Dec vs. Jan. When to LIST Your Home.

Part 2 to my: Current Sellers "Wait Till Spring"? Yeah Right. Lose $10,000, which focuses on sellers that put their home on the market around September and whether they are better off trying to get a deal done in December, vs waiting until Spring to get a higher price. My data showed that they got $10,000 LOWER if they waited until Spring.

The question that I still have is:

If you have a home for sale that is "ready" (a fully staged Arlington Virginia Home), are you better off waiting until January 1st (or Spring) to list your house?

LIST TODAY (Dec 1st) PROS:

1. Inventory is lower, less to choose from for buyers.
   
2. Everything seems stale and leftover. Maybe put a hot listing on, and those that are actively looking will jump on it, even in December?

LIST TODAY CONS:

1. Fewer buyers. There are 2x the # of buyers (lookers) in Jan Vs Dec.
   
2. Source Google Trends: MLS HOMES
   
3. The more Days on the Market, the lower the price tends to go. You have a better chance of selling your house the first week it is listed, especially if you can get 2 interested parties.
4. A TON MORE LISTINGS in Jan. Yes there is more demand (buyers) but there is a TON MORE SUPPLY.

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So I ran some numbers (I don't really trust numbers, but lets see...).

I looked at all homes in Arlington that were listed on 12-1-06 through 12-10-06 (Dec Listed) and compared how they did to listings that were put on the market 1-1-07 through 1-10-07 (Jan Listed), this is what I found:

This shows me:

• There are 20% more new listings in Jan vs Dec. (vs 100% more traffic from buyers)
  
• Homes sold 30% faster in Jan
  
• Homes listed in January were 40% MORE likely to sell within 2 weeks.
  
• BUT The actual % of Original Price was only .3% difference ($1,500 on a $500k place).
  
• The Median price was $100k off, that doesn't mean homes went up 20%, just the type of home was a little different. I pretty much ignored that number.

Based on these numbers, with most weight placed on the % of list, I think it doesn't really matter when you list it. I've said this about Market Timing for buyers, I guess it applies for sellers too.

Supply and demand already works itself out, I still don't believe you can BEAT the market. (ie more buyers, and more listings).

But Frank, you said Dec was better for buyers!

Yep, my Market Timing for buyers post says that you shouldn't time the market, but if you find yourself in Dec, you might get a better deal since there are fewer buyers. I guess that might NOT be true after all. Sorry about that.

- Written by Frank Borges LL0SA- Broker FranklyRealty.com (please report typos)

Also see Jeff Royce's Taking Your House off the Market for Winter?

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THROW-UP listings. Do it "RIGHT," Not "RIGHT NOW!"

Ever heard the phrase "Hurry up and wait"?

How about the bastard cousin: "If you hurry up, expect to wait."? Not as catchy?

Anyhow, the fastest way to sell a house is to slooooooow doooooooown and do it right from the beginning. A rushed job will NET you less and take 3 times longer to sell.

A month ago I was contacted by a seller that wanted their house on the MLS tomorrow!

In one day! Could I have done it? Could I have thrown it up on the MLS? Sure, but it would look like throw up, and that doesn't sell... slowly. And no you can't just put it up quickly and make it better later (I'll explain later). So, I had to send her elsewhere...

Time and time again, the seller wants to have it sold yesterday. I don't blame you! The process is pretty stressful, and the faster you can unload the property, the better, right? Here is where the counterintuitive part kicks in... you sell it FASTER if you give your agent, stager, and sometimes painters and photographers the proper amount of time to get everything done perfectly straight out of the gate.

• Put all of your efforts behind the first weekend LAUNCH!
  

The best way to sell a place is to have 2 offers. Yeah, maybe a bidding war will occur, but I'm talking about getting that extra nudge to make 1 of the 2 interested parties put in an offer.

The best way to do that is to:

a) have a delicious product.

b) compress most of your efforts into the first "launch" of your product.

Microsoft doesn't release a new big software and THEN advertise slowly. They are like a fireworks display in reverse. They start with the grand finale. They have a HUGE media blitz up front. You need that for your home. (this is also one of the reasons why it hurts you to "try it" FSBO for a couple of weeks, you deflate the parade, read: Go FSBO! Save $20,000! Realtor Tells All!)

• List EXACTLY on Wednesday night or Thursday.
  

If your Realtor says "so when you think you wanna have your listing thingy up?" Please fire them and go to the phonebook and pick the first alphabetically listed agent, chances are, they will be better.

