South Florida - what are reasonable expectations?

16 years ago

SORRY, this is long! I have read this board for weeks now, and finally got up the guts to put my house up for sale and was hoping for some advice.

I talked with 3 agents; 1 of which was an Assist2sell agent, the other 2 are affiliated with large firms.

I signed a 4 month contract with the agent (affiliated with name firm) who has lived in my development for 30 years and has been selling in my neighborhood for over 20 yrs. I decided not to cheap out and get help with this process since I have no clue what I am doing. Florida has property tax $ saving proposals on the legislative calendar in June, so people may be holding off to see what happens to save $$.

One week into it though, and we were already breaking all of the rules that I have read about here. The pictures are so-so (but my 4 bed/2 1/2 bath house is very basic and has no upgrades. Good development and school district. VERY clean and uncluttered; freshly painted on the inside over the last 2 yrs, touched up as best as possible on the outside) but anyone who wants to buy my house will simply be looking for a large house, good price with "good bones" - so there won't BE great pictures), and if I listened to her, I wouldn't have fixed up anything and it would be ok to leave the boxes all over because "people know you are moving". Her one and only suggestion was to have the bathtub refinished in one of the bathrooms.

According to her, people who want to move into my neighborhood, will overlook a blemish here & there, they just want a good price to get into it. OK...but I am still doing my little fixes in spite of what she says. I don't have a lot of $$, but thought there were certain things that could be done to spruce it up a bit (painted & had popcorn repaired in garage that was coming down), painted front door, put new hardware and molding, replaced back door that was wood and old,fixed wood in the entrance and over garage, took down a lot of personal things, framed pics etc. (yes, she even thought it was ok to leave everything up as is) etc etc. I think the things I did were important, not just little cosmetic blemishes!

So now I get down to my question - we are having an open house this weekend, and there will be virtually no marketing, just signs, which we really aren't allowed to have in my development. She says the paper doesn't work, (she also said that a broker's open house doesn't work, people that live east of the highway have success but for house west of the highway, the agents do not attend).

I went with her because of her history and experience in the neighborhood, and who knows, she may sell it tomorrow! But what are your thoughts?

I KNOW I allowed my emotions to cloud the fact that this is a business transaction; the agent and I have some things in common and hit it off great. I know we are only 2 weeks into it, but I want to be sure I facilitate this thing properly from here on out. I did begin some discussion with her yesterday, so she is aware that I have some concern.

So let me know if you have any thoughts as to what else I should do or ask her to do. What are the basic up front investment responsibilities of the agent? I don't want to be unreasonable.

THANKS for your help!!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

xamsx
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
NO advertising for your OH? Is there any advertising at all? Have you had any showings in the last two weeks? What are the current DOM in your area?

As far as her responsibility - what does your contract say? Does it require a tube, newspaper advertising, internet advertising (enhanced or basic), Open Houses, a realtor caravan, what? If the newspaper and carvans in your area do not work, what does?
cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I just sold in Ft. Lauderdale last month after only 30 DOM at full asking price, and it is stressful there right now to be sure. If you are serious about selling I would leave nothing to chance. If it is paintable paint it, if it is shabby replace it, if it is dingy clean it.

I know that in Broward there are 88 homes for sale for each buyer with average DOM hovering around 115 days. Buyers have scads and scads of options and to sit back and rely on what sounds like a lazy agent makes no sense. You need an aggressive agent who will stop at nothing to sell your home.

My agent did not recommend an open house at all- most initial shopping nowadays is done online and a great set of awesome photos is your best start. I took my own photos as I had the time and motivation to make sure each one was perfect. I also increased the buyers agent % to 3.5- in short we did everything possible.

