We have a property that has been on the market for nearly six months now. It is sitting empty because we would really rather sell it than rent it. But we don’t want to give it away either, and in this tough market that puts us in a little bit of a rough spot. We’re not the only ones in this situation, and there are numbers to back this up.
Our contract with our realtor expires in a couple of weeks, and we’ve been discussing what to do next–rent the property until the market improves, drop the price, wait it out, try another realtor, try to sell it ourselves, etc. We know the market is tough right now, so I think we are being pretty realistic about our options. We’re also lucky that we have options–we don’t have to give it away. We received a piece of mail Friday that may have helped us in this decision.
The company we have the property listed with is running a sale October 10-19. Their plan is to draw attention to the great buys available in the market with a national campaign. Sounds like a great and innovative idea! In order to participate, they’re asking homeowners to drop their price by at least 5%. And for the duration of the sale they are reducing their commission percentage by…
Zero.
I realize this is a tough market for agents as well, but this company missed a great opportunity to show their clients that “we’re all in this together”. Yeah, I know their commission would also be reduced by the same 5%, but on a $200k listing they are asking the owners to give up $10k while they are only giving up $600. Why not give up a full percentage point, you know, just to show you are REALLY serious about moving these properties? Why not show you also have a stake in making deals happen? Why not use this as an opportunity to build relationships and a reputation with clients that will pay off for years to come?
Why not view this as an investment in your business?
In this case, they may have been better off doing nothing. Someone at the top of this company should check out Seth Godin some time. This really puts the agents in a bad spot as well, since they have not control over the situation.