Why Wed/Thur? Email alerts for new listings are automatically sent around midnight to home buyers that have signed up through various MLS searching services. If you list on Friday at noon, everyone getting alerts at work will see them on Monday. After your "weekend launch!" If you list on Monday, the lead time is too long before the exciting weekend. You might have some interested parties, but why not compress the interest to a few days and make your house seem more appealing? Also sometimes you can kill your chances for a bidding war as those fast buyers tend to give Thursday deadlines, before the weekend push. So yes, given the choice to rush a listing in on Sat, versus waiting until the following Wed, I think waiting will sell your house faster! (Ok, maybe I'm a little too into the psychological science of selling, but I have seen it work)

Here are some made up stats of mine:

• 80% of your visitors will see your place in the first 10 days.

At any point in time there are a certain number of buyers waiting on the sidelines for a home to go on the MLS in a certain zip code. They have MLS email alerts set up. Once it hits, that backlog of buyers will see your house within the first 10 days. These are the best buyers since they probably have been looking for a while and are ready to act on the perfect house.

After those 10 days, traffic will tank. You might first blame the agent thinking that they have slowed down their marketing efforts, but that probably isn't the case. Now you have to to wait for newcomers into the market. And the longer it sits, the higher the chances it will sit even longer!

• You only get 1 chance to impress!
  

If you throw up the listing and it has no photos, only a couple of photos, ugly photos, unstaged photos, the potential buyers will see your place and hit the delete button. Maybe only to reconsider you again when the next alert hits, your price drop (alerts are sent out for new listings and price drops).

• Sidetip: Never list "freshly painted" in your remarks.

Also people don't like places that appear fixed up just for the sale. Why would you highlight "this place used to be a dump and a rental." Instead, just let them come in and in their mind think "wow the former owner was meticulous." Which scenario gives you a better warm and fuzzy? A good agent and stager will manipulate that feeling to the seller's benefit. (all part of our master plan)

• Staging takes time! (see Bidding Wars? It's The Staging Stupid!!)

While I used to think staging was swinging past Target and picking up $100 worth of junk and plastic flowers, it is so much more (and now I'm learning that there is a huge difference between a 2-day certified "stager" and a design degreed professional. It makes a difference, that difference nets you more. Blog coming soon.). Actually we recommend taking staging a step further and oftentimes undergoing light construction and repainting. Each house is different, but it takes time to do it right. Expecting designers to work their magic in one day would overflow mental institutions across America!

It takes some time to get things down right. Maybe a week, maybe two weeks or more, if we need to coordinate a team of workers to work on your house. Maybe one day there will be a drive through MLS service that can get the stager out to the house within the first hour, and the construction crew out by hour 3 and photography etc etc. (Sounds like a reality show to me: "Ready to Sell in 4 hours!")

Oh and that seller that wanted the "rush job," her place is still for sale, and she has already dropped her price $10,000.

Bottom line is, we understand that you want to sell it as fast as possible, but lets take a moment, breathe and do it RIGHT, Not RIGHT NOW! And net you more, and faster!

- Written by Frank Borges LL0SA- Broker/ Realtor FranklyRealty.com

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Bidding Wars? It's The Staging Stupid!!

First of all, a shout out to Megan (FranklyRealty.com Realtor) for her most recent bidding war in Old Town Alexandria. Sold in 3 days, $13k over list. Photos at 1322Princess.com. One key to her success... Staging! (see bottom for before & after photos)

So, a buddy of mine in Chicago wanted to sell his place and he wanted my help deciding the best route to get the highest net.

He, like almost every person in the United States NEEDS that last $5-15k.

At first he wanted to "save" and sell it by owner. I, the oftentimes Anti-Realtor, told him NOT to take this approach (I guess I am more of an ANTI-SUCKY-ASS-AGENTS agent) read my Save $20,000 blog.

So I told him I'd find him a great Realtor (no I didn't take a cut).

First I had him email me a couple agents that he knew of, and I did a stealth interview of the agent. There I was, an agent from Virginia, and this Realtor was still feeding me B.S.

Actual B.S. Ad:

Are you kidding me?

His marketing materials boasted that they put your house on 600 websites and they put your house in front of 700 million home buyers. I recently read in BusinessWeek that India now has 50 million internet users. Thank God they can all see my friend's condo! I hate marketing that is just short of flat out lying and meant to confuse customers, or to play the "I have a longer checklist than yours" contest.

Realtor Trick: Do not fall for the "my checklist is longer than his" trick.

Oh and that 600 websites... as I suspected (after calling him out on it), he only puts it onto this thing called the "M" "L" "S" (ever heard of it?) and the 599 other websites pull from the MLS and rebroadcast the data (in other words all Realtor get on the same 600 websites).

So I was on my own. I looked to ActiveRain to get a good Chicago Realtor.

