No one is in a hurry in today's real estate market...Actually, everyone is procrastinating... Let me explain the real estate strategy of creating a sense of urgency that I have just utilized to help me sell a home in today's slow market.
Creating Urgency! Strategy 6 in selling a home for the highest price in the shortest amount of time..
One of my sellers recently had their beautiful home on the market. The sellers were the original owners and had immaculately maintained this home. The home received many showings and everyone who saw it gave positive feedback. All the prospective buyers were procrastinating.
After 3 months, the sellers were getting a little frustrated and concerned that their home would not sell for a fair price. They actually received a few ridiculously lowball offers from buyers who wanted to test whether my seller would give away the house. All the serious buyers were procrastinating
In another market this house would have sold in a week and the sellers would be able to move on. All that's well and good but as a realtor, I have to deal with the present market and still get the best possible price. I don't know about other realtors, but I'm always thinking about my sellers and what the next plan should be. This is what I suggested to my client and the outcome was most favorable.
I needed to create urgency- there were 6 buyers who expressed interest in my seller's home along the way, but for some reason they weren't going to pull the trigger and pay a fair price... The serious Buyers were procrastinating. Another similar, but not as maintained home house in the neighborhood sold for much lower than it should have, so buyers were actually basing their offers for this home on that previous sale.
In order to create urgency, I suggested to my clients to come to a bottom line in their head and present it to the 5 buyers who had already expressed interest in their home. One of the parties immediately took us seriously and wrote a contract based on this bottom line price. 3 days later, another one of the parties saw that that the home was under contract, and wanted to write a back up offer. My client accepted this back up offer in case their original offer fell through. Although the second offer was a better offer, my clients did not go back on their word to the first buyer, but they did inform the first buyer that since they had another offer... they would not fix any items that came up on inspection... The first party really wanted the house and agreed to take the house as is.. I guess in order for you to beat procrastination, you have to create a sense urgency
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This is strategy 6 in my series or tips for selling/ buying your home. If you would like to read my previous posts in my strategy a week series, I have include them below for your convenience.
Strategy 5 Sellers Guide to hiring a realtor whether its in Buffalo Grove Illinois or Topeka Kansas
Strategy 4 How does a buyer find the best deal
Strategy 3 Real estate Marketing 101 the good ole fashion way
Strategy 2 Why you should hire a local realtor when buying a home?
Strategy 1 Why you should take pictures of your home in all seasons
If you want more information regarding specific real estate sales in the Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, and Lincolnshire area, please do not hesitate to call me at 847-602-5435 , email me at info@buffalogrovehomes.com or check out my website at www.buffalogrovehomes.com or www.buffalogroveareahomes.com . I can help you in the purchase or sale of a Buffalo Grove Condo, Buffalo Grove Townhouse, Buffalo Grove single family home or a Buffalo Grove rental. I am available 24/7 to make appointments!
Great post, Judy! That was certainly a unique way to create urgency and IT WORKED! Love the series!
Leesa, my client is so happy with me that it sold at a good price and better yet, they do not have to worry about any inspection issues. What a win win!
This is a good idea. Now I just need some somewhat interested buyers to look at my listings.
Great post! I have had to create urgency in most of my listings that have sold in the last 18 months. I find that not only are the buyers procrastinating, but the agents are feeding it!
Hello Judy, That was a great blog! I enjoyed reading it
Thats a great idea! I will read the other posts.
Judy,
What I really liked about your strategy was that you had to have the boldness to suggest that to the sellers. Sometime Realtors are so concerned about offending the clients that they will sit on an overpriced listing, or know that the home would benefit from a little cleaning, minor repairs and wouldn't dare mention it. What do you do when you have done everything right and we're waiting on buyers to get off of the fence. I like this method of creating urgency...do you mind if I borrow it ;)
Good deal. I have a home in a similar situation. I think I'll suggest this strategy to my sellers.
Yes, Richard, you need to things to make this work, a motivated seller and potentially interested buyers to make this work. The only reason we had interested buyers was our home was the best home in its price range
Donna, once a buyer loses a home they really want, they may not procrastinate anymore.
Ralf, Thanks- I try to write interesting posts that may help my colleagues in Active Rain
Natalia,
I hope it works for you as well...
Chuck- thanks please enjoy all of my tips!
Tim- I hope your seller agrees- call me if you want any more help...
Judy- Thanks for posting this! Great idea. You do have to sometimes push people a little harder in these slow markets to get them off that fence. Thanks for showing us how!
Nice stuff Judy.....love it. We'll pass this on to my partner. She'll love this. Good info.
Judy - This is a great idea. I am in a similar situation (3 procrastinating buyers - 1 lowball offer) on a listing that I have. I'm strongly considering proposing this concept.
I love this ......I'm going to share this with my realtors
Judy, you were very creative with this sense of urgency tactic and it worked for you. Thank you for sharing your "Judy Secrets."
Judy.. Great information.. Thank you for putting this information together for us.
Congrats on your AR Feature! This is a wonderful post -- both for home sellers and your fellow real estate agents. I am working with four buyers that are willing to lose the home of their dreams because of procrastination.
Hey Judy - I really enjoyed this blog. What a great idea. I think a lot of us will be able to put it to good use. I know I will certainly use your idea :) Thanks again!
Hey, Judy -
Great post - indeed, you need to create urgency, and be creative in today's market.
You took a chance - and submitted what I have heard called a "Reverse Offer" here in the city.
Tried this once earlier this year, got a $15,000 reduction from the seller, but only one offer - another $10M below that!
We negotiated to within $5M, and got the condo sold.
In today's world, it seems, you have to try new things!
Let us know if you're ever on the North Side of the city.
DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
Brilliant Judy! You are a strong thinker for these times, and THANK YOU for sharing your strengths with us here!
