All Forum Posts by: Guy Johnson

Won't sell it for $175K or under if they have to move out? Have them tell that to the bank on auction day.

I would love to be one of the vendors who had items to sell there! I, as well as others associate auctions with deals, but I guess that mindset applies to auctions that aren't attended by the general public.

I guess auction fever took over because the buyers where bidding at or above retail for material, before tacking on a 10% buyers fee. I know people associate auctions with "great deal" but at the prices people were paying it seemed as if they've never priced out sinks, toliets, tile, flooring, even tools. And the kicker was none of the stuff was all that good. It would be perfect for rentals, but not at the prices these boobs were paying. Perhaps they don't have a discount building supply store near them, as that is the ONLY reason I could see for being so clueless.

Anyways, has anybody ever had any luck with going to something like this. It was my first one and probably my last one, as I wasted five hours of a perfectly good Saturday. And I left early. I just couldn't believe the prices, so I figured when they get to the popular stuff (naturally left to the end) it would be bid up to crazy levels anyway.

I am pretty disgruntled with my current real estate company. Paying their overhead AND letting them further dip into my commissions they really had no part in procuring has finally got to me.

I have a desire to go on my own and start a small scale brokerage specializing in limited service (flat fee listings). My goal is to offer a package at a price point that can allow me to compete (read: undercut) my competition and offer a better and more comprehensive service as well.

If I may pick some brains here, what would enitce you to list a property with me over a full service broker? Any insight from sellers, buyers, investors, and even other agents will be appreciated. Thank you for your time.

If you're going to use signage, you will want to check with your condo association to see what they will allow, if anything. Craigslist is free and depending where you are, generates fair response. However, most of those responses are people fishing for a deal, which there is nothing wrong with that. If you feel you must pay a commission, go with a limited service listing company that will put you on MLS, but with a promise that you will pay the selling agent a co-broke fee. You will also have to market the property yourself. Simply put, if you are asking fair market value, you will more than likely need MLS. Good luck.

God forbid an agent uses a site to market a property they were hired to sell. Craigslist isn't exclusive to FSBOs, and a good Realtor will utilize all marketing resources available to them within reason. Just because an agent uses something outside of the MLS system doesn't mean they're hungry, it means they're doing their job.

As for the car, the age shouldn't make a difference. If its rusted out or in poor shape, see if you can borrow a friends car. You are, as another poster pointed out, selling yourself. But if it's an average 92 Bronco, there is nothing to be ashamed about. You come off as an average Joe, not some pompous jerk who pulled up in a new 7-series that shows off all the money he's made off of hard up homeowners. It is said the most popular vehicle choice of millionaires is a Ford F-150 (I drive a 91 Silverado for apartment tasks and a Saturn Vue for my daily driver and appointments.) Someday when I can afford a highend sports cars, I will still drive a family car to showings or appointments. When you flaunt your success, you come off as intimidating, and some people don't want to deal with that.

Your attire does not equate experience or at a minimum, knowledge. You can dress to the nines, but if you don't dress that way on a day to day basis, it will show. People just seem to know. And even if you pull the look off, if you lack experience and don't know what you're talking about you'll just end up looking more stupid. If you are comfortable with what you wear, you will project yourself in a better light, and even if you are a little rocky in the experience department, the seller won't hold you to a higher standard than if you came in there suited up. In my experience, there are two types of investors that dress up: Sharks that dress up in expensive, slick looking clothing and generally look down upon people, or the 'Ol Gil from the Simpsons type that dusts off their suit to try and look important/successful and just blows the pitch from inexperience.

Judging by the fact you also have septic, I'm going to assume you have well. The odor you probably smell is sulfer and other minerals in the water. You may be able to rectify some of that by chlorinating your well, essentially pouring a bunch of chlorine or bleach into the well and flushing the system for a day. It's not unsafe to drink, it just smells bad. Also, it's pretty obvious that you should not drink the bleach water until it's flushed out for a day. To see if it's a serious problem in the drinking water, you can get the water tested at your town hall if you live in a rural area. I think Sears may also do water testing to try and sell you a water filtration kit, at least they used to.

It's actually not a bad idea, but it does have some risks. The great part is the increased exposure the home gets not only to agents but their clients/customers who get automated updates. Instead of doing a $5000 drop at once, this one takes 10 weeks to get to the same point if done every week. That's additional exposure every week to buyers old and new. It may also motivate buyers to move on an appearingly motivated seller before another does. And it beats expiring it out and re-listing, which makes the property seem like it has a problem.

The downside is it does make the seller appear a little desparate. Also, if the buyer has a buyer's agent who does their job properly, they'll be notified of what the seller and their agent are trying to do.

But on the whole, I think the good points out weight the bad and I think I may try this on a seller's listing.