I'm confused ... who created the color brochures? The seller or the agent, and if it was the agent, when did she plan to distribute them and to whom? Also, were the color brochures created at desktop level, or were they professionally printed?

Sorry -- I'm on the side of the realtor in this one -- I've often seen it done where the nice slick color brochure is only given out to those buyers that make an appointment to view the home and the black and white copy given out at open houses to all the looky loos. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I wouldn't be upset about it.

IMO, anything representing my property whether it be a house, boat, car, or an antique better be the best quality available or I'll be PO'd big-time. Doesn't matter the price of the home. What matters is the impression that a tacky, folded, B/W brochure (I use 'brochure' lightly) gives. It clearly says, "I am not worthy of even quality paper much less color!"

So, to answer your question. No, he's not being picky.

Tricia

I say he's not being picky. We had color brochures on our last house, which sold for $360. This was in Colorado, standard practice for our realtor. If it's a really high-end home I say black and white folded doesn't match what the presentation should be.

I vote for "class", which means color brochures. He's not selling "K-Mart."
It's one of my pet peeves when someone runs down an expensive anything. If it's a high end home, it should be marketed as such. You never know who will buy. Sometimes Lookie-Lous know someone. You get big bucks & you should spend money to make money. A commission on 600k is a lot more(36k) then on 200k (12k). The brochures should be in color. Advertisig should be done in high-end magazines etc.

I've owned homes in different price ranges. There is a BIG difference in expectations from a starter priced home & a high end home. Drive by your neighborhoods & notice the difference. Buyers are no fools.

Example: I sold a higher end home & the new buyers put in cheap, DIY landscaping- island. It looks out of place & cheapens the house & the neighborhood. If they wanted to do it themselves & don't have the artistic ability, they should have at least consulted with a professional landscaper. They still would have saved money. I'm not kidding. They depreciated the look of the house by 60-70k. My ex-neighbors are upset that K-Mart moved in. Just sayin...

I should say, our house was just a John Laing tract house in a subdivision in Colorado Springs.

How much is the house selling for? When you say high end, I think (way) over a mill.

When you say 10 pages, how many of them have photos? If every page has photos, how many photos per page?

I think a 10 page color brochure is a bit wasteful; paper / ink. I can understand why the agent wants to save them for people that make appointments. I do think that a smaller color version (on not as good paper) should be handed out at an open house, not black & white.

If the house is really that high end, I may just change my mind about the brochure and say that the agent should hand them out at open houses. If I was able to afford one of those really high priced homes and the agent was making a really good buck, then they probably have the amount of money budgeted to afford handing out professional brochures

Sorry - but I'm with the Realtor also. A professionally-printed color brochure can set you back $10 apiece. So for 'low-quality-lead' venues and mass-distribution to looky-loos, then a nicely done B&W Xerox should be quite adequate - even for a top-of-the-market home.

I'd have the color brochures available for those who want them (and are willing to sign in with name, address, etc., so you're screening to potential buyers only) or have the color shots on display in a presentation binder.

There's tacky-cheap, sensibly frugal and extravagant, and this strikes me as sensible rather than tacky. Handing out full-color brochures to everyone seems extravagant and wasteful. (If it were a builder's home, I'd assume a too-fat profit margin and would actually consider it a negative.)

I missed the 10-page part; ours was much smaller than that. Still, black and white folded I think is below the standard for many realtors. Even a single sheet in color on decent paper would be nicer, I think.

Um, our condo, which just sold for $132K, at least warranted COLOR COPIES of our one-page flier. She couldn't make a nice one-sheet in COLOR for a high-end home? I could do that for all of .05/sheet on my inkjet printer.

Well, what was in the contract?

If he's that miffed and she's not caving I'd speak to her broker and get a new agent. I sincerely doubt they are going to work well together after this.

Personally, I'm with him. He's not being picky at all. If the expectation was a color brochure, that is what should have been handed out. If she doesn't want to spend $500 for 100 brochures, maybe she shouldn't be selling high-end homes? Higher advertising costs to sell a higher-end home.