Awesome Blog Judy! Thanks for sharing!
Judy, great advice I must say the assumption is there are multiple maybes on the property for it to work, and that has not been the case on all the properties listed. Good strategy under your scenario though thanks for the tip.
Ilyse, everything is a lot harder in today's market, from getting an offer to negotiating the inspection items to actually closing the deal. Perseverance is very important.
Larry, I hope it works for your partner? Is she a member of active rain????
Erik, let me know if it works.. Thanks for visiting...
Residential Home Funding- Maybe you need a name here, or a business card??? lol... Hope someone can use this idea.
Gary- I have a lot of Judy Secrets, not all have to do with real estate though...
Interesting proposition, Judy. We've done the reverse - the buyer has made a simultaneous proposal to 4 or 5 sellers, saying he's sending out multiples, and will take the first returned acceptance and cancel the others. That worked, too.
Great Info I was checking out your earlier post on the subject as well. I have actually tried that but didn't have the luck you did. But I keep trying though.
Great strategy ! Creating urgency is key in this market !!! It is also good for the buyers agent that a buyer loses a home, thus it creates more ugency for the buyers in the next home they go after. Once this urgency comes back to the market the pent-up demand should really come out in full force. Great post !
If only this would work for all listings! A few of my sellers tried a similar strategy at my urging, but it still wasn't enough to get the buyers off the fence. It's definitely a strategy worth trying because as you illustrate...it can work! I'm so glad it worked for you!
Good post, Judy. My only secret to get homes sold fast in this market is price, price, price. Regardless of location and condition, if you price it right, they will come.
That is a GREAT idea! But I have a question: Did your sellers present their bottom line in writing and give them a time frame for accepting it? How did that work? Thanks - Emily
That's great Judy I'm glad you had success and was an interesting read. I didn't know about your series and will go back and read the rest.
Judy, that's a great idea, and I love the other posts in your series, also. Can't imagine why I'm not already one of your subscribers, but I'm gonna fix that now.
Judy,
Great entry! I really enjoyed reading this. I believe that your use of psychology and urgency were genius. Great thinking!
I think it is the agent that acts proactively and creatively that becomes known as a deal maker and gets to closing.
What you did was perfectly ethical, very creative, and effective. Smart!!
That's a great post and I am glad I found it along with your other ideas. We must never stop thinking of how to move our clients homes. You have showed what a true professional can accomplish.
An agent and friend in my office had a nice $490,000 home with a few showings and no serious offers. He convinced them to drop the price $30,000 but for one day only and he held it open that day. It worked and was sold for only $20,000 less because of several offers! Urgency!
Nice post. Where did you gather all the info? I bet you looked like a genius to your clients. Keep the posts coming and the transactions closing.
Andrew Chong
www.andrewchonghomes.com
Well, Judy you might not tell me all your secrets, but one thing that is NOT a secret is you are a wonderful person. Congratulations on that GOLD STAR kiddo.
Great strategy. I'm glad it worked out so well for you.
Heather- thanks for visiting... I'm glad it worked too. This market is very hard and you need to deal it with it creatively. I'm going to check out your blog right now.
Gary, Thanks so much for your kind words. I do love my job,and I love the challenge to make myself a better realtor person each and everyday.
Andrew- thanks for commenting... Do you do a blog post? What do you mean - where did you get all the information. I'm constantly thinking of new and innovative ideas to make my houses sell at higher prices quickly. Isn't that the name of the game?
David, yes you are write, people are just plain procrastinators, so unless they have to, they will just sit back on the side lines
Richard, thanks for the kind words- in this case hard work paid off...
Margaret, thanks for subscribing! I have been a subscriber of yours for a long time, and truly enjoy reading your posts
I think it's great that your sellers were willing to go right to their bottom line. They're not always willing to do that.... Nice job!
Cindi, in this market you snooze, you lose! You have to be the the best priced house in order for your home to sell this year.
Emily, they did not put their bottom line in writing. I just called all the realtors who have expressed interest on the home. Some of them had actually made low ball offers. I told each of them that I was presenting the same offer to all of them, to see if any one of them would take the seller up on it. One realtor called me back 1 hour later and the rest is history.
Judy,
Thanks sharing....I have to run right now..but I am coming back to see more on this!!!
Lori Cofer, Beasley Realty
Judy- Another very good article. I've received call-backs in the past few weeks in which we were told to present our "highest and best" offers ... and that the best offer of the next 24 hours would be expected. This prompted my buyer to up their offer. They were aware that there were competitors but were even more enticed by the knowledge that there wouldn't be a series of offers and counter offers in their future. We close tomorrow.
Hi Judy,
You understand what needs to be done and how to get it done. Sometimes we must get creative to get the job done.
Great thought Judy... I will keep this in mind....We have to help the buyer get off the fence.... Great post...
Great post Judy,
I'm happy to hear this worked for you....its tough getting the sellers to realize their home is worth less than they think it is
Judy,
It is a solid approach and well suited for the situation. I'll let you know the next time I get 6 offers on a property!
Sean
Awesome post Judy!! You learned something from me in a re-blog this week and I learned something from you in this post!! Amen sista - we both won!!!! Gotta love the rain!!
Congratulations on the feature! It sure is frustrating having a listing that "isn't showing."
Judy: This sounds very much reverse offers. I've used that a time or two in my day. Make an attractive offer, coming off list price, maybe offering closing costs. Really brings the buyer to a decision point to have a contract presented to them by a seller.
Lori, thanks for visiting... Hope to see you back
Chuck you're right, people these days don't want to go back and forth as much as they used to
Cynthia, the good part is as of today, there are no more contingencies. 8 days and all contingencies are removed- including mortgage. Everyone is happy!