Buyers market - no one is even LOOKING at my house!
- Thread starter yvetterydman
- Start date
My experience with REA
My wife was pissed off with this cocky and tight **** REA. He only listed on RE.com.au. We were not getting good viewers. We negotiated with the REA to dual list with another REA. The other REA listed on Re.com.au, domain etc. We sold it on the first week of dual listing cause the best offer came from a buyer from domain. We got within our asking price range.
I would recommend to go listing with 2 REA after your 3 months. Let REA winner takes all. It is all BS that REA's wont give your property a lot of viewing because of dual listing.
Best of luck. Be realistic with your price. It is better to lose little money in a stagnant or losing market than to lose more money and peace of mind
Regards
Steve
My wife was pissed off with this cocky and tight **** REA. He only listed on RE.com.au. We were not getting good viewers. We negotiated with the REA to dual list with another REA. The other REA listed on Re.com.au, domain etc. We sold it on the first week of dual listing cause the best offer came from a buyer from domain. We got within our asking price range.
I would recommend to go listing with 2 REA after your 3 months. Let REA winner takes all. It is all BS that REA's wont give your property a lot of viewing because of dual listing.
Best of luck. Be realistic with your price. It is better to lose little money in a stagnant or losing market than to lose more money and peace of mind
Regards
Steve
Steve, dual listing is an interesting option - does that mean just choosing two agents? Do you sign contracts wtih both? What can you tell me about that? I'd love to hear more!
Our REA was just trying to ring me today as I was trying to call him! He had yet not received the letter that I sen via email, but on the phone basically he was ringing to say we gotta do something about this house! I told him to please do not take any offense at the letter but i've put a bunch of stuff that we need to address in it. Here is the letter that we sent to him last night...
Dear [REA],
[Hubby] and I feel we have a good relationship with you and we do have faith in you, but selling our house is our number one priority. We are writing to let you know that we are rather dissapointed in the lack of feedback. Primarily we are disapointed in the fact that we feel you are not keeping your promises to us.
- We expected to receive copies of all the brochures (4 brochures)
-We expected you to come and take new photographs to show the house in a new light and from different angles etc.
-We anticipated the pictures on realestate.com to be changed more frequently
- We expected to receive phone calls from you occasionally regarding photos, listings, viewings, updates, open houses etc
The exclusive contract we have signed with you ends on 8th August so we still have just under one month to make a huge effort to sell this house! I would love to see you get the comission but the way things are going, the market seems quiet and our house is not moving.
This is what we would like to see happen by Tuesday morning, 20th July 2010:
Floor plan put on realestate.com site
New photos of the house taken by Thursday 22nd July
Copies of all the fliers (four) to be dropped off when photos of house are taken
New photos of house to be put on realestate.com as soon as possible
Change title on realestate.com often, to things such as: “Light and bright and airy” or “10 mins to the beach” etc.
drop the price to $517 000
The reason we would like the photos taken by the 22nd July is so that you will have time to process them and get them onto the website by that weekend. We would also like to arrange an open house for Saturday 24th July. We would like the fact that we are having an open house on the 24th July, put on the realestate.com website by end Monday 19th July.
We would like the house description on realestate.com changed to: [listing description that i listed earlier]
Yours faithfully,
Yvette and [hubby]
Do you think I've been too harsh? not harsh enough? Do you think that will get things moving?
Thanks,
YR
Our REA was just trying to ring me today as I was trying to call him! He had yet not received the letter that I sen via email, but on the phone basically he was ringing to say we gotta do something about this house! I told him to please do not take any offense at the letter but i've put a bunch of stuff that we need to address in it. Here is the letter that we sent to him last night...
Dear [REA],
[Hubby] and I feel we have a good relationship with you and we do have faith in you, but selling our house is our number one priority. We are writing to let you know that we are rather dissapointed in the lack of feedback. Primarily we are disapointed in the fact that we feel you are not keeping your promises to us.
- We expected to receive copies of all the brochures (4 brochures)
-We expected you to come and take new photographs to show the house in a new light and from different angles etc.
-We anticipated the pictures on realestate.com to be changed more frequently
- We expected to receive phone calls from you occasionally regarding photos, listings, viewings, updates, open houses etc
The exclusive contract we have signed with you ends on 8th August so we still have just under one month to make a huge effort to sell this house! I would love to see you get the comission but the way things are going, the market seems quiet and our house is not moving.
