Working Harder for Every Sale
From Videos to Just Being Nicer, Agents Weather the Downturn
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Saturday, October 25, 2008
Real estate agent Sharon Zunkley has taken some unusual steps this year to sell houses.
She hired a cleaning lady to teach one male client how to clean his house before showings. She paid to have a stove fixed when the buyer and seller couldn't agree on who was responsible for the repair. She hung artwork from her own home in a client's house to make it more attractive.
Despite her efforts, her median selling price has dropped $20,000, to $180,000.
"We're all taking a hit," said Zunkley, whose office is in Mentor, Ohio. "We're hoping when this is over and things start to go back up, we'll have survived."
Real estate agents across the country are having to work harder in one of the worst markets in years. They often must spend more to secure a deal at a time when houses are on the market longer and selling for less.
Rande Friedman in Tampa creates expensive promotional videos for the houses he has for sale.
Brian Copeland in Nashville has a feature on his Web site that lets potential buyers send instant messages to his phone.
"The more you can do to generate interest in a property, the better," said J. Parrish, a director with the Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Florida.
U.S. home sale prices decreased 9.5 percent in the past year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Agents typically earn a 5 to 7 percent commission on the properties they sell; the money is generally split between the buyer's agent and the seller's agent, with both paying a percentage to their agencies.
"This is the year of 'How creative can you be?' " said Zunkley, who has sold real estate for 22 years. "It's also the year of going back to the basics."
That means "pricing and presentation," said Elizabeth Blakeslee, a regional vice president of the Realtors association.
Real estate agents need to warn sellers that overpriced houses will get overlooked when there's a glut of properties for sale, she said, and they need to be firm about what must be done to prepare a house for market. Buyers have no use for dirty or cluttered homes, she said.
