The LEXpert

Rinse, wash, repeat-The secret to my success

by John Rice

I’ve never really done things in a conventional way.

Before I got into real estate, I owned a lawn care business.  Believe it or not, I really like cutting grass.  It’s great to be outside and to take a look at the yard once you are done.

I was working at another lawn care company when I decided to go out on my own.  I had a $99 push mower from Wal-Mart that I would put in the back of my Dodge Colt.  My wife called it the Grass-Mobile since it had grass clippings everywhere.  It smelled like gasoline too.  I would see my past co-workers around town.  They all had a good laugh at my expense because I am sure I did look pretty silly driving around town with a mower hanging out the hatch of my car.

I did a great job and showed up on time.  I didn’t cuss or smoke and customers felt good about communicating with me.  My single female customers were not afraid of me.  The threshold for success was low in that business.

Before long, I was able to buy better equipment.  I also got a truck, then added a trailer.

I would see the same former co-workers around town and instead of laughing at me, they would ask me questions on how I did it.  I was always happy to tell them.  My attitude was that all I needed to be in business was a customer and to do a good job.  Rinse, wash, repeat.  I stepped out with not much and it grew organically.  They would look at me like I was crazy and say that they would need to start out where I was at that time.  I wished them luck and went on to my next yard.

Flash forward a bit to 2005.  I’ve just gotten my real estate license.  I joined the biggest firm at that time.  I was told I needed to do things like send people football schedules, flower seeds, and let them know when the time changes would be.  I’ve never understood why the realtor community bears the responsibility of letting the world know when to change their clocks forward of backwards?

I told them that I didn’t want to lick stamps all day.  I got into real estate to DO real estate, not to try to drum up work.  They thought I was crazy.

They said I needed to remind people I was a realtor.  I told them that if I had to remind people to use me again, I must not have done anything worth remembering and didn’t deserve to be used again.

So, slowly I built my real estate business based on word of mouth.  The only advertising I have ever done has been to promote two blog posts on Facebook.  I’ve spent $20.  That is why you’ve never seen me on the shopping carts at Kroger or seen my face as you drive around New Circle Road.  I had a client who referred his mother to me several years ago, a lady I have enjoyed becoming friends with, she said to me “Jimmy tells me you are a top realtor in town.  I’ve never heard of you.”

My proudest accomplishment is that 75% of my work is from past clients and referrals from past clients and friends.  That is the way I want it.  I want to do such a good job that people remember me and send their friends and family to me.

Over the years, I have had several agents approach me about how I did it.  I have always been happy to tell them.  My attitude was that all I needed to be in this business was a client and to do a good job. Rinse, wash, repeat.  I stepped out with not much and grew this organically.  They too look at me like I am crazy and want to be where I am overnight.  I usually wish them luck and move on.

 

Will a Selling Bonus help sell your house faster?

by John Rice

I recently had a somebody ask me if I thought it would help their house sell faster if they offered a “Selling Bonus” to the buyer’s agent.

My answer was no.

Selling bonuses use to help back in the days when realtors were the only ones who knew what houses were for sale.  The thought was that you could entice a greedy agent to show and sell your listing because they would make more money.  Today, it is usually the buyer who tells their agent what houses they want to see since they have access to all listings (and thanks to some sites that are not up to date, they also have access to houses that WERE for sale and are no longer available….but that is another blog post.)

Know what I told this person?  To reduce their price.  If they were willing to pay more commission to an agent, why not lower the price by the same amount and offer it to the buyer?

Offering a selling bonus does one thing today:  Since the buyers have access to all listings and pick what they want to see, a seller is really just giving extra money to the agent of the buyer who would have bought the house anyway.

When I show a house that has a selling bonus, I always make a point of telling my buyer before we see it.  Should they end up buying the house, the last thing I want is for them to think it influenced my advice to them.

Reading the tea leaves when your house isn’t selling

by John Rice

House not selling? Wondering how to interpret what is going on? Here are a few of my thoughts on some common situations. The following assumes your house is being presented well online with plenty of good pictures and marketing remarks that describe it with more than trendy generic AI generated verbiage.

The house that gets lots of showings but no offers

Assuming that you don’t have some negative that wasn’t obvious like backing to a highway, apartments, or having an Eiffel Tower looking electrical thing in your yard, this situation simply means that the house doesn’t live up to what buyers expected. The good news with this one is that buyers think the price for what they thought the house would be is okay or else they wouldn’t come at all. The solution here is to either lower the price or improve the house so that it meets the expectations buyers have. Whichever is easiest.

I once had a condo that got tons of showings. I kept encouraging the seller to paint. Once we did, it sold. I recently had another listing that was getting tons of showings. It was a nice place, but just felt like a 15 year old house that needed a fresh vibe. The seller did some painting and replaced the flooring in all the bathrooms. As soon as it was done, it sold. Both of these places looked great online, and just needed to match what buyers thought they were getting. Both were improved for far less than the price reduction we would have needed, so both sellers actually came out better by going that route.

The house that gets no showings

This one is easy, but hard for sellers to accept. The price is too high. If a house is presented well on the MLS, and still nobody comes to see it, all you can do is lower the price. Real estate is all about price, location, and condition. You can’t change the location, but the other two you have some control over.

Also something to think about is this: If you have a $400k house and you’re asking $475k for it, buyers are comparing it to other houses that are really worth the asking price. The buyers who are going to spend what your house is really worth aren’t even going to see it since the list price is over their budget.

The house that gets the same bad feedback over and over

This is the least fun thing that can happen to a seller. I mean, they get kicked out of their house for showing after showing with no offers AND get to hear what people hate about their house.

Several years ago I had this really cool older house that had been mostly remodeled. It had the smallest living room I have ever seen……must have been the smallest anybody had ever seen since that is all I kept hearing after the showings. I’d ask for feedback and the buyer’s realtor would go on and on about how beautiful the place was, how unexpected it was to have walk-in closets in such an old house….then they would say their client wasn’t going to buy it since the living room was so small.

We tried putting in smaller scale furniture, but that didn’t help. After that, all we could do was drop the price. A price reduction opens the house up to a larger pool of buyers as well as enticing them to overlook a shortcoming if they are getting a better deal. We got that one sold too.

If you have a situation that doesn’t fit into these scenarios, give me a shout and I’ll let you know what to do.