This is what we would like to see happen by Tuesday morning, 20th July 2010:
Floor plan put on realestate.com site
New photos of the house taken by Thursday 22nd July
Copies of all the fliers (four) to be dropped off when photos of house are taken
New photos of house to be put on realestate.com as soon as possible
Change title on realestate.com often, to things such as: “Light and bright and airy” or “10 mins to the beach” etc.
drop the price to $517 000
The reason we would like the photos taken by the 22nd July is so that you will have time to process them and get them onto the website by that weekend. We would also like to arrange an open house for Saturday 24th July. We would like the fact that we are having an open house on the 24th July, put on the realestate.com website by end Monday 19th July.
We would like the house description on realestate.com changed to: [listing description that i listed earlier]
Yours faithfully,
Yvette and [hubby]
Do you think I've been too harsh? not harsh enough? Do you think that will get things moving?
Thanks,
YR
By the way, guys, I have seriously now thought of changing the colours to more neutral ones, but in the bedrooms, the darker colours are only on two walls (that meet at a corner), and the other two walls (that meet at the opposite corner) are a neutral tan/creme/beige colour, but this does not come out in the photos. Does this make a difference? 
YR
YR
If its the same Real Estate agent taking the photos, they are going to look just as crappy.
I recommend you get a friend who actually takes decent photos (if you dont think you're up to scratch) or get it done professionally.
The RE should have some contacts (you mentioned, you bought a place off elders, maybe give them a call?).
As for your letter, I wanted to write something similar when I sold my place, but I kept it nice, and had a verbal conversation with the director of the agency instead. Obviously if the agent is the director, then theres not much you can do.
My letter went something along the lines of this:
This is then followed up with phone call to the agent.
Hi, blah, I've just emailed you an update for the listing description as well as some pictures, when do you think you'll be able to update on Realestate.com and Domain.com?
If the response is ASAP, hang up and let them do their job. Call up in 24 hours to follow up if it hasn't been done. If its been completed within 24 hours, drop an email saying thanks.
If the response is "we're busy atm and I'll get one of the staff to attend to it", hassle them for an actual date and start talking to the next Real estate agent.
I recommend you get a friend who actually takes decent photos (if you dont think you're up to scratch) or get it done professionally.
The RE should have some contacts (you mentioned, you bought a place off elders, maybe give them a call?).
As for your letter, I wanted to write something similar when I sold my place, but I kept it nice, and had a verbal conversation with the director of the agency instead. Obviously if the agent is the director, then theres not much you can do.
My letter went something along the lines of this:
This is then followed up with phone call to the agent.
Hi, blah, I've just emailed you an update for the listing description as well as some pictures, when do you think you'll be able to update on Realestate.com and Domain.com?
If the response is ASAP, hang up and let them do their job. Call up in 24 hours to follow up if it hasn't been done. If its been completed within 24 hours, drop an email saying thanks.
If the response is "we're busy atm and I'll get one of the staff to attend to it", hassle them for an actual date and start talking to the next Real estate agent.
Yeah, I know the new pics will be just as crappy if they are taken by the same bloke, but it's just principle of the fact at the moment. I want him to start doing some bloody work! My sister was horrified to see that the pictures on re.com have not been changed once! (well, they were changed once when I asked twice then actually emailed the agent - I figured he would be at his computer so it would be a few mere button pushes...)
Next week (after tax return....) I will speak to a friend who is a photographer and see how much she will do some awesome shots for. She is really good and I'm sure her photos could not be any worse than the ones we have now. We are also considering the colour change, for sure! Again, we are quite cash poor at the moment so will have to see what the tax man yields to us as to how much colour changing we can achieve.
Asides from the same photographer doing the same crappy shots, what do you all think of the rest of the letter?
YR
Next week (after tax return....) I will speak to a friend who is a photographer and see how much she will do some awesome shots for. She is really good and I'm sure her photos could not be any worse than the ones we have now. We are also considering the colour change, for sure! Again, we are quite cash poor at the moment so will have to see what the tax man yields to us as to how much colour changing we can achieve.
Asides from the same photographer doing the same crappy shots, what do you all think of the rest of the letter?
YR
Oh, and the reason we sent the letter we sent, was my sis suggested that we give him dates, deadlines etc, so he knows we want things done by that time. He will be out tomorrow for new photos, and will have them on the net asap, and we are arranging the open house for the weekend. Now I'd better get house cleaning to make it presentable for the pix.
Now I'd better get house cleaning to make it presentable for the pix.Another thing I was thinking - was to put some pretty flowers in the front alongside where the garage is. Facing the house, on the right hand side is the front door in front of the patio area, i was considering liriopes at the back and pretty pansies or something at the front of that so it livens it up a bit and hides the dead bit where there is no grass (i think it is because it's shady there?) Do you reckon this would be worth it?
