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SUCCESS STORY 1 (MAY / JUNE 2007)
Another Repositioning Experience by Shelley Caci...
Prior to taking the Schweppe Seminar I met with my sellers to present the "normal"
CMA from The Point and to discuss market conditions and the value of their home.
We agreed on a price that was somewhere in the middle of the pack of current
"actives" of comparable homes in their area.
During the first week we had showings in addition to our first open house, which produced 8 attendees. Much to our surprise, there were no second showings or offers so we reduced the price by $5,000 because, after all, the sellers were moving to another area for a new job and had no time to waste. Our "old school" mentality of small reductions was all we knew at the time. During our third week on the market I started the Schweppe Seminar and we had a second $5,000 reduction because even though we still had showings I didn't quite "get it" yet.
After week three of the Schweppe and Denise seminar -- and still with an unsold listing -- I sat down with my sellers to have the re-positioning talk and explain the slides and new way of thinking to them. I also explained the Product vs. Commodity, Buyer Pool, and "Where the Market is Going" concepts and they grasped the information rather quickly.
We repositioned their house at a price they could live with and that weekend held another open house, which resulted in multiple offers. When all was said and done, the final selling price was $8,000 above our current "asking price." My sellers were quite pleased that their house was only on the market for 46 days. They were able to get to their new job in a new area without the headaches of an unsold home in today's declining market.
Shelley Caci, ABR
Sales Associate
Real estate professional since 2005
Coldwell Banker
SUCCESS STORY 2 (MAY / JUNE 2007)
Another Repositioning Experience by James Griffin & Susan Scanlon...
A Happy New Year Story!
James Griffin and Susan Scanlon received a call from a seller whose house had been on the market with competitors for a year and a half. The starting asking price was $475,000, and had been reduced to $398,000. The listing commission was 5%.
The seller asked us for an “honest and true price” of his home, and James and Susan went to work on their Schweppe presentation! The Seller accepted the full presentation, and gave a FULL 6-month listing on November 9th, 2006 for $319,900 at a commission rate of 7%.
The home went under contract on December 20th, and quickly closed for $321,500, on December 29th at the full 7% commission. Now that’s what I call a nice holiday gift for the seller and for the agents!
James Griffin
Susan Scanlon
Sales Associates
Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage
SUCCESS STORY 3 (MAY / JUNE 2007)
Another Repositioning Experience by Brenda Landers...
I sat there thinking, "You want to list your home for $339,900?" Then I wondered if the person sitting in front of me heard anything I just said when I gave them the comparative market analysis. That figure was from 3 months earlier when I originally saw the home; a 2BR in spite of what the public records said with only 1BA. I know the home was just totally updated and remodeled. I know the home sat on a nice fenced lot conveniently located to the highway, trains, schools and shopping. "You're right," I thought to myself, "what else could anyone ask for?" I knew when I took this listing I was going to have my work cut out for me but after all, it was referral from a very satisfied client of mine. How could I say no? I wasn't so sure in the end that these sellers would be as satisfied.
That was the beginning of the story. I only showed the home once in two months with a co-broke. The only constructive feedback I received was that it was over-priced for what it was but I already knew that. I had 3 open houses, all of which were advertised. No offers but after every open house I was asked the same thing by the sellers, "Why haven't we received any offers?" I tried to explain that people don't look at overpriced homes. It didn't matter what I said, they were adamant on the price. Their home was worth every penny.
I had the opportunity to see Jay & Denise once before and was so impressed with their presentation that needless to say I jumped at the chance to attend an entire program. There's just so much more you take away from an entire program versus one seminar.
I had attended two of the presentations when ideas started coming to mind. I had three properties that needed to be reduced, if I could only get the sellers to see that pricing was the problem. I waited for the right time.
Off I went to do another open house at the over-priced property. After the open house, we had our usual conversation as to who came, what they said and what I thought. This was my opportunity so I took advantage of it. I explained the need to reposition the property by creating energy within the buyer pool. I went on to explain that the buyer pool hadn't shrunk but with too much inventory we were definitely in a depreciating market. I explained more about how much time we had wasted being over priced. I asked them again if they wanted to remain in the category of "Homes that did not sell"? Of course their answer was no.