I don't think the OP meant the brochure was 10 pages....

"The house looks great and the color brochure is a 10...a very slick marketing piece that reflects the home's high price tag"

To me... that means on a scale of 1 to 10, this color brochure was a "10".

Ah, if that is so, western_pa_luann then even more reason to expect a color brochure.

I don't think the OP meant the brochure was 10 pages....

"The house looks great and the color brochure is a 10...a very slick marketing piece that reflects the home's high price tag"

To me... that means on a scale of 1 to 10, this color brochure was a "10".

Think you're right. I read that also but some how when I got to replying, I kept thinking 10 page lol - that's what I get for replying when cleaning & staging for pics tomorrow

To the OP, how many pages is the brochure?

Black and white copies are a peeve of mine. I make full color copies for *everything*. This is such a visual, heavily-marketed-to public. IMO, if you don't have color, you don't have a chance to "grab" someone's attention.

My office charges me something like .35/color copy. Kinko's offers a Realtor discount making their color copies around .45/copy. For the countertop flyers, I'll use a glossy, heavy-grade paper, but for mass distribution (like at an open house), I'll skimp on the paper quality, but you betcha it'll be color!

Great feedback...thanks! To clarify, the brochure is a 4 page color brochure, glossy, great production value, the photos look terrific and the copy is dead-on. I believe it's professionally printed. By 10, I did indeed mean on a scale of 1 to 10.

Roselvr, the house is on the market at $2.8 million. Relatively speaking, that's a high end-home for NoVa. As an aside, I passed a color brochure from an open house to another friend. Based on the brochure, he went to see it, and made a full price offer at $1.5 million on a house that was 180 days into its listing. So, part of me thinks "penny-wise, pound foolish"

She got that Lexus by being successful. He got his house by being successful in whatever he does. Since she probably isnt telling him how to do his job, he should do the same.

Im quite surprised she even did a public Open house on such a high end listing. Im willing to bet not one 2 million dollar buyer came to the open house and there were nothing but curious looky loos. So those beautiful colored brochures would be a total waste of advertising money for an open house. Personally, I wouldnt have done an open house on that type of listing and maybe done a brokers open, wine and cheese party in the evening or something. With that, colored "copies" of the brochure. The really nice stuff gets handed out at the showings and if an agent at the brokers open thinks they may have a buyer, a brochure to send them in the mail might be in order.

linda117 Im quite surprised she even did a public Open house on such a high end listing.

I am too considering the purchase price and novahomesick's contention that this is considered high-end in the seller's area. Which makes me wonder if the seller insisted on the OH, or if the realtor really doesn't have a clue how to sell high-end real estate? Or do OH sell homes in No. VA?

If 2.8 million is a realistic price, the seller should get whatever type of marketing he wants. The commission on this house (full PP offer) is $112K at 4% or $140K at 5%. No matter what percentage her split is, selling this house will net her a great down payment on a nice, new Lexus.

Well, I'm going to disagree with our experienced Realtors on this one. Reason: I've got first-hand knowledge that their opinion of Open Houses not selling high-end homes is just not always accurate. So, because one never knows where or when a buyer will appear every marketing tool should reflect quality appropriate to the product.

A couple weeks ago, patty cakes asked whether incentives were effective. I made the following post:

"RE: Offering incentive when selling patty cakes on May 22, 2007.

Posted by triciae (My Page) on Tue, May 22, 07 at 14:42

Last fall, here in Mystic, we had one that was offering $100K of furniture from Domains & a one-year lease on a black Porsche. When we went to the Open House the Porsche was sitting in the driveway. Had to make a $10 donation to Make A Wish in order to get into the Open House. Place was staged with models from NYC who were puttering in the kitchen (serving us lobster crepes & little cheese puff things), reading & lounging on the recliner in the library, & watching a movie in the media room. The designer of the master bedroom chandelier was in the bedroom giving talks about the chandelier's "importance". The builder was working the crowd wearing enough gold chains to sink the QE2. Being the lender that I am, I couldn't resist saying to the builder when it was my turn to have the honor of meeting him, "Gee, you must be so proud of your erection!" :) Other than that, I've not seen any incentives that were advertised. But, I've no doubt they are happening as part of contract negotiations.
Oh, the above house was being offered at a steal...$2.475M. It sold.