I didn't care too much for the agents that were on here in Chicago (no particular reason, nothing stood out), so what does one do....

I found the PERFECT solution for finding a great agent! GO TO A STAGER!! I went to a top stager and asked him "Give me some names of agents that have used you. By merely using you, they are 99% ahead of the game and they 'get it', and they will help my friend net more."

Blog update 5-2-07: "Somebody asked me, what is a stager." Staging is a trademarked word, you can go to www.StagedHomes.com for more info. Staging can include anything from nicely laid out nick naks (my stager is gonna kill me if she saw that as a definition to what she does) to light construction. You know how the iPod and Mac's use design to attract buyers? Kinda like that! Bottom line is staging makes buyer's drewl and BUY!

Sure enough, I found him a GREAT Realtor, and my buddy got the property staged. The agent was young, but sharp, he got it. And low and behold...

it sold in 4 days for OVER what he wanted (net) to get FSBO and it got bid up $7k - $10k over what he wanted.

More CA$H = he couldn't be more excited.

Thank you stagers! How do we get more customers to take a HANDS-OFF approach and just say "Do what you need to do" and not debate every $500?

Sellers, call their references. So few people do this. If they are a good stager and they say that hardwood floors will sell your place, do it. That $2k-3k will come back to you 3-5 fold.

- Written by Frank LL0SA Broker FranklyRealty.com Virginia

p.s. Good photography was also a requirement when I was checking out agents.

Here are some before and after's of Megan's staging. For about $10,000 this house was transformed! Our starting price was $20,000 higher than the initial price target AND it got bid up $13k higher. While looking at the photos one might initially say it looks like a simple clean up job, but it was so much more. New paint throughout (not just any paint, but color patterns that make it jaw drawdropping), upgraded kitchen with granite (not just ANY granite!! and stainless steel appliances) and Megan would have to list the rest of the changes.

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Excellence Comes Standard. Frankly Client Bill of Rights, From The Real Estate Gadfly

"Gadfly," 1) a person who upsets the status quo by stimulating innovation by proving an irritant. 2) any of various flies, like a horsefly, that bite or annoy livestock.

First JetBlue left customers on the runway for 10 hours, and followed with a JetBlue Bill of Rights.

Then a class action lawsuit was brought against C0ldwell Banker (Article) for violating RESPA-type laws for steering clients to profit-sharing "partners."

Before there is a further disastrous...
out lash from consumers against Realtors, we must adopt a new standard. All shadiness needs to be removed from the industry and excellence should come standard.

FranklyRealty.com will start in Virginia, DC, MD and I envision shortly other firms will subscribe to the "Frankly Client Bill of Rights" throughout the country. This is not trademarked, go ahead copy me. You'd be an idiot not to.

Who will join us? Who runs a real estate firm that is willing to follow our lead and offer a new elite level of service and disclosure?

While I'm honored to be the first to come out with this, I'm also embarrassed at the same time that this isn't already the default. Consumers might read this and say "d'uh, seems obvious," I agree! But why is it that not one real estate firm in America subscribe to this? YET!

Introducing the Frankly Client Bill of Rights:

#1 No ABA's, Affiliated Business Arrangements

We make our money on the commission, we don't need to make a few hundred bucks steering you. No "One Stop Shopping" filled with partners filling our pockets. (blog on ABAs)

#2 No Admin Fees

These are $200-400 fees invented by many large companies, supposedly for "administrative" costs. They are charged mainly on the sell side, but sometimes on the buy side. The trick is to bury the fee within the already confusing 20 pages of paperwork required for every deal. This charge is simply a JUNK FEE. Don't stand for it. No more having clients sign confusing disclosures unknowingly or leading them to think that it is "normal." We don't charge them, never have. (blog on Admin Fees)

#3 No Dual Agency

Dual Agency is ILLEGAL in some states. I wonder why? Dual Agency is when there is only one Realtor between a buyer and seller. A Dual Agency Realtor can not help both sides. So legally they are not allowed to represent EITHER SIDE, and instead "represent the contract" only. That makes the agent a mere worthless paper pusher. We don't do that. We will only represent our client, the buyer OR seller. In the case where a buyer comes without an agent, they will be an "unrepresented buyer" (like a FSBO) and will sign a disclosure saying who we work for. (new blog soon)

#4 No TELLING you what to pay

We won't tell you what to pay for a place. Ever! We won't even answer the "What if you were me" question, since... We aren't you! It is your money, and your risk tolerance. Instead of telling you a price, we will go over a ton of data to consider and conclude with our "VEGAS ODDS SYSTEM" on what the other side MIGHT do and separate it into three categories: Accept, Counter or Walk. Ultimately you decide how aggressive you want to be. (No "selling" blog)

#5 No Home Warranty Insurance Kickbacks

Even though it is illegal to receive a commission for selling insurance (unless you are a licensed insurance dealer), the Home Warranty companies have figured out a way to give agents and firms an "admin fee" of $60 to sell their goods. Why bother? We won't accept that commission as we feel that is illegal. Instead we will pass that "admin fee" to the buyer/seller. This might seem like a small amount, but the principle is what matters. Again we make our money on the commission, we don't need to upsell you a $400 policy just to make another $60.