We lowered the price to $300,000. We had multiple showings and in the next two weeks they received two offers. They were not what the sellers were expecting, but the offers told them what the buyer's out there were willing to pay for their home. We accepted one of them and have closed on the sale! My sellers are satisfied and I know the buyer is too.
If you learn one thing from the Schweppe course it's HOW to say what your clients are hiring you for. It's having professional market knowledge.
Brenda Landers, ABR
Sales Associate
Real estate professional since 1989
Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage
SUCCESS STORY 4 (MAY / JUNE 2007)
Another Repositioning Experience by Ricardo H. Rodriguez...
I just want to share with you a great success story regarding correct shelf positioning
and energy pricing. The Schweppe training the Company is offering really makes a difference in how to approach the current very difficult issue of pricing with sellers and buyers.
About three weeks ago, I agreed to represent a new listing in the South End. At
that time there were 4 "not sold" listings on this street (with DOM over 60 days). The very willing seller decided to price the unit at $599,000 (the next lowest unit was listed at $649,000). Within two days we did over a dozen showings and received a first offer (the day before the first open house). The open house was very well attended with around 38 visitors, most of them bonafide buyers. By the middle of that first week, after multiple second and third showings, we received several offers. By the 10-day point we were able to put the home under agreement with multiple offers, over asking, with no mortgage contingency, and with the best terms benefiting the seller. Needless to say, the seller (who is a real estate agent) is very pleased with the results. We had a very fast and sweet transaction. We were able to net the most money and with the best terms. I have to say this would not have been possible without a true partnership with the seller - and energy pricing.
Ricardo H. Rodriguez
Sales Associate
Real estate professional since 2005
Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage
SUCCESS STORY 5 (MAY / JUNE 2007)
Another Repositioning Experience by David Smith...
Schwept Away, The Course Came Just at the Right Time….
I received a call on a Friday afternoon in early October from the clients to whom I sold my very first house in Newton, which closed in 2002. These past customers wanted to see a home just a street over from where they lived, priced at $1,495,000 with our sister CBRB office in Newton. The wife also mentioned they were not considering a move, as she is pregnant. That morning before the showing, I downloaded the Schweppe slide from their Web site on "Trading Up" in this market and customized the slide to include their names and price ranges which accurately reflected their situation.
I showed them the listing they had inquired about and on Sunday night they called and said they wanted want to meet to discuss listing their current home on the market. With my manager, Charlotte Bailey, I made the Schweppe presentation to price the property in this buyer's market, at a price that I thought was an "energy price". The price was such that they barely covered what they paid almost 5 years ago and their improvements -- not to mention our fee. I had developed the confidence from the course, to look them in the eye and say $789,000 is the right price to sell this house quicklyto purchase "the house of their dreams". Their home was listed that Wednesday. The house was under agreement in 12 days.
During the negotiations, I told the Buyer's agent we would like to accept the offer with a five-day hold on the inspection to negotiate the home the seller's wished to purchase. We agreed that 72 hours was acceptable to both parties.
Now, it was time to secure the "home of their dreams" -- this larger more expensive home that had been on the market for over 90 days and had had one $100,000 price reduction. We wrote up the offer. The listing broker was concerned that that our offer was less than the sellers had hoped for, but I explained the rationale in person, explaining that my buyer's property had an accepted offer. After some negotiating, we all met pretty much in the middle of the two numbers.
The new home closed on November 30th so the buyers can make some renovations prior to moving in the second week in December and their current house closes in mid December. The baby was born on November 27th and all is right in my client's world.
I would not have known how to orchestrate these two transactions, logistically to protect my client's interests or had the confidence to price their current home to sell and negotiate the purchase without the Schweppe course. This market has kind of beaten me up this year, and was turning out to be an average year with respect to my sales volume. Now it will be a very respectable year with these two transactions that could not have been anticipated totaling $2,120,000.
David Smith
Sales Associates
Real Estate Professional since 1992
Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage
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