Tricia"

About a month after the above Open House, an article appeared on the front page of our local rag under a picture of the home. The article noted the Open House "event" & that the home had sold at the Open House for $2.475M. This was full asking price (after the above noted incentives).

Brochures were handed to us by one of these NYC models as we entered the home. They were a 4-page, color glossy depicting the perfect 'Leave It To Beaver' family living in & enjoying the various features of the home. It was all extremely fake & we really thought it was a hoot...right down to the Hinkley Picnic boat docked out back. The builder was quite obviously taking aim at Mystic's boating crowd as his target market. Apparently, his demographic research paid off.

IMO, when we start generalizing too much...we miss opportunities such as using an Open House to sell a high-end property. It might have worked just because it was out of the ordinary? (Now, if the builder could just sell the remaining four homes he's built I'm sure his lender would throw a celebratory Mystic harbor party cruise with the booze flowing.) The homes were started in '05 & have been languishing on the market ever since. Mystic, at its heart, is still a small Yankee village although we are in hot & heavy competition with Newport for the honorary title of being New England's 'drinking town with a sailing problem' but not quite ready for NYC razzle-dazzle!

So, I repeat my earlier post...if I were this seller, I would be upset & demand my agent treat every contact with the respect my property deserved. Who knows in what person's hands those B/W brochures are going to land?

Tricia

If he's that miffed and she's not caving I'd speak to her broker and get a new agent. I sincerely doubt they are going to work well together after this.

Have to agree, especially since it was said He made it quite clear he wants color brochures handed out. In turn, she made it quite clear that she doesn't plan to change her practice just for him.

After reading all of the feedback, this realtor is probably inexperienced in selling higher end homes. This may be the perfect chance to find one that can handle the job.

To clarify, the brochure is a 4 page color brochure, glossy, great production value, the photos look terrific and the copy is dead-on. I believe it's professionally printed. By 10, I did indeed mean on a scale of 1 to 10.

Did you get to see the brochures? When you say 4 pages, they are probably not printed on both sides correct?

Was the open house for agents or buyers?

If the house is priced realistically, and there are comps to back that up, then IMO B&W copies are tacky as heck. I have a higher end Canon printer that does a beautiful job printing color pictures.

If it was an agents open house, I might say that handing out the original brochures (maybe mixed with cheaper color versions) should have been done. This would give each agent the original plus a few hand outs. They could show their client the original, then give the color "cheapie" to take.

My printer will print both sides on it's own. Using prices for ink for my printer, $45 or $100 if buying doubles; then $3 for regular copy paper, maybe mixed with bright white (500 sheets @ $9) or high gloss paper (200 sheets @ $100, the same brochure can be printed up in color for the open house. Spending $100 IMO is worth it.

Which makes me wonder if the seller insisted on the OH, or if the realtor really doesn't have a clue how to sell high-end real estate? Or do OH sell homes in No. VA?

If 2.8 million is a realistic price, the seller should get whatever type of marketing he wants. The commission on this house (full PP offer) is $112K at 4% or $140K at 5%. No matter what percentage her split is, selling this house will net her a great down payment on a nice, new Lexus.

I find it weird there was an open house also; which is why I wonder if it was for agents. As you said about the commission, you then wonder how this agent is advertising, especially handing out B&W's.

IMO, the realtor probably is not doing what they should be doing to market this home. I think that as a seller, I would ask to see copies of everything. What else is the agent skimping on?

I agree with both of Triciae's points.

Very bad idea to predetermine "lookers" from "buyers". What does she base it on? Willie Nelson comes to the door and he gets a black and white flyer cause he looks like a dirt bag?????

