I love buying houses: the dreams, the possibilities, the fresh start. I don’t love selling them. I would rather swallow live worms.
I have a house for sale in Colorado. It has been on the market for several months. At this point, if someone said, “Here, swallow this worm and your house will sell tomorrow,” I’d swallow two.
I detest selling houses for many reasons:
1. No freedom. You’re a house hostage. While you wait for the house to sell, you often can’t buy a new place, and your cash is tied up like a felon in a squad car.
2. Rejection. Hearing buyer feedback about why they don’t like the house you poured your soul into feels like sitting in a live beehive.
3. No control. You can stage your house like a Broadway show, and price it perfectly, and it can sit. And sit. While you fret and sweat, because you are at the mercy of the market and of your agent.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever blamed your agent for why your house wasn’t selling. Yep. Warranted or not, that’s most of us.
Our biggest asset, for a listing agent, is just another deal. With so much at stake, it’s hard to not start sounding like a kid on a road trip, “How much longer?”
That’s because listing your house with an agent is like saying, “Here is my liver. My life kind of depends on it. Would you please handle with care?”
“Sure,” they say with a Jim Carrey smile. Then they stuff your vital organ in a black canvas bag with 10 other livers and their laptop.
For anyone else whose home is on the market, March brings hope. This month, say real estate experts, is the best month for home sales because buyers, especially those with kids at home, like to shop in the spring so they can move in the summer and start kids in new schools in the fall.
A recent report from Zillow said all signs point to “March Madness” this year. “The market is continuing its rebound, and buyers are taking advantage of still good interest rates.”
With the market wind in our sails, what we need now is the right agent.
To get a reality check, I asked Realtor Samantha DeBianchi, founder and CEO of DeBianchi Real Estate, of South Florida, and who’s appeared on Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Listing.” Though her average-priced listing us just over $1 million, she has among her current listings the largest penthouse in Fort Lauderdale — an 11,000-square-foot beachfront listed at just under $5.5 million.
“I’m always bugging my agent,” I told DeBianchi. “Any showings? Any interest? Are you advertising? When’s the next open house? Why weren’t you at the showing? Am I asking too much?”
“I can get TV coverage for a property and the owner still asks what I’m doing to market,” she laughed, then affirmed me: “Sellers are right to expect some real effort from listing agents. We all know those agents who simply throw a house on the multiple listing service and wait for a buyer. Listing agents are paid to sell your property, not just list it.”
Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson is the author of two home and lifestyle books, and the newly released “Downsizing the Family Home — What to Save, What to Let Go” (Sterling Publishing 2016).
How to make sure your home is poised to sell
Realtor Samantha DeBianchi provided this list of what home sellers should expect a good listing agent to do:
Help get your place market-ready. A lazy agent will simply tell you to list the house “as is” to get the listing quickly. An agent who wants to help you get the best price will tell you what needs to be done and send over the experts — painters and handymen — to do it.
Have a strategy. Sellers need to ask agents how they plan to make their houses stand out. Your agent should have ideas for identifying your prospects and marketing to them. “For a single-family home on 4 acres, I’d reach out to the horse community and polo clubs,” said DeBianchi.
Spring for great photos. More than 90 percent of buyers first see a property online and make their decision to see it based on pictures. Because photos are so important, agents need to invest in good professional photography, DeBianchi said. “It irks me when agents use pictures they took themselves on their camera phone.”
Advertise. A good listing agent spends part of her anticipated commission on a compelling marketing flier, open houses and advertising. They write copy they know sells: According to a Zillow study, listings that included one of the following words sold for as much as 8 percent more than expected: Luxurious, captivating, impeccable and upgraded.
Show up. Regardless of a house’s price, your agent should attend every showing, said DeBianchi. “To not show up is lazy.” If your agent has a conflict, a designated substitute familiar with the house should be there. The agent should arrive 30 minutes before a showing to spiff up the house, turn on lights and music, and set the stage. They should tell buyers anything unique about the property that they wouldn’t otherwise know, like an all-new sprinkler system was just installed, then get out of the way while buyers look around.
Ditch the lock box. “Agents who put their houses on a lockbox and don’t go out and meet the other agents and buyers aren’t doing their job,” she said.
Communicate. Selling agents should give sellers a report every week about what they’re doing to sell the house.
Add a perk. Give a languishing listing a bump by offering a perk. For her penthouse listing, DeBianchi is throwing in a free one-year membership to a luxury club worth $12,000. Of course, the perks should be in line with the sales price, but a family membership to the local YMCA could sweeten the deal.
Be accountable. If a property isn’t selling, and sellers aren’t holding their brokers accountable, they are just as much at fault, said DeBianchi.
