I’ve been writing messages on pictures for years. At first, I thought it was a good idea to make my listings stand out from the others. It is a time saver too because people would rather see a picture than read a description and you can let them do both at the same time. Plus it is more fun. I’ve been saying for a long time that people come to the internet these days expecting to be entertained. Are you on Facebook? Notice how all it is now are reposts of pictures with a comment or phrase on them?

The picture above is a new listing I have. It is such a nice house, in such a nice neighborhood, on such an awesome lot, in the most desirable school district that I really didn’t have to put out much effort to market it……but I did. That is exactly how I have been describing it to my wife and friends, so I thought I’d hit those highlights on the picture. It’s had 59 hits in less than 3 hours already. Plan must be working.

Here is a link to my profile on our local MLS if you want to check out my listings:

I always like to have fun with my photographer when we take pictures. I usually try to get her to do a goofy shot of me or what a call a “Find the Realtor” shot.

This started out as a “Find the Realtor” shot until I got the idea to add the comments on the picture. It was fun and creative, but what it was really about was trying to get people to click to see the details of the house. It must have worked because it had close to 200 hits on LBAR.com the first day and I even had an agent call me to say how much he enjoyed this picture.

In an age where exposure is NEVER the problem, the trick is to make what you do stand out and be remembered.

I was out today with a really fun couple that was referred to me from a past client. I showed them 4 houses, but I want to tell you about two of them.

Both were in fantastic locations with desirable school districts. Both were priced right. I told my client that both of the houses must have something wrong with them that we can’t see because neither should still be on the market…..I found out why neither had sold.

The first house was very impressive when you walk in. Hardwood floors and a very nice living room with fresh paint and a lot of light. Then you go in the kitchen. Nicely painted cabinets and 20 year old beige appliances. The master bedroom was very nice. Then you walk down a hall with new carpet, which makes the original carpet in the other bedrooms seem even worse than they really are. Are you seeing a pattern here? The house kept going from really nice to really outdated. It was polarizing. It is hard to sell a polarizing house. Buyers just don’t like the feeling of randomness. This house would be better to make all rooms the same.

The other house was very open and bright. It was vacant. Light colored beige carpet against flat white walls. There was NOTHING to look at. It was as dull and sterile as the waiting room at your doctor’s office. All that was missing were the old magazines. It is hard enough to sell a vacant house. It is even harder when there is nothing for a buyer to connect with. This house needs a neutral color on the wall and/or some furniture. It was really a great house, but just will never give a good first impression.

I always feel bad for sellers of houses like this. Often, a few minor changes can make a ton of difference!

I usually end up working with about 2/3rd’s buyers and 1/3 sellers. I have always felt that the time I spend with buyers makes me a better listing agent. Why? Agents that represent sellers more than buyers usually don’t get in as many houses. Let’s say I am about to list a house in your neighborhood. Odds are I have been in many of your neighbor’s houses over the years and know what is typical for the neighborhood. I’ll know if the floor plan is better or worse, what features are superior or inferior, if your finishes have the same degree of patina that others do, etc. Those things help out a lot with knowing what needs to be done to successfully sell a house. See, my goal is to sell it, not just list it. Many agents think they are done once they push the sign in the grass and hang the lockbox on the door. Their view is that the buyer’s agent has to do the rest.

I do enjoy working with both buyers and sellers, but today’s post is geared toward listing. I think the thing for me is the challenge of it all. I like making all the little decisions that lead toward getting the goal accomplished.

Why I like working with sellers:

1. Selling a house is a lot like fishing. Funny thing is that I never really liked fishing all that much. You are basically putting bait in the water where you think the fish are and trying to get their attention. Same with selling. Many people still think that selling a house is about exposure. You don’t really have to advertise or do open houses any more. Most all buyers and ALL their realtors are online. The internet is your water and what the realtor does to catch a buyer is really the bait. Three P’s are all you need to know: Price, Presentation and Pictures. Get all those right and the buyers will come see the house.

2. I like doing all the research to find the right price. You can have the most amazing house in the world with the best online presentation ever, but if the price isn’t right it still won’t sell. Accurate pricing is the difference between selling and just listing your house. Again, where I go in so many houses with buyers, I know what buyers expect to be the norm for most neighborhoods.

3. I like looking at competing listings and finding ways to let buyers know why they should pick my listings verses another competing one. I recently had a listing where the biggest competing listing had an uphill slope in the backyard. Want to know what I said about mine in the marketing remarks? That it had a flat backyard.

4. I like picking the best pictures. A lot of agents post all the pictures they have…..often in the order they were taken. While I am uploading pictures, I am constantly asking myself things like do I have too many? How can I order the pictures where I maintain a buyers interest? What is a buyer going to think of this one?

Selling is fun in such a different way than working with buyers. Check out my next post to see what I like best about working with them.

~The LEXpert

Analyzing comps from 2013 are going to take more thinking this spring than your typical year. In the past 10 years, we’ve gone from a market of houses always appreciating to losing value. Until 2013. The market came back fast and furious…..until about August/September. Despite all of 2013 being the best year in a long time, the last few months of the year saw a really slow market. Thanks for sticking with me this far because I am sure you are wondering why this makes any difference for 2014.

Here is why: All agents use comps to determine the value of a house. If you have an agent that doesn’t ever mention looking at recent sales, then you need to find a new one……and the ones that talk in price per square foot scare me too because that is just too simplistic of an approach. Price per square foot is best for figuring out the average of a neighborhood, not for finding the value of one individual house. The problem for 2014 is going to be a house that sold in the first half of 2013 may have had multiple offers and sold for more than it should have. The ones that sold later might have sold for less than they would have this coming spring.

A similar thing happened last year about this time. When listing agents looked at comps in the spring of 2013, they were looking back to a much worse market. Many listings actually came on the market for less than they were worth. If your house had 14 offers the first day on the market, then your agent might have priced it too low, even though there were comps to support that price from before the market picked up. And did it pick up. They way I described the market last spring was like sitting on a swing as a kid and getting that first neck snapping push that sets you in motion.

What do you do then? Spend more time looking at the comps. Determine, based on list-to-sale percentage and days on market if a comp went for less than it should have. Make adjustments or don’t use it as a comp. If a comp is from the fall, maybe add a little since the spring market is always better due to more buyers in the market. It will almost be like needing to look at the comparable sales for the comparable sales to make sure they are good ones. It is going to take a little more thought and effort to price a listing where it needs to be this year is all. I’m ready for it!