Sorry but desktop publishing has come leaps and bounds too. Color laser printers are affordable for anyone, especially a business. You'd be hard pressed to tell "professionally printed" anymore. This realtor is going to represent high dollar houses, then spend the bucks for the quality printer and print the flyers in house for pennies.

I would be livid as the seller also.

1) Seems pretty nickel and dime at the price/commission level.
2) Goes against the "if your going to do something do it right"
How many people came to the open house?
I thought no one was even going to open houses?
So she spends a couple of hundred on looky-loos - I doubt she's going to be doing this every other weekend like with a significantly more modestly priced home.

This is totally cheap and tacky.

I'm in advertising and know first hand that a full color quality brochure like this one costs no more than .40 per brochure (for a quantity of 1000). This is based off of a piece I did a few months ago. Of course this is for printing and doesn't include the cost of the photo shoot and professional copy and design (all of which would have been included in the cost no matter the quantity of brochures printed).

I would be very unhappy that the agent was being cheap and then the attitude of, "Too bad if you don't like it" would make me fire her in an instant. I wouldn't have a job if I treated my clients that way.

"Since she probably isnt telling him how to do his job, he should do the same."

Realtor works for client. Client is Realtor's boss in this situation. Realtor needs to do what client wants (especially something so obviously reasonable.

---"Im willing to bet not one 2 million dollar buyer came to the open house and there were nothing but curious looky loos. "--- Hey, Ill take that bet! Maybe then I can buy my friend's house.

Linda and Xamsx,

Good points about OH's. Actually, in this area, the price tag of my friend's home is high-end but not SUPER high-end. It's not unusual for homes close to the DC to command a premium price. Land prices are out of sight in this area. Also, our home values increased 100-120% in the last five years. I may think its wacky but thats just me.

The realtor suggested the Open House(s). I dont know if OHs are an effective marketing technique in my friends price bracket. Ill leave that to the experts to decide. However, I can think of 3 recent examples of million plus homes that sold off the Opens. OHs are not uncommon in the $1-3 million market here. I have no idea what goes on in higher price ranges. Its possible that we (sellers)view OHs as a critical marketing tool because so many homes sold off the Opens during the boom years, including my own.

Linda, I think you raise the more interesting question. Its a theme that creeps up often on this board. In a client-driven profession, what level of accountability does the service professional owe their client? When does a client become too demanding? Is it ever appropriate for a service professional to fire a client? How does the service professional satisfy the client and protect himself/herself from burnout?

In a former life, I used to manage other peoples money for a living. Money is emotional. I expected my clients to challenge and question my decisions. I thought it was a great opportunity to educate them. Was it time-consuming? Sure, but I felt I owed them my time. After all, it was their money that paid my bills. But, I did run into the "Nervous Nellie" types that would call every time the market fluctuated. Managing their expectations was quite challenging so I have some sympathy for service pros who feel micro-managed. I used to fantasize about handing my more demanding clients plane tickets to Aruba with an order to "Just Chill". But, it was my job to talk my Nellies down off the cliff and to treat their concerns with as much respect as I gave my more laid-back clients.

Cutting to the heart of the matter, my friend is angry because he felt his concerns were blithely dismissed. He felt he was owed a better explanation than the one he received. Frankly, I think his agent should have done a better job managing both his concerns and expectations. I dont care if hes selling a $2.8 million home or a $280,000 homeI think a little coddling would have gone a long way to defusing a tense situation.

If I were my friend, I'd push hard for those pretty brochures.

By the way, thanks to all for the variety of opinion. Its a great board and a great learning experience.

One other point that the dumba** realtor is overlooking. Even lookie-loos have friends. A very professional brochure coupled with an extremely nice house and who knows who looky-loo happens to show the brochure to. Instead looky-loo throws the tacky b&w in the trash.

I agree minibim. I had some very young clients once. I was selling their tiny house in an older neighborhood. I treated that house like it was my own. Full color brochures, virtual tours, etc. (Largely because before I was in real estate when I was looking for a home, no matter the price, I wanted to see good marketing.)

