Phoenix Real Estate — Anything and everything about it. Plus random musings… Now with Phoenix area MLS Listings Search!

What is probably my favorite “paper”, The Wall Street Journal, published an article on Sunday titled, “Get Real With Your House Price”.

It’s relatively brief, but contains some good info. The article points out five signs that indicate your home may be overpriced:

1) Not enough showings
This is a prime indicator. But it’s a little “diluted” in the Phoenix real estate market because of the shear number of homes available for sale.

Let’s say you tell your agent, “I’m looking for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home between $200 – $250K in Gilbert.

*poof!* You’ve got 495 homes to go see. Throw in Chandler (337 homes) and Mesa (659 homes) and you’ve got almost 1,500 homes to chose from in that fairly narrow band of pricing.

And that means if you’re selling a home in the East Valley, you’ve got 1,500 other homes you are directly competing with for buyer’s eyes and money.

Sometimes homes don’t show because there is a ton of competition.

2) Some showings, but no contract
Getting people to look at your home is step one. Getting people to make an offer on it is a whole ‘nuther story. An oft-quoted rule of thumb (including in the WSJ article) is ten showings should equal an offer. But I’ve seen that range from one showing to dozens. There is no hard and fast rule, but clearly if your are getting traffic (qualified traffic, not just “looky-loos”) and no offers, then something is amiss. 

3) Similar homes are now selling for less
In the Phoenix market, prices are generally declining. That means that what you priced your home at last month likely isn’t what the market considers your home worth today. Your price reductions may just be keeping up with declining market value, not positioning your home to sell.

4) Repeated negative feedback
Getting feedback from showing agents ranges from relatively simple to excruciating. Getting honest feedback is even worse. Ask 100 agents for feedback, and 95 of them will tell you, “My clients liked the home, but they want to look at more before they make a decision.” (In fairness, that is pretty much typical these days.) Rare is the agent who will give you brutally honest feedback. And let’s face it, even if you get something like, “It’s horribly overpriced”, “what were your clients thinking when they painted that wall” or “the home reeks of B.O.”, none of that should come as a surprise to the seller. A good listing agent will give you plenty of feedback before the home is even listed. There shouldn’t be any startling revelations on home feedback.

5) You’ve cut the price, but not enough
Here lies a tricky question. When a price cut becomes necessary, how much do you cut? I have seen, and you can’t make this up folks, price cuts of $1 a day, every day. Why would someone do something so ludicrous? To game the system. Agents can set up MLS notices for changes in property. Repeated miniscule price reductions serve no purpose other than to artificially get a listing on the “freshly revised” hot sheet.

The amount to cut is a fine balance between the needs of the sellers to net an amount, the speed at which they need to sell, and the perception of the market as to the value of the home.

And remember, it is the market that determines your home value. It’s not what your neighbor sold his home for, it’s not what you wish it was worth, it’s not even what an appraiser says it is worth. It’s what buyers in the market say it’s worth. Period.

There is no question; pricing in this market is key. It’s true though that any home can be sold if the price is “right”. Don’t believe that? List your home at 25% under what recent and true comparables are selling for. Your home will sell in days. Granted, no one wants to leave 25% of their homes value on the table, but it will sell.

The trick is determining a price point that is attractive to the buyers in the market that will net the seller as much as the current market will bear.

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From the often frozen tundra of Saskatoon, it appears that the fellows at Vendasta are close to unleashing their creation.

It’s been under wraps for awhile now, and we still don’t quite know what they are up to.

We do know they are looking for a “Social Application Developer” saying, “We will be starting with the development of a Facebook application and will then proceed onto Open Social.”

From John Fothergill, Vendasta EVP of Product Management, on the fabulously named Motherfathergill’s blog comes this tidbit:

None-the-less I decided to attend (the Google I/O conference) because so many sessions were focused on OpenSocial and social networking containers and this was the exact type of research we needed for our web 2.0 start-up MyFrontSteps.

Brendan King also recently attended a Graphing Social Patterns East conference in D.C.

Obviously they are working on a social networking play. It’s a crowded space, but I suppose there is always room for more. All depends on what new twist they can bring. In a Common Craft-ish style video they give a few more hints….

Sounds like it may be able to pull various social networks into one spot. THAT could prove quite useful. It will be interesting to see what comes out. Soon, I suspect….

These guys are all pretty innovative thinkers. Hang on…

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Dear ePerks:

Moments ago I received yet another email from you asking me to sign up for your service. I’ve received similar emails, oh I don’t know, at least a couple of dozen times.

I have repeatedly asked you to stop spamming me. I even asked nicely the first ten or twelve times. Yes, I have dutifully clicked on your “unsubscribe” link, apparently to no avail.

