Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

Why do we put such stock in the Average Days on Market (DOM) statistic in our MLS's? I suppose it might be meaningful if YOUR average DOM is much less than the overall DOM, but otherwise, I believe it's a totally meaningless number.

If I were to run a market analysis of all the 1920's Bungalows that have sold in my market (NW Denver) in the last three months... (okay, wait a sec, I'm going to do that right now... BRB).

Okay, I ran my analysis. Had to go back six months 'cause the last three have been kinda quiet around here.

The DOM of my subject search ranged from 2 days to 171 days. The average DOM was 53. However, out of 21 properties, seven sold in under a week (five of those in less than 3 days), eleven in less than three weeks, while five took over 100 days to sell. Only three of the 21 properties had a DOM of anywhere close to 53.

So, when a seller asks me what the average Days on Market is in Northwest Denver, I tell them "I don't know" and explain why. I then explain why my goal is to sell their home in 30 days or less (obviously it's perfectly do-able in my market), and how I'm going to do that.

But maybe that's just my market. Do you feel that the DOM statistic is meaningful in yours? If so, please explain!

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I remember interviewing for my second listing back in 1997. The seller asked me this question: "Jennifer, I assume our house will sell quickly because it's so cute (it was), but if it doesn't sell right away, what will you do?"

Hmmmmmmmm. Hell, I dunno. I was a green bean agent; I'd only had one other listing in my career and didn't have a clue. I came up with something, that probably sounded like this: " I'll do a broker open house, I'll do mid-week open houses, I'll distribute color brochures throughout the neighborhood and post an ad on the nearby college's bulletin board."

Lucky for me, the house did sell quickly, so I didn't have to implement my admittedly weak Plan B.

But it's now 12 years later and I still don't have a good answer to the question: "What will you do in 30 days if my house hasn't sold?"

However, with 12 years of experience under my belt, I KNOW that there ISN'T a great answer to the question! Especially if the seller is expecting me to reach into some magic bag of tricks and pull out a secret marketing strategy that I reserve only for my non-selling listings!

Here's the thing. Even if I HAD a magic bag of secret marketing tricks, why would I hold out using them until after the listing is stale? Wouldn't it make more sense to hit the market with all guns blazing?

But the truth is, I don't have a magic bag of tricks (and neither do you). NO AMOUNT OF MARKETING CAN SELL AN UNSELLABLE HOME. You can do broker opens every day of the week, distribute enough color brochures to kill a small forest and refresh your Craigslist ad every 21 days for the next five years and your listing will not sell if it's not properly priced, properly prepared and properly presented! NO AMOUNT OF MARKETING CAN SELL AN UNSELLABLE HOME!

Our job as professional real estate agents is to know what it's gonna take to get a house sold. We need to know how to price the home TO SELL; how to prepare our sellers for the reality of Being on the Market and how to help them prepare the home to evoke the most positive emotional reaction from the greatest number of potential buyers (and their agents). It needs to look good, smell good and photograph well. It needs to be easy to show without the distraction of barking dogs or a work-at-home owner. If there's an obstacle to sale, we need to recognize it and have the balls to be frank with our seller about it (and help ‘em fix it).

That's how you sell your listing. By working with your seller to create a marketable product, not to throw time and money at advertising after the sign goes in the yard. Frankly, the MLS system is an incredibly efficient system to sell houses and there's nothing we can do individually to out-market that MLS.

WARNING - infomercial to follow...

I wrote a little book last year called "For Sale Signs Don't Pay the Bills" which is a very detailed list of 74 things you as a listing agent can do to get your listings sold. It's a damn good book, if I do say so myself and it's only $14.95 right now at my bookstore. If you have listings that aren't selling, or don't WANT listings that don't sell in the future, check it out. I also do live presentations on the material, if your Association is looking for a speaker in 2009.

Okay, Infomercial Over.

Let's go sell our listings!

www.SellwithSoul.com

We're having a lively discussion over on my private SOI Blog Forum about the "best" way to do a listing presentation. The reason it's up for discussion is that many of us work primarily with people we already know (our SOI's), and feel kind of silly doing a formal sales presentation for them.

Well, one of the most brilliant members (and there are plenty), Susan Haughton, made the following comment:  

"I never do a formal listing presentation; I take comps so it looks as if I at least came with something.  I talk with the sellers about the market, about their home, about their goals.  I don't even take the listing paperwork.  I'm just there to have a conversation with them and if we decide to proceed together, then I'll get the listing paperwork to them for their signatures. I like to think this approach conveys that I don't need props - I have knowledge, skill and confidence.  I have not been on a listing appointment yet where I did not get the listing."

That got me to thinking.

I'm a big fan of proving your competence to prospects and clients, rather than just telling them about it. Tell someone how great you are, and they'll immediately start to look for reasons you aren't. That's just human nature. And, frankly, most of a listing presentation IS a sales pitch where the agent tries to convince a seller that he's the best man for the job, based on his FABULOUS marketing plan and INCREDIBLE company support.

Yawn.

But what if, instead of your fancy listing presentation, you were to walk into a listing appointment with a sincere desire to help, a sincere interest in the seller's situation (instead of simply a sincere interest in your paycheck) and a dead-on understanding of the local real estate marketplace?

Hmmmmm... care about your seller and know your stuff... it might really be that simple.

 www.sellwithsoul.com