Really Real Estate Blog

The Art of Talking to Yourself

If you are in the real estate business long enough, you will talk to yourself. When I was a green agent (new not energy efficient) and first walked into my real estate office I noticed a lot of the agents exhibiting this very strange behavior. I was having conversation with some agents who, it turns out, weren’t talking to me. They were talking to themselves. They were actually having a discussion with themselves. I checked their ear for the cell phone Bluetooth but it wasn’t that. They were really talking to themselves. Like mental patients. But it wasn’t the new agents or the part time agents, it was the senior agents, the busy ones. So responding to idea of mimicking the habits of successful people, I started talking to myself. It was only then that I started to get busy. You get so busy that you now actually have to talk to yourself just to sort through all the random stuff floating around your brain. It works. It is fun to watch too.  

Houses in Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

Having Fun with Real Estate

Looking at houses should be fun. I know I still have fun looking at houses. I try to make sure my buyers find the process of looking for a house fun. You have time later in the process to stress out. But for now, in the looking stage, it should still be fun. And why not. I think it is a universal thrill walking into a strange house for the first time. Will I like it? Will it look like the pictures? Is the blue room really that color blue? “Look,  They have the same taste as I do” or “Oh my god, how could they live in that room?” Where should I put the new flat screen I have to buy (or rather, save up for) after I buy the house? You’re not going to like every house you walk into so it’s okay to joke around as long as the sellers aren’t home to hear you. If the Buyer enjoys the experience of looking for a house it 1.) makes your job easier and 2.) it will ease the buyers stress when they actually move forward in the process of buying a house.

Pricing Your House or Marketing Your House to Buyers

I just had an interesting discussion with a seller. He was expecting me to compare his house to others that are active on the market. He didn’t want to price his house below where similar other houses were priced. In looking over the other houses many of them were priced ‘to negotiate” and not to sell at the asking price. Most sellers believe that they should pad the asking price of their house so they have “room’ to negotiate. While that was an acceptable position in a strong sellers market I don’t think it is one for our market today. Instead, I suggested we figure out what a buyer is actually going to pay for his house, not just the special one of a kind buyer, but the average joe buyer looking in the market today. If the Buyer is going to only pay $400K for his house then we should list the house for $409K. At least we have a shot a the buyer who can afford to pay $400k for a house to find yours. If we list it for $439K or $449 we might miss that buyer completely. If we list it for $419 or $429k that $400k buyer may be looking at the top of his range and still may miss the house. You can’t take a chance anymore not having the buyer see your house because of the ‘asking price”. This way the seller is still in control. He does not have to accept a $350k offer.

Price your house to sell to a buyer not another seller.