by Christy Crouch
Use this form letter/email that I sent to my 50+ sellers to get over 14 price adjustments within only a few days. Price is critical in whether or not your listings will sell or sit. This will help you get them priced right so they will sell and both you and your sellers can be happy!
I just created a letter for the 58 listings I have and I wanted to share what I wrote with you in hopes that you can take something from it and be able to use it in your business for getting your listings priced right.
Where you would normally see my stats, I simply put an X, so that you can feel free to use your stats, your team’s stats, or your office stats. Just make sure you indicate what you’re using so as not to mislead your sellers.
I have just copied and pasted exactly what I sent to them below. As a result of this I got 14 price adjustments within only a few days. Remember whenever asking a seller to reduce their price never, ever, say reduce your price, always say adjust your price. It’s absorbed easier.
“While we realize that you are very concerned and frustrated with the current housing market, and your home not selling as quickly as we would all like it to, we wanted to drop some quick thoughts to you.This is somewhat of a long email and I ask that you please take the time to read it in its entirety.
After being in this business for over 22 years, this is one of the strangest markets I have ever seen. Homes that I think will sell aren’t. And the ones I think will sell quickly, seem to be taking what seems like forever to sell.
You would think with interest rates being lower than they’ve been in over 40 years, that buyers would be buying left and right. However, they seem to still be in very much of a “wait and see” mode.
Additionally, lenders continue to have very strict guidelines on who can qualify for a loan right now. Due to the volume of foreclosures in recent years, the underwriters are expecting perfect credit, strong income and long term job security to obtain financing. This is next to impossible for many buyers right now as a result of the economic situation that we are in.
Despite the market, Kyle and I have sold X homes so far this year and I feel confident that our marketing plan is not the question. The average agent sells only between 2-5 homes all year, even in a good market. Last year, despite the market we still sold X homes.
Am I tooting my own horn? No. I am reassuring you that you are with the right team and the right company. (Here is where you can briefly talk about your company, office, team or personal stats/achievements. Keep it brief and informative).
It is simply time, price, and finding the right buyer. Unfortunately, price remains the biggest factor in what is selling right now. Due to the overwhelming publicity about the housing market, pricing, and it being a buyer’s market, buyers simply are not willing to pay the prices that we all want them to right now. They are all looking for a “deal”. We also have a huge volume of foreclosures to compete with and their low pricing to get them moved. This makes for a very interesting and challenging market when it comes to selling a home and trying to get top dollar.
Honestly, adjusting the price every 30 days is a good idea if you are not receiving any showings, interest, and or offers. If the house is not being shown, this is an indication that the price is too high because buyers aren’t even choosing to look at the home.
I want to quickly address open houses, as I know you see a lot of agents doing them and I want you to know why we don’t. According to the National Association of Realtors, less than 1% of homes are sold as a result of an open house. Most agents actually don’t know this stat, and think, along with sellers that it will help sell the home. Besides, it makes the seller feel like the agent is doing something. Agents sometimes pick up potential leads so it can actually be more beneifical to the agent to hold the open house than to the seller they’re holding it open for.
In today’s world with all the technology of computers and the internet, believe me, if a buyer is looking to be in the area and price range, they know about your home! Studies have shown that most buyers go to the internet first, color magazines, and then to Realtors to find a home. All Realtors are already aware of your home being for sale through the multiple listing service which is where all agents go to search for homes for their buyers. Furthermore, each time you lower the price, you come back to the forefront of all X agents in (your market) by showing up on the daily report as a “price reduced”.
I also want to address the issue of why other agents and companies may be showing your home more often than we are. This is always a question in any seller’s mind, why aren’t you showing my home? And, it’s a great question. The answer is, our job as your listing agent is to actively and aggressively market your home to ALL buyers, not just the buyers that we are working with. Our job is to get your home sold as quickly as we can, and in order to do that you want the home exposed to all of the agents in the marketplace so that they can show the home to the buyers they are working with as well.
Some of you may already know this, but in case you don’t, we offer half of the commission you are paying us to other Realtors to sell your home. So, based on this, with over X agents in (your market), other agents and companies are going to be showing the home way more often than we will. In most home sales there are two agents involved. Every now and again the listing agent finds and brings the buyer, but more often there is another agent who is working with the buyer.
Guys, trust me, if we have a buyer who is financially qualified to buy your home, and looking for a home like yours, in your area, we are absolutely going to show it. As your agent it does us no justice whatsoever to not do whatever we can to get your home sold as quickly as possible, as we don’t get paid until you get paid.
I realize this is not the most exciting and positive news for you to hear as my seller. However, my job as your professional is to be honest with you about what is actually going on in the market so you can make an educated decision concerning what is right for you at this time regarding the sale of your home.
I have attached a quick update on exactly what we’ve done and are continuing to do as far as marketing your home.
At this time I want to say that if you do not really have to sell your home or are not highly motivated to do so, it may be best to take the home off the market and wait until next year when things will hopefully turn around and be more of a seller’s market. The thing to consider first is, we, of course, have no guarantee of what next year will bring. As with anything, it is only speculation.
I also recommend that you really take a look at money and pricing. If you wait, you will have spent x more dollars on payments on the house, maintenance, insurance, utilities, etc. So in the end, does it really make sense to wait? Same thing with pricing your home to sell if you choose to stay on the market. While I keep talking about having to lower the price to be sold, you want to look at what really is your bottom line? When you keep investing the above each month while the home is not selling hoping to get a certain price are you really ahead in the end? Or, would it make more sense to simply reduce the price, gain yourself fresh, new exposure, and get the home sold?
Only you can answer these questions for yourself, and we are here to assist, educate, and advise you through these uncharted waters of this market. Please let me know what specific questions we can answer for you after reading this. You may have just recently adjusted the price of your home, and again, this is something that in this market should be looked at every 30 days if you are not getting interest, activity and offers. If you want to discuss adjusting the price with us, please email or call me.
If you decide that you would like to take your home off the market, please let us know so we can take care of the formalities.
As always, we appreciate your business very much, and will continue to work hard toward getting the home sold and keeping you up to date every step of the way.”
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