Staging helps with perception in the same way.

Perception is everything. you're only in competition with yourself.

Joe Gore Of course, Joe, but the thing is that the “anchor” affects your perception of what the property is worth.There is an interesting case study: RE agents were asked to determine the appropriate list price, the appraisal value, the amount a buyer should pay and the lowest acceptable offer related to a house.

I actually LOVE that people still have this perception of Detroit.

After reading the responses here, I have determined that many have different perceptions and experiences when dealing in REo deals.Some think banks rarely deal direct with a seller, especialy if you are buying one at a time.

The state of societal affairs that leads to these things is a serious problem.

Notably, a broader market view causes these capital allocators to react to relative perceptions of risk across property types.

I think there is a perception that everyone renting an Airbnb is going to use it for a big party or something but in reality I don't know how often that happens.

Its hard to beat that from the ROI perceptive. 

They will gain a certain amount of confidence as you have a perception of customer service (to them the phone service will look like an extension of your actual company), this will help to put them at ease that you are a professional and not some fly-by-night con artist trying to scam them.So anyway, its sort of a screen, but I prefer to call it a data collector...I think I just confused myself...Chris