How many Sold signs?

[sdrealtor]

“advertise hard to find a buyer yourself”

Last time I checked advertising hard was pretty darn expensive. Pricing a house 2% lower isnt going to make a difference. People will buy the house the want. If you can get proper exposure for your home without a quality realtor go for it. Last time I checked, the FSBO success rate is virtually zero these days.

[sdduuuude]

F.Y.I. I know of a successful FSBO sale on my street, closing in a week. I was surprised, too.

I think to sell a place I would definitely use an agent now, too. I used Help-U-Sell in Aug. 2005. That worked well for me. A compromise between do it yourself and full commission.

[speaker]

I posted early in this thread (pg 1) regarding the lack of sold signs in my complex and the increased in number of for sale properties. The original number I posted went up from 7 to 9 properties. A sold sign finally appeared on one of the newly listed properties. But here is an interesting twist (at least to me):

The agent who sold this property was selling 2 in the same complex with the same floorplans with the same “partial” ocean views. From the front door of one property you can look up and see the other property.

Question for sdrealtor:
would you cannabalize your own market in this way? The two properties are identical in floor plan (condo complex) but one has a slightly better ocean view because it is around the corner and slightly more elevated.

A bit off topic, but to me unless you have a completely unobstructed view of the ocean (no homes, trees, freeways, etc.) from your house then ocean views are highly overrated. I consider ocean views as that little extra bonus but not something I would be willing to pay a premium to have.

“End of line.”

[Bugs]

I can address the view thing. “Water influence” has an effect on values almost no matter where you go. How much effect it has is usually a function of supply, and views are usually a function of topography. In the LA/Orange county areas, the supply of properties with view amenities is exceeding limited because of the topography. There is a range of hills that run all up and down the coast in those areas, and except for just a couple areas there are no ocean views of any type farther than about 1 mile away from the beaches, and lots of areas where its measured in blocks, not miles.

Here in SD County the topography is a lot more hilly and includes a lot more mesas and canyons. There are properties that are 20 miles or more from the ocean that can have a blue water view on a clear day and there are lots of those during the year. Because there are so many more view properties here, the effect of those views are generally less than if that same view were available up in the O.C. People up there go nuts for just a glimpse of blue.

Personally, there are very few views I would pay extra for unless I had money to burn, and no views that are worth to me what other people are willing to pay for them. Then again, I’m not emotional about my home and I would never spend hours sitting on a balcony staring off into the cosmos. But there are a lot of people who can get that wound up in a view amenity even though they’re seldom around to enjoy it. Different strokes, I guess.

[JJGittes]

Well, the reason I offered the scenario is because my former business partner recently sold his home in orange county by going with a flat fee broker and putting his house in the mls. He priced it at about 3% lower than the (all over-priced) comp houses in his neighborhood up for sale(same models on similar lots), and ended up finding a buyer who was not represented. He had pretty good traffic too because everybody interested in the neighborhood who saw ads for the other houses stopped by his house also when they saw his sign. He made up a good flyer too.

He knocked off another 2% (he signed up for 2.5% to buyers agent) during negotiations. It is about an $800k (current comps) neighborhood, so the buyer felt good that negotiations basically started at $775, and ended up at a sale price of slightly under $760. The seller was happy because he cleared this amount (less escrow/title costs etc), and actually got a QUICK sale. In other words, he netted what he wanted, and what the owners of the over-priced other homes in the neighborhood would net after paying brokers, IF they could actually get a full price sale. Of course the former neighbors w/ houses for sale ain’t so happy. Again though, this guy did some work and had familiarity with the Calif. RE transaction process. Anyway, he is on the sidelines now living a condo looking for future bargains. However, for many folks, I recognize this would be a bit much to orchestrate.

Granted, his risk was that there could be a 2006 summer bounce and the other houses could go for more, but that does not seem likely at this moment.

[sdrealtor]

He beat the system and deserves credit for it. I never discourage people from trying if they want to but I let them know they too will have to beat the system which is far more the exception than the rule. In a declining market the risks of postponing your sale are even greater. But hey….go for it if think you can!

[JJGittes]

Kudos for at least acknowledging potential viability of such a plan. But I believe it is beyond what most sellers have the time, inclination and knowledge to undertake. According to my friend, the tough part for him was going with a deal that reflected a low reported sale #, even though his ultimate net was in line.

Most people are probably not psychologically up to it, frankly. Though the ones who are, or those who just HAVE to swallow the pill, may be setting the market of the near future however.

Anyway sdrealtor, I enjoy your comments just as much as the ultra-bears comments on this board. Don’t be scared off.

[Author]

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