Edmonton Real Estate Investor: selling real estate investments

We have a couple places listed for sale now. The way it's set up is an interested party's Realtor gives us a call and we confirm a showing time with them. I can't say how many times we've set up showings and not heard back from a Realtor.

Did they go in? Are the lights on? Doors locked again? Did they hate it? Is it awesome? Are we crazy asking this price? The list goes on of questions that run through my mind when I don't hear back.

I read an excellent blog by David Nelson about showing etiquette - Real estate agents are starting to lose showing etiquette and it rang true with me immediately.

I/we/home-sellers want your feedback we NEED it. It's constructive criticism that helps us make the property better and more attractive.

When I show properties to tenants I call back and get feedback. It's not solely polite I can get a lot of valuable information from them and sometimes give them information that could help close the deal (not that that's so important in a 1% vacancy market - but keep the technique for the 5%+ vacancy days)

There is a very good article on Yahoo Finance on real estate agents being the next to go obsolete. New interim rules introduced by the Canadian Real Estate Association allow members to offer basic services, including only posting properties on the mls.ca - leaving the seller to show the property, field offers and close the deal may be a step in the "we don't need you anymore" direction.

I'll be the first to say that I don't like paying such high commissions for our sales. We've been thinking of listing with a flat rate brokerage recently too. The things I worry about are the quality of marketing being done and the response from the buyers representative when they notice our Realtor is flat rate - who will pay them and how much?

An sad example- the owner of one of the first discount real estate agency received death threats from other Realtors. Their fear of what the flat rate /discount fee trend would mean for the future of their livelihoods led to an outburst of dangerous irrationality.

There is a big change coming in the way people sell houses. For me having a savvy Realtor frees up my time so I can work on other things. However, if a savvy Realtor realizes that serving many cheaply is better that serving a few at a higher rate then I know who I'm listing with. As with any service provider I would ask for references and see what kind of work the Realtor you're looking to hire has done.

At any rate the most important thing is a whole new world of options is coming to the Canadian real estate market and sellers will be saving a lot of money.

First of all if you are trying to sell in Edmonton better make the deal pretty sweet because about 11,000 other properties are on the market looking for a new owner. To be frank I wouldn't sell now unless I had a pretty good reason.

If you are an investor then why not ride out the dip and wait for the low unemployment, high provincial in-migration and stupendous economy to see you right?

For those of you who are just trying to sell your home then this advice is quite useful:

"What about the seller? Should he despair? Not at all! Firstly, if, as is frequently the case, the seller is planning to buy a replacement home immediately upon selling, the difference that he can expect to pay remains relatively constant, regardless of the market condition. That is the precise reason to at least be in the market, and not on the sidelines.

To achieve a best-value sale in today’s market, the seller must face a number of realities that may not have been as critical to a successful sale over the past few years.

Realistic pricing tops the list. With much greater competition for fewer buyers, pricing even one or two per cent over market may dramatically reduce the chances of an offer. Testing the market with a higher price is not a great idea." Peter Dolezal

Read More Click Here

P.J Wade of Realty Times interviewedDr. Paul Anglin, currently a University of Guelph's Associate Professor of Real Estate and Housing in the Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies in the newly-created College of Management and Economics.

His three year study used listing information provided by the Windsor Real Estate Board. With data from more than 20,000 houses, including those that did not sell, Dr. Anglin's resulting study, entitled "House Prices and Time-till-sale in Windsor," attempts to quantify the trade-off between time on the market and sale price as a reflection of selected list price

The study revealed (on average)over a 3-year period:

* Smaller houses sold faster while increased time-til-sale (TTS) was the case for properties with 5 or more bedrooms.

* Bungalows and side-splits sold at the same pace, but condominiums, ranch-style and "rental" properties took more time.

* TTS differed significantly by location while properties outside the City of Windsor consistently had longer TTS.

* Descriptive remarks on the listing form had the following effects:

* The words "beautiful" or "gorgeous" reduced TTS by 15 percent and "beautiful" houses sold for more. "Landscaping" reduced TTS by 20 percent and "move-in" condition did so by 12 percent. However, "must see" and "vacant" houses apparently had no statistically significant effect.

* Houses identified as "Starter" homes sold in 9 percent less time, however, "Handyman Specials" sold approximately 50 percent faster. "Rental" properties were on the market 60 percent longer.

* Seller intent described as "motivated" or "must sell" were associated with a 30 percent increase in the average TTS while "moving" had no statistically significant effect.

* Following the research statistic "Degree of Over Pricing" (DOP), which measures the difference between the list price chosen by the seller and the average list price for that type of house, the DOP of unsold houses was roughly 4.5 per cent higher than those which sold."

Read P.J Wades Article Here