#6 No Buyer Agent Bonuses/Bribes

We outline our compensation up front in our Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement (Don't Sign Them Yet blog). If there is a bonus to the buyer agent, the buyer gets that in a form of a rebate on the HUD1. We can't be bribed to push you into a particular listing. (blog on 10% agent bribes)

#7 20 Photos & Custom Domain Name Website Per Listing

It boggles my mind when a $900,000 listing posts 3 photos taken with a camera phone (see Sucky Agents) and then wonders why it didn't sell for 200 days. And this is from a "Top 3" large company, not a "discounter." They even allow agents to check a default button to allow the MLS to dispatch a high school photographer to take a free exterior shot. I call this the free drive-by shooting option. If they checked this option, you have a sucky agent.

Interesting stats: I just looked up a nice bright "Top 3" leading firm. They have 22 listings active. 9 picked the free MLS drive-by option, 8 had only 1 photo and no tours (some overlapped) and only 1* had 20 photos (there were 12 tours which I personally hate). Here is a secret, it only costs Realtors $20 to put 20 photos, so why isn't that mandatory? (every buyer is now saying "Yeah I hate places without multiple photos... well blame them!)

Simple new standard requirement:

• Each listing must have 20 photos.
  
• Photos must be taken with a 15/22mm wide angle camera (like the v570) or from a professional photographer (see Frank's former photo life).
  
• The photos will be online within 1 HOUR of the listing.
  
• Listings will never have "Photo Coming Soon" or "No Photo Available." Otherwise 1,000+ buyer receiving daily email alerts for new listings won't have a photo, and the listing will have missed the single most important first impression. This is a pet peeve of mine. If your agent has a "No Photo" image the first day after your listing, you have a sucky agent. Tell them to read this and get their act together!
  

Each listing will also have their own domain name. No need to point prospects to "HugeRealEstateCompany.com" just to get lost looking at another 10,000 homes. Instead prospects can go directly to the photos of the listing with their own domain like: www.2001Odyssey815.com

#8 Professional Staging

We won't list a house unless we can make it look better than a model home. Why? It works. It gets you more money and the house sells faster. (See Bidding War blog). Just yesterday we got 3 offers in 3 days for $20k over what another Realtors said would be the seller's top price (referrals available).

#9 You're High Tech, We're High Tech

How about 100% paperless transactions from start to close? No unnecessary "meeting to sign" papers or trips to Kinkos. We also use instant messaging (myim=FrankLLosa) , cell text messaging and of course email... from our phone. Prefer paper? We can do that too.

#10 Profit Guarantee

Bubble fears? Scared your agent will talk you into something bad to make a buck? There are few things more painful than losing money on a transaction. We want to lower your risk if you buy from us. If you need to sell your house within the next 5 days or 5 years, and we can't make you a profit, we will sell it for no listing commission. We make money when you make money. If you lose money on a deal, we'll help you out for free. (details coming soon)

Thank you for following Blog.FranklyRealty.com as we recalibrate the real estate industry! Sign up via for updates or email this to a friend.

Are you a buyer or seller? Print this out, have your Realtor sign the Frankly Client Bill of Rights? (Tell me how it goes)

Are you a Realtor with another firm that can't promise the above? Then switch or start your own, maybe I'll even help you!

Thanks for all the comments, keep em coming. And if you like this blog, please pass it on! Oh and tell me if you find typos, I don't like looking dumb.

Written by Frank Borges LLosa- The Real Estate Gadfly

Virginia Broker/ Owner FranklyRealty.com

Blog.FranklyRealty.com Featured in BusinessWeek, CNBC, WSJ etc.

p.s. #11 As with JetBlue, we also promise not to leave you on the runway for 10 hours.

* Wow, I just got goose bumps! Without even knowing it, I was going to email the 1 and only agent from that firm with 20 photos (I give props if an agent rocks, even in a competing firm). Nobody is going to believe me, but that agent... just switched over to FranklyRealty.com and is our newest elite agent! Cathy Poungmalai! Welcome Cathy!

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