I'm sure to outsiders it looked like I was doing "too much" for that price point.

But, I sold their house in 12 days. I had to take the paperwork out to their parent's house, as they were living with them until their new home was finished.

I pulled up to a gated community, million dollar neighborhood. The parents went out of their way to tell me how impressed they were with how I marketed and sold their kids' home.

Guess who sends me referral business all the time now?

You just never know. I'd rather error on the side of excellence.

Realtor works for client. Client is Realtor's boss in this situation. Realtor needs to do what client wants (especially something so obviously reasonable.

Edenbojr, when an attorney is hired, or a patient goes to the doctor, or a contractor builds a house, the client or patient doesnt tell them how its done. They are the ones with the experience, they know how to do what needs to be done. If the guy thinks he can do it better, he needs to do it FSBO.

I'm not saying I agree that the agent handing out photocopied black and white was the right thing to do, but I also don't think a seller should demand things be done his way. He is not the one that does this business day in and day out. She knows where to best spend marketing dollars. He hired her to do the job, shes not in this business to meet people. Realtors talk to people, she did an open house, she knows who is a looky loo and who is serious. Im 100% sure, if someone came to that open house and she felt they were interested, she would have handed them one of the colored brochures, but to hand them out to every Tom, Dick and Harry that walks thru the door is just plain wasteful.

This may be only slightly off subject, but I stopped by an open house a few years back. By the time I followed the signs to the house I realized it was a neighborhood that was way over my budget. So I went inside anyway. I admitted right away to the realtor that this house was to expensive for me. She was very kind and told me to enjoy the catered spread. I mean catered! There was yummy fresh sushi and many other great eats. Mostly realtors attended this open house. She didn't pinch a penny and I gave her my info about selling my house and what I was looking for in my next house. Not that I'd assume she would do a spread like at the fancy house, but she wasn't afraid to market a house properly. We ended up staying at our current house, but I would sure call her again in the future. I felt like a guest, not an annoying looky loo. You never know if one of those neighbors might have family or friends that want to live in that neighborhood, or they may think that realtor is doing such a great job that they use her for their own home sale in the future. Anyone can be a future customer, why not impress them? Shortsighted

Roselvr...to answer your questions

____"Did you get to see the brochures? When you say 4 pages, they are probably not printed on both sides correct?___

The brochure is 8-1/2" by 11", 2 pieces of paper printed double-sided and folded like a book, heavy paper, very glossy...you marketing and print mavens may have some lingo that better describes what I'm talking about.

_____"Was the open house for agents or buyers?"______

The open house was for buyers. The agent plans to hold more. I think the agents' open house was this week.

Tricia: Thanks for re-posting your story on the EVENT open house. Had I attended, I would have been overcome with the giggles. I am still chuckling but am now suffering a terrible craving for lobster.

I e-mailed my friend all of your responses this morning. If there's a resolution, I promise to let you know.

Lindfa said - Edenbojr, when an attorney is hired, or a patient goes to the doctor, or a contractor builds a house, the client or patient doesnt tell them how its done.

Not totally correct - While I may not have told the builder how to hammer the nail, a vet how to insert the needle, or the Dr. how to read the X-ray I have, and think many people do, tell builders, doctors etc. WHAT we, the client want done. This is a WHAT he wants done. He's not telling her to use a particular type of software for the flyer.

[quote]The agent told my friend that she always hands out B&W photocopies of the brochure at Open Houses because she doesn't want to waste her marketing budget on neighbors and looky loos. [/quote]

Just wondering if this agent is some kind of mind reader that she knows who the "looky Loos" are, and all the people are with genuine interest. IMHO-she is being very pennywise and pound foolish. The agent is supposed to be working FOR the seller-for both of their benefits. She may have experience on her side, but the house belongs to the homeowner, and there are plenty of agents out there who would jump on a chance at a listing like that. If he were to do the listing on his own, he could not only make up tons of color printed brochures-he could either lower the price substantially-or offer something extra to the buyers. Nowadays, agents arent as necessary as they used to be...and the least she could do is respect her clients wishes-especially something as minor as this!

