Author’s Note: Due to a complaint about the legitimacy of information in this post I have double checked my sources and found the data to be accurate and made some notes below. I have also made some edits to help protect the home buyers/sellers involved as well some of the language has been edited due to individual interpretation of the specific words used.
I think I need a skid of these to deal with it all!
I hear all sorts of stories in this business. I recognize that they all start with a kernel of truth and through the art of story telling they get altered slightly. We all remember playing broken telephone as children, right?
I was out putting up the first of two sold signs in Cambridge last Friday when I came across a flyer blowing aimlessly on our client's door step. I am sure it fell out of the door jam or mailbox but there it was carefully avoiding my feet as it tried to get my attention.
I picked it up to see the same drab excuse of a flyer we expect from a (replaced Joe Schmoe with) ordinary agent. What popped for me was the PropertyGuys.com sign in the photo. (Using other people's trade marks in your advertising is not allowed and was a big motivator to this post. I have scanned and presented the flyer as it was found and included another company logo only to show the flyer in it's entirety.) When I read it in detail I knew it was a stretch of the truth at best. It is the exact opposite of everything we see in the market...so I did some digging.
Nothing is the truth except the truth, and here it is.
Address deleted
Listed with PropertyGuys.com on July 14 2008 at $267,900
Cancellation date deleted
Listed with Robert Wollziefer on Sept 30 2008 at $269,900 MLS® #0894383
Relisted with Robert Wollziefer on Dec 1st 2008 at $259,900 MLS® #0895294
Sold Date Jan 29 2009 for $255,000 (There was some question to privacy laws in publicizing the sold value of the property. This is already public information available through the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation aka MPAC)
Total days on MLS 121
Estimated commission paid at 3.5% $8,925 plus $446.25 in GST
Net amount client sold for deleted
Here are some points that Robert fails to point out in his marketing piece:
Details of the price drop of $8,000 in listing price and $12,900 to the actual SOLD price
(Deleted a comment regarding bottom line price client received after commissions payed).
Property was relisted after 60 days on the market
Here is (in my opinion) the absolute (replaced false with) misleading statement made:
"One day they received 3 offers and can now move forward"
As you can see from the truth above, they were listed for a total of 121 days with Robert (deleted “and not the 1 day he states”. It was brought to my attention that the client did in fact receive 3 offers in one day, the ad fails to mention that it took 120 days prior to that happening). The truth is they were listed twice as long with Robert than with PropertyGuys.com and needed to drop their price because it was price that was the issue not their choice of marketing. (Deleted language specific to the client and replaced with) One of the true benefits of selling privately is the fact that you are able to lower the cost of the transaction. Those costs can either be kept by the seller or used as a tool to lower their price, making them more attractive in the market place and sell faster.
Way to help them "Move Forward" Mr. Wollziefer, (grammatical error replaced your) you’re a gem!
Do you have a similar story? Leave a comment! Your story may help someone else avoid the "Rubber Lips"...
M
Posts
11 comments:
These clients did receive multiple offers (3). Their home did take a while to sell but we were in the midst of an unexpected market collpase. Sales were down 37%. They had to close a newly constructed home in 30 days.
They were able to move forward because of Robert Wollziefer and not left high and dry with just a for sale sign on the front yard.
Robert Wollziefer, Re/Max Twin City.
Thanks for the comment Robert.
As you know when the market is down and there are less buyers, economics kick in and prices drop. To adjust your selling price without lowering your bottom line is a powerful advantage of choosing Private Sale versus using a real estate agent.
PropertyGuys.com is more than just a sign for their lawn. We have Private Sale Professionals across the country to assist home sellers in the process of selling privately. They may be selling on their own, they are never alone in the process. They have as much assistance as they choose to take.
Mike
"They have as much assistance as they choose to take."
Are you saying you are acting as a licenced realtor? Isn't that what real estate agents do? Don't you need a licence to give advice?
Nice try Mr (or Mrs) Realtor.
