Posts tagged vt realtor
Vermont Real Estate Foreclosures and Auctions
May 28th
One of the hard parts to an agents job who works in the foreclosure area of the business is simply the communication process. The following scenario is typical and happened to me just the other day:
Agent x gets seemingly well priced foreclosure listing with only a one month term. When the listing contract expires, a renewal comes, but this time from somebody different, an auction company. That same morning, the agent gets a call from somebody saying “hey, did you know your listing is getting auctioned off?” This is when things really get out of control. After filling out about 10 pages of paperwork, all new to the eyes of the agent so one needs to “re-learn” all of it including responsibilities of the agent, escrow procedures etc., you learn that these auction companies seem to be a marketing ploy and that’s about it. You see, many of these auctions are considered “non-absolute”, meaning, the seller can reject the highest bidder. But, in the typically heavy handed way, the BUYER doesn’t even have the right to revoke their offer within 14 days of the auction with this particular case!
And so the point is… what? It’s simply an open house with the chance to get into a bidding war and submit binding offers that can’t be revoked!
Anyhow, the day before the auction, this poor old agent x gets an email from the auction company saying that they have been trying to gain access for 2 weeks and that the codes and keys need to be verified by the agent personally asap. Even though the auction company is the one that hired the re-keying and new lock-box, they don’t know what the code is, or if the key works. After many phone calls it turns out that there are seven points along the communication chain: the client (bank) hires us. Then the client hires an auction company to market the property and the “previous list broker” (agent x) essentially becomes a property manager. But the auction company also hires a property management company. This property management company then hires a subcontractor to deal with securing the property. When the subcontractor wants to tell everybody that somethings been completed, they tell the property management company. If they are competent enough to pass along the information to the auction company (who is a different entity altogether than the actual auctioneer), then word may or may not pass to the foreclosure department in a real estate company. And if EVERYBODY is working on relaying messages that day, which is pretty much never, the agent, the person who is really supposed to be in the field selling this place, will get the message that the locks were changed and that the code is 1234.
Being the diligent agent that they thought they were, this agent decided to go to the auction and see it all play out. But, upon showing up, there was nobody there save for a security company. “Weren’t you ‘matt’ from the security company that I spoke with over the phone yesterday?” the agent says.
Matt replies, “No, we’re a different security company.”
Agent says: “Where is everybody?”
Matt replies: “Oh, you didn’t get the message? The auction is in White River, 1.5 hours away.”
Ha Ha Ha!
Ben Thomas,
agent x
Pricing a home the right way! VT realtor strategies for selling a home.
Mar 26th
I was just at a listing appointment with a seller client, and we were putting a price tag on his home at this meeting. It turns out that they were very interested in my approach to pricing homes.
Here is my strategy for pricing a home, and what I think is the best way to see the light: put all the comparables and the subject property on the table, and pretend you are a buyer. You are looking at all the current inventory as if you were going to spend your hard earned money on the one you were interested in. Which one would you go for, and why? Seriously! Which one is the best for the money? Why would the other listings be of interest? Do you know why somebody would buy the other ones over this one? How about the sold listings? Does the subject property seem like a good deal, kind of like when you go buy a car and you find the best deal? Do me a favor: stand outside your own home and look for all possible eyesores in the surrounding environment, on your property and your own. Pretend it was the first time you came here. Do this same thing for the competing properties and even for the ones that sold. What you will begin to get is a logical range, the size of which can vary greatly but we can’t control that. Don’t you see that pricing a home is not just about adding up the nuts and bolts? Bathrooms and half baths, hardwood vs. carpet! Adding up the nuts and bolts is a good way to fairly assess property for taxation. Granted, location and square footage are serious factors, but if you are selling a home in VT, you want to look harder than that.
This is sometimes why people hire agents to sell their home. A good buyers agent has looked at plenty of homes “through the eyes of the buyer”, and therefore already has the 20/20 hindsight that we are always talking about in life. But all this brings me to my next thought that I don’t want to forget, which is that any really good buyers agent can be a good listing agent as well. The talent exists independent of which side of the closing table you’re on.
Buying a home is just like buying anything else. It’s about product knowledge, communication, patience, perspective, and whatever else. Oh yeah, listening and asking questions is important. Even for the negotiating piece. I once had a REALTOR competitor of mine tell me that they never asked questions, but rather, told people what they needed to know! Isn’t that funny?
Don’t you wish they had buyers agents for cars? I need one, so if anybody in VT does this, please let me know.
