No price tag- do you bother?

[travelbug]

I am a marketer and strongly believe in the benefits of advertising without a price but as a purchaser, I skip over them until they include a price.

This seems contradictory to me.

You strongly believe in not putting a price but you wouldn't bother ringing up about a property without a price?

If everyone agrees with your purchaser mentality what is the strong advantage of marketing without a price?

 

[Aaron Sice]

As a seller, you want the buyer to show their hand first (tell you what they think it's worth).

this, to me, says the agent isn't worth their commission because clearly they don't know the market or they wouldn't be letting joe schmoe set the price for the house.

agents are selling their services to clients on the fact they can get the best price. but clearly, this tactic says otherwise.

 

[jsoe]

I am a marketer and strongly believe in the benefits of advertising without a price but as a purchaser, I skip over them until they include a price.

Hi, what are the benefits of advertising without a price? Just wondering because majority of us don't bother with this type of listings.

 

[Ed Barton]

I think I know the reason for this... in a win/lose-style negotiation it is usually the person who names their figure first that 'loses'.

As a buyer, you want the seller to show his hand first (tell you what he thinks it's worth).

As a seller, you want the buyer to show their hand first (tell you what they think it's worth).

good points!

i try not to call them. if there's an open i just front up to that. usually curiosity gets the better of me and i call them.

 

[Ed Barton]

this, to me, says the agent isn't worth their commission because clearly they don't know the market or they wouldn't be letting joe schmoe set the price for the house.

agents are selling their services to clients on the fact they can get the best price. but clearly, this tactic says otherwise.

a few years back i saw an ad on rea.com that went like this.........

"4 lovely bedrooms, usual fluff. this is such a unique and beautiful home (it was bog standard with a good gf) that i really have no idea what it is worth. we are seeking offers from the market. blah blah. more fluff"

i sent the agent a msg through rea.com saying you're a useless rea if you don't know the potential price etc etc.

i went to the open incognito, did some research and determined market value

next week the ad changed to under contract..

"thank you to the 15 people who attended the open house and the 12 people who emailed commenting on my unusual marketing style for this property. 4 x st is now under unconditional contract, with an excellent price being achieved for the vendors. until the contract is settled i can not disclose price. feel free to call me to obtain the sales price once the property has settled. fluff"

rpdata confirmed the place sold for 15% above my market value. i called the agent, she gave me the correct price and we had a long, honest chat. she estimated it sold for 10%over market to an investor

so no price might work. this kind of sales campaign would only work once.

 

[FormerLurker]

Nope - lifes to short and theirs enough out their with an indication that chasing these up isn't worth it IMHO

 

[Risky Business]

I skim straight past them. My time is precious. I rang up about an "express" sale once. My idea of an express sale was different to theirs. I'll never call up about an undisclosed "express" sale again.

I do agree with others that a PPOR that meets the criteria would be worth a call. I just haven't been PPOR shopping for a while.

 

[ianvestor]

they wouldn't be letting joe schmoe set the price for the house.

Are you telling me if you thought your house was worth $500k, but Joe Schmoe thought it was worth $600k, you wouldn't let him 'set the price for the house'?

Let's say seller values house at $500k, and buyer values it at $600k.

Scenario A: Seller let's their value be known first, buyer says 'ok', then SELLER loses the negotiation (sells for $100k less than he could have).

Scenario B: Buyer let's their value be known first, seller says 'ok', then BUYER loses the negotiation (buys for $100k more than he could have).

 

[neK]

As a seller you should do your own diligence and set the price for the house.

If you havent done the correct research and have relied on a real estate agent and get a lower price than you should have then its your own fault.

 

[wylie]

Are you telling me if you thought your house was worth $500k, but Joe Schmoe thought it was worth $600k, you wouldn't let him 'set the price for the house'?

Let's say seller values house at $500k, and buyer values it at $600k.

Scenario A: Seller let's their value be known first, buyer says 'ok', then SELLER loses the negotiation (sells for $100k less than he could have).

Scenario B: Buyer let's their value be known first, seller says 'ok', then BUYER loses the negotiation (buys for $100k more than he could have).

This is a good point, but I would think this would only be relevant in the case of houses up around $1M and over, where, in my opinion, the prices and values can vary wildly from one year to the next.

A house in my street was sold for $880K a few months after they had knocked back just over $1M. They wanted $1.1M. Meanwhile the market slowed and they ended up taking the next offer at $880K.

There is a house near me that I know of an offer of $2.8M which was knocked back. It has been marketed over the past six or more months and could not get $1.6M (a year after knocking back $2.8M). The market is so slow, especially for these expensive houses.

For a "regular" house, I just couldn't see someone paying $100K over the value, because values don't vary as much.

Just my opinion though.

 

[lizzie]

nope.

if they cant be bothered setting a price, i cant be bothered calling.

ditto - as seems to be the majority of the people on here.

only wish the r/est agents could see this!

 

[Jacque]

ditto - as seems to be the majority of the people on here.

only wish the r/est agents could see this!

Interestingly this forms part of the research that I'm doing here- to present to REA's (amongst others) on ads/disads/benefits of particular pricing techniques. So keep the voting coming folks!

 

[chilliblue]

I am dealing with several agents that refuse to advertise addresses and prices even on their own website and paper ads.

Have just printed copies of the past two pages as thegeneral comment I receive is that their buyers prefer not to be dictated by price and are happy to call them direct for an address.

Hopefully this may change their perception a little.

 

[james_w]

Nope, couldn't be bothered as the general consensus of other members here

no price no go I also hate this on car ads with for sale and a phone number, no price..

as soon as I see that I say to the other half must be over priced...

 

[our obsession]

I sure do. Think rat up a drainpipe.

Mr OO's mindset would say not bother, that's why he doesn't do any of the research or deal making, creative buying or due diligence.

Some of my best deals have been no price tags. I get to create my own buying ticket price.

 

[Miss V]

What annoys me even further is obvious investment properties ie I look for blocks of flats, and they don't put down a rental figure or gross %. Pretty obvious what we're looking for here guys.....

All well and good, cuts the wheat from the chaff etc etc, but I'm sure they are missing out on so much of the market.

Especially in a buyers market.

V

 

[weg]

As a rule no, but a couple of years ago when we considered buying another PPOR in the area where a particular agent who had good number of the listings did this, we did.

In his case it was no price and usually no address. You'd ring him to ask for a price and location and he simply wouldn't devulge either, unless you agreed to meet him at the place for an inspection. Even then you wouldn't get a price, only a "put in your best offer". Oh, and he'd ask lots of Q's - what have you got to spend, have you sold your house and do you need an appraisal .

In recent times this same RE has been listing the price but not always the address. I wonder if the demand came from the vendor or whether he thought he was losing sales? Either way people love/d listing with him. His leaflets realed off Jenman practices but I don't think he mentions Jenman now.

 

[Jacque]

What annoys me even further is obvious investment properties ie I look for blocks of flats, and they don't put down a rental figure or gross %. Pretty obvious what we're looking for here guys.....

All well and good, cuts the wheat from the chaff etc etc, but I'm sure they are missing out on so much of the market.

Especially in a buyers market.

V

Hi Miss V

Good point- same goes for likely investment properties without a rental appraisal (usually a "guess" from the sales agent rather than a written app from their PM dept). We've suggested to many agents over the years that it would make good practice to have these as part of the marketing material. Most of them simply don't bother, however.

 

[Tillie]

Learned my lesson eventually and now I never call.

When we were looking PPOR we called a few times. Every time the price was significantly higher than the other similar properties.

 

[Rixter]

I ticked Only if listings are limited in this area, but I would never call if shown as Auction.