I nearly have hubby convinced to cut our losses, put the house on at a cheaper price and hope that it sells!!!! Yee hah! I read all your comments out to him last night and he seemed to take it all on board.
The real estate agent has done the immediate changes I have requested - put floor plans on re.com, changed the front picture, lined up to come tomorrow to take new pictures and from different angles, put the open house date for this saturday on re.com.... so i feel there is progress!!!! REA was surprised, however, when I mentioned an overwhelming yes vote to a change of colour! He was quite surprised that green and chocolate brown are not the new white!
YR
I nearly have hubby convinced to cut our losses, put the house on at a cheaper price and hope that it sells!!!! Yee hah! I read all your comments out to him last night and he seemed to take it all on board.
The real estate agent has done the immediate changes I have requested - put floor plans on re.com, changed the front picture, lined up to come tomorrow to take new pictures and from different angles, put the open house date for this saturday on re.com.... so i feel there is progress!!!! REA was surprised, however, when I mentioned an overwhelming yes vote to a change of colour! He was quite surprised that green and chocolate brown are not the new white!
YR
Refer my earlier post. Meet the market now or meet a lower one later on.
Pretty colours, flowers and pics may have worked earlier, but time spent correcting now will just move you further down the curve. What is it about "falling prices" that is so hard to grasp?
Sold my house near there (Northern Byron Shire) last month after 3 months on the market. Dropped the price 45K & got a buyer amongst dozens of others for sale in the area. Similar price to yours but at sea level & 50 metres from beach (this always made me nervous, which was another reason for selling).
I expect price falls in Australia which is why I had no problem dropping the price before everyone else does, and I didn't want to chase the market downwards.
I expect price falls in Australia which is why I had no problem dropping the price before everyone else does, and I didn't want to chase the market downwards.
Sunfish, thank you for your kind words. I have spoken to my husband and we are going to put the price at $499 000 tomorrow morning first thing. I actually did take your advice to heart and hope that a large ($30 000) drop in price will put the house more in it's respective place int he market and generate interest. When we first started considering putting the place on the market, the price we put on it seemed reasonable, but now that we have finally come to sell, obviously we overcalculated what we should price it at.
The agent still has to come and take new photos, I have a number of a professional photographer I will get in touch with in a few days. I'm so glad you all like the garage, and I agree - I think that a photo from the back of the property would look much better as the front of the house looks the worst in that it makes it look very ordinary.
Obviously i've been going the not-right way about this whole house selling thing and am seriously taking all your advices to try to correct it, and get a sale! Some things will take more time than others to correct!!! The copy was an easy and fast one, and the agent complied with ALL my requests in the letter we sent him, including making an appointment to come tomorrow to do more photos, which will be a start until we can get them professionally done!
Sleep well, all. Thanks for everything - i'm feeling more positive, if nothing else.
YR
The agent still has to come and take new photos, I have a number of a professional photographer I will get in touch with in a few days. I'm so glad you all like the garage, and I agree - I think that a photo from the back of the property would look much better as the front of the house looks the worst in that it makes it look very ordinary.
Obviously i've been going the not-right way about this whole house selling thing and am seriously taking all your advices to try to correct it, and get a sale! Some things will take more time than others to correct!!! The copy was an easy and fast one, and the agent complied with ALL my requests in the letter we sent him, including making an appointment to come tomorrow to do more photos, which will be a start until we can get them professionally done!
Sleep well, all. Thanks for everything - i'm feeling more positive, if nothing else.
YR
Lots of good suggestions already. One I'd add is to ask the agent about a priority listing on realestate/domain as it will get a listing near the top of the search results when searching for any suburb in the surrounding areas. This increased the number of inspections and enquiries when I last tried to sell in a buyers market.
I like green, but there is a tad too much,a bit overpowering in the photos.
May I suggest that considering money is a bit short why not choose off white or something light, and just paint the walls where the windows are ,not so much wall to paint, and this would tone down the green.
And for the dark walls in the bedroom ,just leave one feature wall and do the third wall the lighter shade,would make a big difference I think.
Also pic 5,with the cushion on the floor could be deleted,it's same room as pic 13,nicer photo.
You have a beautiful home there and I hope all goes well with the few changes
needed.Good luck.
J
May I suggest that considering money is a bit short why not choose off white or something light, and just paint the walls where the windows are ,not so much wall to paint, and this would tone down the green.
And for the dark walls in the bedroom ,just leave one feature wall and do the third wall the lighter shade,would make a big difference I think.
Also pic 5,with the cushion on the floor could be deleted,it's same room as pic 13,nicer photo.
You have a beautiful home there and I hope all goes well with the few changes
needed.Good luck.
J
On rea.com, there's 40 other 4+/2+/2+s listed in Terranora, and yours is the 5th cheapest.
