Realtors are getting desperate

[meadandale]

Apparently they are cold calling people door to door now.

At first I though they were jehovah’s witnesses or something.

“We just sold a house down the street from you. We’re wondering if you wanted to sell or knew anyone that wanted to move into the area.”

LOL…”Uhhh, no thanks”

[sdrealtor]

Good hard working realtors have been doing that for years. Its not desparate, its called getting back to basics.

[JWM in SD]

Hmmm, yeah, I can’t wait to open the front door and be confronted with a pair of realtors….they will walk away crying…

[PadreBrian]

yep. These are real realtors…not the fake ones that drove X5’s for the last 3-4 years. They work for your money.

I also noticed new realtor around torrey hills doing expensive full color flyers, dvd’s, keeping the flyer box filled, AND reduced the house price by 100k. I thought, damn this guy knows what he’s doing. The only thing missing was him striping to his underwear and vacuuming the carpet before the open house…and chanting I will sell this home, I will sell this home. (from American Beauty).

[bsrsharma]

Sellers are getting desperate

Comment by BobR

2007-09-21 14:35:00

This is off-topic but I MUST share it with everyone. There’s a web board on the Big Island of Hawaii, and this is a new thread:

Aloha to all,

If I could just ask a favor of all of my Kona Web friends.

We have a contract on a home in Kona that is going to fall thru if our mainland home doesn't sell soon. Since I believe in the power of prayer, I am asking all of you to say a prayer for me, that my mainland home sells really soon. I have reduced the price by $60,000 and spent $50,000 in a total remodel so it's like new. Sales are just really slow.

If you could just say a quick prayer, to God or Buddah or Pele or to whom ever you pray to. I truly believe in the power of all of your prayers to help me get my house sold so I can move to the BI. It has been 12 years of saving for me and now it’s sooo close. Mahalo to you all!

Response 1:

Good luck- I will be thinking positive thoughts. Having been through something like that, and paying mortgage on a house (waiting for it to sell in a slow market) while paying high rent for almost 18 months (the rent was actually a few hundred more then the mortgage), I know the stress it can put you under. Our income certainly was not enough to cover us — in fact, it qualified us for public assistance *without* the double mortgage/rent. That was over 4 years ago, and we are still in the hole BIG time.

Response 2:

Aloha Carol:

My prayers are to Godwith you . We too have a mainland home that we had up for sale in 2006. Escrow fell out at the last minute and for a year we have been paying two mortgages, utilities, gardener etc hoping that it would sell. When our financial hole got deeper, I traveled back to California and hired a property manager and our house is now rented..praise be to heaven’s intervention. I interviewed several managers before hiring this one and they seem to be worth their salt. We had remodeled as well and were hesitant to put our lovely and well loved home on the rental block. But there are many people mainland side who are now renting their homes that could not sell during this slump. Something to consider as it helps pay the mortgage. When this slump subsides, and it will as history has shown, values will climb back up and selling can be reconsidered. Or perhaps maybe we were meant to keep the home. Who knows what lies in the future.

Anyway, Good luck to you and we pray divine intervention in your case.

[Pasadena Broker]

“Hmmm, yeah, I can’t wait to open the front door and be confronted with a pair of realtors….they will walk away crying…”

Tell me where you live, I’ll send a couple of them over…

It’s realtors getting back to fundamentals, door knocking is what they call it. Good for them, it’s been rare for them to use that method to market, glad to see that it’s starting to come back.

[JPJones]

This sounds a lot like what happened to the IT industry after that bubble burst. Lazy techs demanding outrageous salaries were forced to adjust or find new careers. I’ve always wondered how many of them ended up in flavor-of-the-month RE-related fields.

[POZ]

LOL, Can you imagine having to park your leased Hummer or SL 55 AMG at the corner and walking door to door begging for business? OH The humanity!

[temeculaguy]

I have no problems with door knocker realtors, it’s old fasioned but it’s good for them to meet real people and learn more about the neighborhood. Even if they don’t get any business it gives them a little more insight to the intangibles before selling someone a home there. This R/E shakeout is needed in that industry, two thirds of them that jumped in during the last five years know less about it than I do. Plus about half of my buddies wives have become realtors and I need them to all get out of the business before I need the services of a realtor so I don’t lose any friends over the fact that I’m not going to use any of them. The last time I made up an excuse and said it was in the divorce papers that my ex wife got to pick the listing agent, then based on the appearance of that friend’s wife (big boobs, younger, thin, whichever applied) claimed that my ex hates his wife because of that feature because women are like that. They bought it last time but if any of these bubble head trophy wives stay in the industry I’m going to have to come up with something else or fake a new divorce and photo shop some vegas wedding pictures, maybe I’ll claim it was forclosed on and the bank picked the agent. Maybe Amway will make a comeback and they will forget all about real estate. If not I’m going to end up golfing alone.

[Sandi Egan]

Isn’t huge competition in the realtor business affecting the commissions agents are getting? Is it still 6%?

[Anonymous]

Door knocking is beyond antiquated. You’re libel to get shot at or attacked by dogs doing that around these parts. The only strangers that ever knock on my door are black teenagers trying to sell me $20 candy bars.

[Raybyrnes]

Going out and meeting people. Sounds to me like Sales 101.

Some people in this world simply understand that when your in a bar someone has to ask for the first dance.

Sounds to me like this is why during the boom years Real Estate Professionals get to earn their commission because during the tough times they have the joy of dealing with a**holes like JWM.

[patientlywaiting]

I have to defend JWM. It’s rude for people to come unannounced so it’s appropriate to tell them to take a hike.

I live in a gated community now; but before, when a stranger would ring the door bell, I would tell them that I’m not interested and please don’t come back, then close the door.

The Realtor might be trying but I don’t have time to listen to unwanted sales pitches.

[Raybyrnes]

Rude is stating I am not interested and have people badger you.

To me rudeness is getting hit up by every friend you have who moves into sales thinking that becaue you are my buddy I should do busuniess with you.

Rude could be every commercial you see on TV. Rude could be every advertisement you see in the peper.

There are definitely rude people but having someone introduce themself does not threaten me or annoy me more than a commercial on TV provided the person is professional.

[lendingbubblecontinues]

just tell them “no, but I hear Carls’ Jr. is hiring”;)

[Author]

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