Here’s the deal…

You could pay me a fee and I’d tell you to take a flying leap. I won’t use your service. Ever.

I don’t know how to make that any clearer.

You see, I am a real estate blogger. I have seen how the CEO of your company, Ben Behrouzi treats bloggers. Why in the world would I want to be associated with a company that stomps all over people, relies on threats and intimidation, files ridiculous lawsuits, and markets their services chiefly via spamming techniques?

I don’t know what it’s going to take to really be removed from your mailing list. Your repeated unrequested and unwelcome solicitations for my business are in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

Asking politely doesn’t work. Your so-called unsubscribe link doesn’t work. Emailing you directly doesn’t work. Next I’ll see if filing complaints with the FTC will do any good. I see they can fine you $11,000 a pop. Your two-bit lawyer could generate a lot of threatening cease & desist letters with that 11 grand.

For the love all all things decent, it seems like it would be easier for all of us if you just removed me from your damn mailing lists. You’re wasting my time, and your time.

Regards,

Jay Thompson
Designated Broker, Thompson’s Realty

Here are a few:

Seminal post on BrokerScience: ePerks.com: A Case Study in Greed and Self-Imposed Brand Destruction

More by Trace Richardson on BrokerScience:

Son of ePerks: iHype.com

ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey

ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites “Damages”

Ben Behrouzi Updates Company “Values” and “Culture” Web Pages. Only One Problem: They’re Stolen.

Others Opine:
Greg Swann spools up the Vlad Zablotskyy Defense Fund

More from Greg.

Jacquelyn Richey

Russell Shaw, as only Russell Shaw can do.

Big name “A-List” bloggers join in: Andy Beard, Aaron Wall

From: jay@thompsonsrealty.com
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:37:28 -0600
To: jayson.leite@eperks.com
Subject: Re: OUT OF STATE REFERRALS

Jayson -

I have zero desire to be associated with ePerks. I’m a real estate
blogger and I see how your CEO, Ben Behrouzi, treats bloggers.

I have unsubscribed from your mailing list numerous times, yet I
continue to be spammed, in direct violation of the CAN-SPAM act
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm).

Please for once and for all, remove me from your mailing lists.

Regards,
Jay

Jay Thompson

Designated Broker
Thompson’s Realty
cell: 480-235-4447
email: jay@thompsonsrealty.com
web: http://www.ThompsonsRealty.com
blog: http://www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

—–Original message—–
From: “Jayson D. Leite” eperks@inbox.com
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:54:03 -0600
To: jay@thompsonsrealty.com
Subject: OUT OF STATE REFERRALS

I need to establish a relationship with a reliable buyers agent that my broker can work with to close transactions for our clients and who are open to paying us a 19% referral fee after closing a transaction with the buyers.

This is not a lead generation program. I will not send you lists or ask you to cold call customers or charge you per-lead fees. Our clients come to you when they are prepared to buy or sell their home because they are using our program to get a significant amount of cash back from us when they close escrow with one of our partnered agents.

If you would like a detailed description of how our system works.Click Here to review our business model, pricing and guarantee. Then select the “Check Available Territories” button and use my “Referral ID” JL21 at any point to view available territories or give me a call to discuss your options and answer any questions you have.

Again Please Use My Referral ID: JL21

You can also Click here and view ourprime time TV commercial currently being seen on BBC America, CNN, Travel Channel, Fox News, Discovery Channel and more.

Kind Regards,

Jayson D. Leite
Direct: (510) 457-5380

ePerks Real Estate
6601 Owens Dr
Pleasanton, Ca 94588

Email: jayson.leite@eperks.com

** ePERKS Real Estate is in full compliance with State Real Estate Commission Regulations and Licensing, allowing the acceptance of referral fees in all 50 states.

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Chris Butterworth, fresh from introspective thinking while on vacation, is looking to add a few agents to The Butterworth Group at Thompson’s Realty.

If you are on the west side of the Valley (or north central, the precise location isn’t critical) and are thinking of a change of venue, you might want to think about Chris’ group. He is one forward-thinking, high energy kind of guy.

“Platinum customer service” isn’t just talk around here. It’s a requirement. 

You don’t have to be a blogger to join Chris’ group or Thompson’s Realty. As obsessed as some of us are with real estate blogging, we realize it’s not for everyone. The fact that you’re reading a blog puts you way ahead of many in understanding this thing we call the Internet.

If you’re interested, give Chris a call at 623–570–9940, drop a comment here if you’re willing to “go public” or contact me.

We here at Thompson’s Realty don’t want to expand too quickly, but there is always room for the right kind of agent.

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