When including surrounding suburbs, there's 106 listings, and yours is again the 5th cheapest.
On rea.com there's 4 houses for rent in Terranora. You might get $450pw for yours.
The Property
The front (esp the two trees 2 metres from the entrance) and LHS landscaping cheapen the home. Fix or leave photos out.
RHS neighbour is too close for my liking, as is their street access.
The bike/walking path that your property backs onto is a plus.
Public transport would be an issue I imagine.
Surrounding homes look reasonable.
View is reasonable.
House
Agree with everyone else it needs more neutral colors in and out. Consider painting yourself with airless spray gun if you and your partner are reasonably practical. Your local equipment hire guys will show you how to use it, or check utube for technique.
The rear deck is too narrow (s/be around 4.2m for comfortable dining), therefore better to drop the verandah photo.
Cheap mismatching sparse furnishing and dodgy wall hangings cheapens the home. Consider borrowing better stuff from friends/parents or hiring. Try and emulate a new display home as much as possible, even if it is just for the photo shoot. Go and have a look at a few to get some ideas.
Good pics need lots of light. Turn on all lights. Sunset behind dining table on deck with candles and table cloth etc etc.
Make sure it looks and smells clean, as if tasteful professionals live in it. Don't overdo the incense and Buddhas etc.
Final Thoughts
If I was looking for an IP, I wouldn't buy a 4/2/2 at the south end of the Gold Coast unless I could get 6%+ from someone in stable employment who isn't likely to move for many years, as I think property there will be flat in nominal and negative in real terms for a few years....... I also expect the local economy to soften further.
Consider that winter is traditionally the slowest time to sell. Spring is better.
I think you definitely need to get the pics and furnishing right, and the landscaping even if turf.....otherwise it won't necessarily help to drop the price. I'd price it at 515, and say you are a motivated vendor committed elsewhere, and be prepared to accept up to 5% less, and more depending on your motivation and the opportunity cost of time.
Check the trend in unemployment and no. of job advertisements for the southern end of the Gold Coast. Sometimes the local council or chamber of commerce can help.
Check recent sales on realestate.com to fine tune what the market is paying. Pay attention to the location and house quality.
When including surrounding suburbs, there's 106 listings, and yours is again the 5th cheapest.
On rea.com there's 4 houses for rent in Terranora. You might get $450pw for yours.
The Property
The front (esp the two trees 2 metres from the entrance) and LHS landscaping cheapen the home. Fix or leave photos out.
RHS neighbour is too close for my liking, as is their street access.
The bike/walking path that your property backs onto is a plus.
Public transport would be an issue I imagine.
Surrounding homes look reasonable.
View is reasonable.
House
Agree with everyone else it needs more neutral colors in and out. Consider painting yourself with airless spray gun if you and your partner are reasonably practical. Your local equipment hire guys will show you how to use it, or check utube for technique.
The rear deck is too narrow (s/be around 4.2m for comfortable dining), therefore better to drop the verandah photo.
Cheap mismatching sparse furnishing and dodgy wall hangings cheapens the home. Consider borrowing better stuff from friends/parents or hiring. Try and emulate a new display home as much as possible, even if it is just for the photo shoot. Go and have a look at a few to get some ideas.
Good pics need lots of light. Turn on all lights. Sunset behind dining table on deck with candles and table cloth etc etc.
Make sure it looks and smells clean, as if tasteful professionals live in it. Don't overdo the incense and Buddhas etc.
Final Thoughts
If I was looking for an IP, I wouldn't buy a 4/2/2 at the south end of the Gold Coast unless I could get 6%+ from someone in stable employment who isn't likely to move for many years, as I think property there will be flat in nominal and negative in real terms for a few years....... I also expect the local economy to soften further.
Consider that winter is traditionally the slowest time to sell. Spring is better.
I think you definitely need to get the pics and furnishing right, and the landscaping even if turf.....otherwise it won't necessarily help to drop the price. I'd price it at 515, and say you are a motivated vendor committed elsewhere, and be prepared to accept up to 5% less, and more depending on your motivation and the opportunity cost of time.
Check the trend in unemployment and no. of job advertisements for the southern end of the Gold Coast. Sometimes the local council or chamber of commerce can help.
Check recent sales on realestate.com to fine tune what the market is paying. Pay attention to the location and house quality.
Yea. Sorry 'bout that Yvette.
But I get frustrated by the universal belief that prices never retreat. I sold a property recently and copped a loss but I felt I would cop a bigger loss the longer I waited.
Just trying to add a touch of pragmatism.
farking nice house. Put it on for $499K and it will sell overnight.
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