Real Clues

[RealClues] #308: Pricing Line

Copyright (c) 1996-2008 www.RealEstateCoach.com and
Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights in all media reserved.
We have a no SPAM policy. If you received this newsletter and did
not subscribe to it, visit www.RealEstateCoach.com to unsubscribe.

This week at www.LuxuryClues.com
~Feast or Famine: How to Survive the Luxury Real Estate Commission
Roller Coaster
~How to Earn a Full Commission on Leading Luxury Estates
~How to Avoid Luxury Psychic Vampires

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Table of Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. CoachingClues: A New Twist in Pricing Your Listings Right
2. Welcome Notes: The Worst Advertising that You Can Have
3. Reprise: Back to Basics: Why FSBOs Need a Web Savvy Agent More
than Ever
4. Create a Better Life: How to Attract More Income and Higher
Quality Clients
5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(r): Recession Fears Heighten.
Where's the Good News--We Have It!
6. Featured Products: Uncover the Secrets of Top Real Estate
Performance
7. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
8. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
9. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. CoachingClues: A New Twist in Pricing Your Listings Right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Persuading sellers to be realistic is a consistent challenge for any
real estate agent, especially in a slowing or a declining market.
Recent technological innovations make this much easier than ever
before.

In previous columns, I have discussed how to use rate of absorption
numbers to help sellers be more realistic about the probability of
selling their home. For example, if there are eight months of
inventory on the market, the probability that a seller will sell in
any given month is 12.5 percent. The probability that the seller will
not sell is 87.5 percent. Consequently, sellers who want to place
their properties under contract must position their property in the
marketplace where they will be in the best 12.5 percent in terms of
value, which is a combination of condition and price. If not, their
listing will sit on the market until it expires or until they lower
their price sufficiently to motivate a buyer to purchase it.

One of the tried and true strategies from the past was created by the
late Lee Coats who wrote much of the training for Coldwell Banker.
Lee invented the "pricing line." If you haven't worked with this
approach, it's extremely effective. The system is fairly simple.
Imagine a page with three different charts that resemble rulers
marked in 1/2 inch segments. The top chart has the "recently sold"
properties. The agent records each property that has sold on this
pricing line. The agent also records the properties that are
currently for sale on the second chart and the properties that did
not sell on the third chart. The sellers can quickly see the range of
the most recent sales, what the current competition is, as well as
how much higher priced the expired listings were as compared to those
listings that sold. When you show the seller the listings that are
currently available, the closing question is, "Where do you want to
be in line?" When properties have comparable amenities, it's easy to
demonstrate that the lower priced listings usually sell more quickly.

A company called ScatterGramPricing.com has now automated the pricing
line process. Agents only have to enter the sales data and the
computer then generates the charts for you. They also offer a true
scattergram (a graph that allows you to plot the relationship between
two different variables as a straight line). While there are a number
of statistical programs that do this, this particular program is
designed specifically for the real estate industry. Agents simply
enter the data and the computer does the rest. The most relevant
chart to plot is the relationship between square footage and price.
This is another way to help sellers be more realistic about pricing
because you can visually demonstrate where their property falls as
compared to the competition. Typically, the lower price per square
foot that a property is, the more quickly it will sell.

A third approach in helping sellers to be more realistic works best
after you have taken the listing. This approach involves tracking how
many visitors or hits that you are receiving from various websites
where your listing appears. Until recently, this data was expensive
and hard to obtain. Now Point2Agent.com
http://agent.point2.com/agent/partners/recoachFeaturesPage.asp
provides this as part of their suite of website products at no
charge. Agents fill out a brief form and the Point2 software
generates a template website. Once the agent creates the site, they
can upload their listings on to their website. From there, they have
the option of syndicating (sending) their listings to over 30
different sites including GoogleBase.com, YahooClassifieds.com,
Trulia, CraigsList.com and a host of others. The great news is that
this system then tracks the number of visitors that each listing
receives from each of the sites where the listing is syndicated.

When sellers are being unrealistic about their price, it's extremely
powerful to print out the charts that show exactly how much traffic
has come from each site. It's common for a listing to be viewed
hundreds if not thousands of times from exposure on so many sites.

