five dollar bills were suddenly more
difficult to sell. Because of this, you give a bill-salesman a 90-day
listing on your five dollar bill, but it doesn't sell, and the listing
expires.
Now let's imagine I'm there with you and you show me your five dollar
bill and say, "John, why did my listing expire"? Here are some possible
reasons based on my experience.• You wanted six dollars for the bill.
One of the bill salespeople told you it was worth five, another told you
she could get you six because she "sells so many bills every year". You
hired the salesperson who told you she could get you six dollars.
• You listed the bill for five dollars, but insisted that your bill
seller not show the bill to anyone unless you were there.
• You listed the bill for five dollars, but told your bill seller not to
put a sign up on the bill, because you didn't want the other five dollar
owners to know anything about your business and chat about you in the
neighborhood.
• The bill was torn in half and had maple syrup on it. Your bill seller
suggested $4.75 but you knew other bills sold for $5.50, so you agreed
to list it for $5.25.
• You owed $4.00 to a lender for the bill, and wanted to buy a bill for
$7.00, so you felt you needed to get $6.00 for it. With this in mind,
you instructed your bill seller to list it for $6.00.
• Someone down the street got $10.00 for a "similar" bill with Alexander
Hamilton on it. Based on that, you figured your bill should be worth at
least $8.00.
• You paid $20.00 for a wallet for the bill.
• Eight months ago, people were getting six dollars for such bills. Your
bill person told you that the most recent sales of such bills were for
five dollars. You listed your bill for six dollars.
• You list the bill for $5.00. Your bill salesman doesn't enter any
marketing data in the MLS, and puts up a sign in the yard and a flier
box with no fliers in it. You get an offer at $4.95 and want to accept
it, but your bill salesman writes a counter-offer asking for a different
title company, and the transaction falls apart.
• You wanted eight dollars for the bill. You don't really need to buy
another bill. You told your bill salesman to list it for $9.00 to "see
what happens".
• Your bill salesman lives 300 miles away from the bill, so they can't
be there readily to let buyers in or help answer questions from other
agents.
• Your bill salesman is a family member, who's going to not only give
you a break on the commission, he's going to list the bill for $6.50 for
you.
• You know bill salesmen get too much money for what they do, so even
though many bill salesman are getting 5% and 6% to list bills, you save
money by hiring Help-You-Sell-Your-Bill. You agree to pay them 3% total.
They offer 2% to the bill-buyer's agent, who won't show your bill
because they can get 2.5% and 3% to show other bills. Nevertheless, a
buyer is interested and is ready to see your home, but you hired
Help-You-Sell-Your-Bill, so your agent doesn't show it for you, you have
to show it yourself. You make an appointment to show the interested
buyer your bill on Saturday. On Thursday they see another bill they like
better, call the agent on the sign and see the bill that day, write the
offer, and they're in escrow on Friday. They don't call to cancel the
Saturday appointment, but when you call to ask why they're not there
they tell you how excited they are about the bill they bought. Aren't
you excited for them?
• You wanted eight dollars for the bill. Your bill salesman suggested
selling it for five. You listed it for $7.50 and told your bill
salesperson that if someone wants it they could "make you an offer". No
one makes an offer.
• You wanted eight dollars for the bill. Your bill salesman suggested
selling it for five. You listed it for $7.50 and told your bill
salesperson that if someone wants it they could "make you an offer".
Someone offers you $5.00 and you're insulted by this "lowball" offer, so
you reject it. Two months later you ask your bill seller if that buyer
is still interested, but meantime they've purchased another bill for
$4.90.
John Lockwood is a California Real Estate Broker and
author of http://www.sacramento-home.com. Visit his site for the latest
area news and real estate listings. Article Copyright, 2005, John
Lockwood. Published by permission under John's Free Content License. |