My husband and I drive an older model car, and generally dress very low key. We always have our 3 and 4 year olds in tow, and half the time look like something the cat dragged in after the dog got through with it when spending the day out with the kids running around.

I can think of 3 very specific instances where we were "snubbed" by sales people when we walked in the door of certain places looking for information on purchasing certain items. One of them was when we walked into a spa/whirlpool store-behind us was a couple that just drove up in a very expensive luxury car. The "salesman" walked right past us to the people behind us and asked them if he could asssist them. He was the only salesman there, and after watching the salesman fawning over the people that walked in BEHIND us-(without even giving us a second glance) the people took some information and left-with him chasing after them letting them know that the "special" prices he quoted them were only good for the rest of that day....Even when they left, he barely even looked me in the eye when I was questioning him about a model I was interested in. He pretty much ignored my questions-instead he just said "that model is 14,000.00"-and walked away from me-

At that point we loaded the kids back in the car, and went to the other side of town where I purchased a lovely spa from a very helpful friendly salesman....

The agent may have experience on her side-but even if she is wrong once about underestimating who is serious and who is not-and doesnt handle her dealings with every single person who walks in the door the same way-then she isnt doing the homeowner any favors.

I'd be suspicious of WHY the realtor is refusing to accomodate the request. What's the big deal? Why not do as the client wants? Is it because she doesn't know how to use a printer and can only press the [COPY] button on her office's circa 1997 Cannon copier?

I have made up lovely brochures on my home computer. It's not a big deal and this realtor should know how, or have someone available who knows how. She's probably not computer literate so I would check the web listings carefully.

He made it quite clear he wants color brochures handed out. In turn, she made it quite clear that she doesn't plan to change her practice just for him.

If I were going to be paying someone well over $100k I'd bleeding well expect them to change their practice for me. Jeez Louise, all this talk about 'wasteful' and 'marketing budget.' How much could a couple hundred color brochures POSSIBLY cost vs. the commission this agent is going to make?

I went w/ my parents to a bunch of open houses over memorial day. They're pretty unlikely to end up buying any of those houses--they were the first houses they've looked at in this area, ever--but they're not "mere" looky-lous either. The agents that do the best marketing are likely to wind up with their business.

And even if not, well, someday we may need to sell our house...

"Edenbojr, when an attorney is hired, or a patient goes to the doctor, or a contractor builds a house, the client or patient doesnt tell them how its done."

I certainly would if it was something as obvious as this thread's subject. I certainly have final authority in which doctor/lawyer/contractor I use. And if they're refusing to do something obvious, then they will not be working FOR me.

There's no upside to not using all color brochures other than saving the realtor money. There's no magic realtor experience saying B/W brochures will sell the house better.

I get that realtor's bring a great deal of experience, but they all must remember that your customer is your boss, as is the case in all service industries. And, let's face it, realty isn't brain surgery. Especially the marketing component. Price/promotion/place/product. Same 4 Ps taught in and undergrad marketing course still applly.

So...on the opinion poll here do any realtors agree with the buyer?

Quoting Linda I'm not saying I agree that the agent handing out photocopied black and white was the right thing to do, but I also don't think a seller should demand things be done his way. He is not the one that does this business day in and day out. She knows where to best spend marketing dollars. He hired her to do the job, shes not in this business to meet people. Realtors talk to people, she did an open house, she knows who is a looky loo and who is serious. Im 100% sure, if someone came to that open house and she felt they were interested, she would have handed them one of the colored brochures, but to hand them out to every Tom, Dick and Harry that walks thru the door is just plain wasteful.

Linda, what if this realtor was new and really had no clue? She's now missed the opportunity to hand the interested buyers the good copy. To me, it almost sounds like she didn't bring any. From what the OP's said about the area, who knows, an assistant could have been house hunting. Can you imagine them handing their boss a B&W flyer? LMAO!