Whether you elect to use Point2, placing your listing on
CraigsList.com may be the most important marketing step that you can
take to reach today's web consumer. Anecdotal reports from numerous
blogs indicate that consumers are finding and purchasing homes that
are posted on CraigsList.com. The traffic reports from Point2 (their
tool tracks how many hits their websites receive from CraigsList.com)
and from RealEstateShows.com confirm these anecdotal reports. The
traffic from CraigsList.com dwarfs the amount of traffic coming from
other sites.

If you want to realistically price your listings, the Rate of
Absorption, the Pricing Line, and Scattergrams are excellent visual
aids. If you're are in need of a price reduction, posting your
listing on Point2 and then monitoring the traffic provides you with a
strong piece of data that the seller will have a hard time refuting.
When a listing has been viewed over 1,000 times on the web and there
have been no offers, it's a pretty safe bet that the price needs to
be reduced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Welcome Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues
provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and
your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment
to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the
business.

In a slowing market, it's important to learn how to persuade sellers
to price their properties realistically. The worst advertising that
you can have is having your sign on a listing for months that doesn't
sell. If you need help pricing your listings correctly, our List and
Seller Real Estate Like Crazy program will take you through the
step-by-step process to price listings on target. It will also show
you how to persuade sellers to be more realistic about accepting
offers that may be less than they wanted. Visit
http://www.realestatecoach.com/training/listandsell.html to see a
list of the powerful information contained in this program.

If you haven't checked out our Positive News for Positive
Realtors(r), each week I'm doing an audio broadcast about what's
right about the real estate market. To listen, all you have to do is
point, click, and play. There's no charge. Each broadcast is about 5
to 7 minutes in length, but is packed with the talking points you
need to have upbeat, positive conversations with your clients. If you
haven't listened in before, start with the "Chicken Little" broadcast
first and then listen to the last two or three to get a flavor of
what's going on now: http://listenandlearnrealestate.com/news.html

Make it a great week!
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com,
www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Reprise: Why FSBOs Need a Web Savvy Agent More than Ever
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As part of our Back to Basics in 2008, we're reviewing the best of
the tried and true. This article first ran in January of 2003. The
most recent research from NAR shows that the number of sellers who
successfully sell For-Sale-by-Owner has declined from 18 percent in
1997 to 12 percent in 2007. To learn more about how to convert more
FSBOs into signed listings, click on the link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20030217.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. Create a Better Life: How to Attract More Income and Higher
Quality Clients
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We attract who we are." This is one of the principal tenets of
coaching. If you would like to attract clients who purchase
properties that are more expensive AND are a pleasure to work with,
this inventory can show you how to do it. To learn more, click on the
link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/assessments/agent/ast_2.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(r)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good news on a number of fronts, despite talk of a recession due to
the jobs numbers. Tune in to hear good news about building starts in
California, the easing of the credit crunch, and lower mortgage rates
for 2008.

http://listenandlearnrealestate.com/news.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. Featured Products: Knock Out the Competition
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Agents and Managers: Who's the Best Person to Sell My House?

Do you want to knock out the competition on your listing
appointments? Would you like to eliminate the commission cutters
before they reach your seller leads? If so, "Who's the Best Person to
Sell My House?" is the tool you need. Most agents and companies who
cut commissions offer less service. Less service translates into less
money for the seller. The challenge is the seller's haven't been
educated about how aggressive marketing actually helps them net more
money. "Who's the Best Person" is a 50 page guide to choosing the
best agent to represent the seller. If you are committed to providing
the best to your sellers, order today. Check out the content, adjust
your marketing plan to fit the suggestions in the Guide, and then
order the guides for everyone in your farm area or for any sellers
who interview you for the job of listing their property. Watch the
competition disappear once your sellers are educated. To order, click
on the link below.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/training/sellmyhouse.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business?
Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your
dreams come true! Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and
we'll help find the right coach for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please
e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to
subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2008, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com,
LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or
distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full
information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is
attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners,
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com,
www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and
www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

GIVE A GIFT TO A FRIEND!

Please forward RealClues to your friends and colleagues, since your
recommendation is how we grow. Anyone can subscribe to RealClues by
visiting http://www.RealEstateCoach.com and signing up! To cancel,
visit the Web site and simply cancel your subscription.