As far as tax and insurance reforms- yes, buyers are nervous. That's just one more reason you need an aggressive agent with a sound marketing plan and limitless energy.
Related Discussions
Hurricane Wilma, report from South Florida
Q
Comments (11)
Rosemarie, please email me privately and tell me how to do this. Thanks. Mr. BrownThumb, I might consider your baby sitting offer. Amy, I was sad initially; however, considering how much worse it could have been, I have to be thankful. I don't think I have found any plants that will not survive. CP, not only are the Ario's happy, but the Turbi's anc Copiapoa are also happy. I think it has to do with the fact the grenhouse was covered with plastic on top and on the sides and now they have all the wind blowing thru it. Emy
...See More
White fly invasion in South Florida
Q
Comments (4)
Safer Soap is a commonly used insecticidal soap. There are other manufacturers of insecticidal soap, but Safer is an old and well-known brand. The smartest thing to do is some comparative shopping. Read the label on the brands carefully, comparing the % of active ingredients. I usually put my money on the product that gives me the most value for the same active ingredient. Every plant grower should have some insecticidal soap in their arsenal. Though it is a broad spectrum insecticide, it is still considered 'organic', and it is a lesser evil of most of the other chemicals on the market. It only works if you spray it on the pest. Once dry, it has zero residual effect on anything.
...See More
Reasons to Love Gardening in Florida:
Q
Comments (12)
As someone who has spent the last 15 years in the garden wearing only a bathing suit, I have had enough small pollinators attack me and stepped on so many mulch shards that there are days where I feel like a pin cushion. My feet, calloused to the point that I can actually walk on hot beach sand or a paved street without pain, have been a source of heated arguments with my wife; few that I've won. So, as much as I'm still allowed to walk barefoot in the house, flip flops are now required in the garden. However, to respond to the original poster... Reasons I love to garden in Florida: 1. You can garden in Florida all year long. 2. You can grow plants here that make your out-of-state visitors go "ooh" and "ahh". 3. Few plants are permanent here. Even large trees don't last forever. This gives you the opportunity to try new ones all the time. 4. New plants arrive daily; some of them even work here. I remember one of the local big box stores was selling dwarf Japanese maples around 10 years ago. It was December. I had an extra $50 in my pocket. To hell with that, I pulled out my credit card and bought all six of them. By August they were all dead. Word to the wise, just because a nursery sells it, doesn't mean it's going to live here. 5. There are few enemies you will meet in your life that share the prowess of Florida bugs. This is where we separate the gardeners from the lunatics. Crotons are a major component of my garden. I have over 300 of them in the ground, at least 150 different varieties. A large green scale has been attacking them for the past three years. I am a lunatic when it comes to pest control; don't ask. This post was edited by fawnridge on Tue, Aug 27, 13 at 8:52
...See More
what system is best in south Florida?
Q
Comments (30)
I have about 3 dealers around the same price. They vary in different ways. 2 dealers include the Trane rebate, 1 is not in the rebate program yet as he is new. He said that he is reducing his price to compensate for it until he gets into the program-he is one I quoted the prices from. On my most recent email to him very late last night, I asked him, "I heard you about the Trane rebate program but let me know if it goes through, wouldn't it save you money as well?" I haven't received a reply yet. Was the prices mentioned good? Concerning the tax credit, One company has it in its estimate but I am keeping it separate. I want to compare apples to apples. The other two don't put it in their estimate because it is up to me to follow through on it. Interestingly, the "A" rated company from the BBB is the one that includes it in the estimate, The "B-" and the new company don't. All the companies (about 7-10) said that they clean out the lines. Only one, the "B-" company replaces them. I wished the average temps were true. One thing about this area is the humidity. It is dripping. Again, Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
...See More
jgirl_2007
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Honestly, I think the tax/insurance issues in FL is killing the market here. Hoping the state government will do something about the taxes but I guess we'll find out more next month in the special session. As far as insurance, so far, nothing's happened as promised. Buyers aren't willing to put themselves out there with all this uncertainty.

I am in the same position - listed 3 weeks ago. Nineteen others in my neighborhood (maybe 220 homes total) that are currently for sale, some being FSBO's. In this time period we've had 1 showing and apparently the buyers looked at everything in my neighborhood but are about 6 months out from buying. We discussed open houses but decided against it. Our agent's other marketing incl flyers at sign, postcards, newspaper (she says doesn't work though), some local magazine with homes for sale, their office marqui, and the internet but do not subscribe to the enhanced listing service for Realtor.com. Found this part out after we listed.

We also offered a 7% commission (3.5% to each agent) thinking this might get more showings. So far don't believe this has helped. Not to mention in our price range $600k plus, there are even less buyers.

We've decluttered the house except the garage has yet to be done (storing items for new house there), removed most of the family photos, paint touchup, repainted front door, remulched & planted flowers. Not really sure what else we can do. I think it will just be a matter of timing - right buyer at the right place & right time. Hopefully soon!

I wish you all the best!
angep
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
We have an offer on a townhome sitting at our attorneys now, so people are buying in S FL(Broward). I hope anyway, gotta get out of this apt. I wish you luck!

As for signs, the one neighborhood we looked at initially, wouldn't allow realtor signs at all either. You could tell they were for sale if they had a lock box. They did allow open house signs, or they were just up long enough that the HOA didn't bust them.
disneyrsh
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm going to get cornholio'ed again for being harsh, but, if you read this board for weeks beforehand, why are you not following the advice?

Four months is too long to give an agent a listing.

A lot of people on this board will tell you that open houses are useless.

There are so many threads on here about how to pick a good realtor, and the misery everyone goes through when they get stuck with a bad one (we've been there), and you picked the threads on removing personal articles to read instead?!

Go with your gut-dump your realtor and find one that answers the questions you learned to ask on this site.
DebbieInMiami
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Point well taken Disney, though no one is being more harsh on me...THAN ME at the moment. :)

South Florida - what are reasonable expectations?

Comments (6)

xamsx

cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)

Related Discussions

jgirl_2007

angep

disneyrsh

DebbieInMiami
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

South Florida - what are reasonable expectations?

Comments (6)

xamsx

cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)

Related Discussions

jgirl_2007

angep

disneyrsh

DebbieInMiamiOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

DebbieInMiami
Original Author