Quoting OP The brochure is 8-1/2" by 11", 2 pieces of paper printed double-sided and folded like a book, heavy paper, very glossy...you marketing and print mavens may have some lingo that better describes what I'm talking about.

Sounds pretty nice, like one of those little real estate buyers books. In this case, I would have used the bright white on the outside & cheaper paper inside. At least it would have been color.

I hope your friend gets satisfaction. I wonder if your friend knows how long this person has been selling. Send them the URL of the post, they can keep up with it that way and decide whether to call the realtor with this.

Quoting huggle002 My husband and I drive an older model car, and generally dress very low key. We always have our 3 and 4 year olds in tow, and half the time look like something the cat dragged in after the dog got through with it when spending the day out with the kids running around.

I can think of 3 very specific instances where we were "snubbed" by sales people when we walked in the door of certain places looking for information on purchasing certain items. The "salesman" walked right past us to the people behind us and asked them if he could asssist them. ...
At that point we loaded the kids back in the car, and went to the other side of town where I purchased a lovely spa from a very helpful friendly salesman....

Don't you hate that? I can't tell the number of times I've had that happen. I've walked out of JC Penney leaving $800 worth of curtains because the cashier is making me wait there instead of asking another cashier to take me. It's hard enough to stand for long with my bad back, let alone holding that much stuff.

Quoting Mary So...on the opinion poll here do any realtors agree with the buyer?

I so wish this forum allowed for actual polls. It would be nice to be able to vote without having to type anything.

Maybe every salesperson should read a copy of the Millionaire Next Door...Bling ain't the only thing that sings bucks.

One thing did occur to me. Why wouldn't you want the neighbors in a million dollar neighborhood to have the best copies? After all, aren't they the most likely to have friends at similar income levels?

mary1000 So...on the opinion poll here do any realtors agree with the buyer?

reno fan spoke out for color brochures.

novahomesick,

You just made a very valid point! Duh! Who better to spread the word about how great the house is?

/T

And now for the rest of the story (please tell me Im not the only person on this board old enough to remember Paul Harvey)

Well, your responses got my friend thinking. So, he called his agent this afternoon. He apologized for losing his temper. He told her he understood that she had to parse the marketing budget carefully. After all, the property could sell in a week or a year. So, he offered to have his marketing folk get extra copies of the brochure printed at his expense and that he would later deduct the amount from her commission at cost. He said that, after a very long pause, she agreed that it might be wiser to print more high-quality brochures for the OHs and that she would be very pleased to take care of that herself.

He asked me to pass along his thankssaid he may become our newest lurker.

LMAO

Good for him :-)

Wow. So your friend offered to pay a +/- $140,000.000 commission, plus about 35 cents a page for color copies? If I were in his shoes I wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He probably did the right thing, though. He want to sell his house, not prove a point. Good for him.

Wow. So your friend offered to pay a +/- $140,000.000 commission, plus about 35 cents a page for color copies?

No, he was going to pay to have them printed, then when the house sold, take the amount from her commission.

I think he's brilliant. I don't know how he did it without laughing.

Sounds perfectly fair to me.....GOOD FOR HIM!!

I had a two page color handout about my house when I was FSBO. I made them on my computer and had a local printer make the color copies on regular copy paper, but my house was priced at $160,000! I probably handed out 300 copies in the six months I marketed it myself. Anyone could have one, no questions asked! Who knows where that flyer could end up? I cannot imagine why there even had to be a conversation about this with your friend's realtor. He handled it well, far more politely than I would have. Good for him!

Great resolution to the problem...

One more point...the agent obviously told your friend to have an open house because it is a valuable selling tool...however, in her "prep" she apparently anticipated mostly "looky loos" and neighbors

This being the case tends to support the point that open houses are often more for the agent to find buyers in generalas opposed to buyers for the specific property in question

And, yes...I agree that it was odd indeed (to put it kindly) that the agent would discount the neighbors as being those most apt to know others who were in the market for a home in that price range...

As I've maintianed all along, there are the good, the bad and the in between in every profession...