There is a difference between giving advice and trading in real estate. We help people market their property. If they need legal advice we send them to a lawyer (the best place to go). If they need staging assistance we get them in touch with a stager. If they need a property value we can either direct them to an independent 3rd party appraiser or we can show them where to get public information they need to be able to price it themselves. We are the concierge of Private Sale.
I am not, do not want to be, have no interest to be or pretend to be anything that I am not. I am a Private Sale Professional and am proud of it!
M
Realtors charge a commission if a house sells. If we are unsuccesful in selling a home or the client chooses to not sell we do not charge any commission even though we have spent many hours and hundreds if not thousands of dollars marketing the home.
I have a suggestion. If you are so confident in your philosphy of selling privately. Why don't you only charge your clients if they sell their home. Only sounds fair to me.
Robert Wollziefer, Re/Max Twin City
Robert,
Tell me why it is fair for you to charge me $20,000 to sell my house because the guy up the street decides to list his house $50,000 to high. Why should I be penalized thousands and thousands of dollars because you can't sell his house?
I know as a home seller if I price my home properly and use a service like PropertyGuys.com to market my home to buyers, I will be successful. If I choose to over price my home then I choose to not make the best of the product I purchased.
Realtors charge 5%, or $15,000 on an average detached house here in our region. I, for one, am not going to pay for your failures with my hard earned equity.
It would appear that I am not alone.
Mike
Firstly, answer my question and dont skirt around the issue. Why don't your charge your clients only if there home sells.
Secondly, Realtors price a home on current market value. The banks than confirm the value of the home when financing is done. The commission does not affect the value of the home at all. If any thing, realtors are the ones who building the value in the homes which in turn provides home owners with more equity. When private sellers lower their homes asking price by the commissios they supposedly would save they are rerally lowering their equity and all their neighbours equity.
Robert Wollziefer, ReMax Twin City
Well Robert I would have thought as a "professional" Realtor you would know that collecting money on the sale of a home constitutes trading in real estate. We cannot collect money on the sale of a home because we are not realtors, we are Private Sale Professionals, and proud of it. There was no skirting your question.
As for your second point are you saying that your exorbitant fees you want to charge me are as a favour for my neighbours? PropertyGuys.com gives the private home seller an advantage that you just can't offer. Our clients can either pocket the commissions they would have paid you or sell their home quicker by creating a more competitive price advantage. If you take 5% of someone's home sale value and they have only paid off 25% of their mortgage you are taking 20% of the equity they have built in their home. How exactly is it you helped them?
No need to respond. If you haven't already figured it out we will never agree on this. We are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Good luck with your business.
i don't think you should make this kind of accusations since we tried to sell it with property guys when the market was in pretty good shape but had no luck so we did give it to Rober from remax to try to sell it meanwhile the makret fell but he did manage to sell it is not realy his fault that the price had to be lowered the market was bad and we are still happy what he did even we had to pay him, but the price we paid for property guys will never be recovered!
Thanks for the comment.
Absolutely it was not Robert's fault the price needed to be lowered. I don't think I ever said it was. The market value for the home was lower than what the seller was asking. This is the most common issue facing home sellers today. The question that will never be answered is whether the home would have sold with PropertyGuys.com if at the lower price.
Wow - another "Anonymous" comment.
It is funny how whenever a private seller is selling privately the "Market is great", and "Price is not the issue" when an agent comes to the door or solicits over the phone.
But then, about 95% of the time and about 20-30 days into the listing with the agent - somehow the market takes a turn and the price needs to be adjusted.
Price was above where the market wanted to be at at the time, it really is that simple. Sure the fee paid to PropertyGuys.com may not be recovered, but neither can the roughly $10k in commissions and GST paid to the brokerage. There are no guarantees ever with what you will end up selling the home for with/without an agent - the only guarantee in the end is that you will pay commission. The guarantee selling privately? You won't (unless you leave and use an agent).
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