[5-DayForum] completed the process
Scott Clawson
scott at scopeitout.us
Mon Apr 30 08:32:46 EDT 2007
Tom,
I have a question about the MLS portion of your email. You said it was a
headache. Can you say more? Did you list it as a set price on the MLS or as
the highest bidder gets it, like the book advertises?
Scott
On 4/29/07 9:28 PM, "infore5860" <infore5860 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Scott
>
> I want to add and subtract from Eric's list. I too did two 5-day sales
> using George Cappony's services. If done according to the book (which George
> helped me stay on track) it will work. So first do not do it on a holiday
> weekend if you want success.
>
> What I do agree with Eric about what worked is
>
> #1 - Using a website created by George Cappony with the listing insertions
> into Craigslist every few days was really helpful. The traffic tracking
> software that you get use of helps you keep track of how many people are
> interested and from were they are coming from. Most of my traffic came from
> straight load and not click through's like Craiglist.
>
> #3 - I ordered the yellow, brake screeching signs from George. You get 40
> signs to put around the neighborhood on all the different roads leading to
> your house. This worked the best because more than 80% of the visitors who
> came to the open house did so because of the signs. People that were just out
> looking for property to buy. In other words some of my true bidders (non tire
> kickers). I would not have gotten those bidders if it wasn't for the signs.
>
> #5 - Info signs in each room are a big help. It keeps you from having to
> repeat the same answers to the same questions throughout the day. It also
> gives you the ability to let each person walk through your house without
> having someone right there to answer all these questions.
>
> #6 - Although my homes were vacant, cleaning out the clutter and minimizing
> the furniture is a must. Also take all your valuables out of the house or lock
> them in a safe.
>
> #8 - The more people you can expose to your sale and what you are doing the
> more people you will have at your open house and the more people you will have
> bid on your house. I also had fliers printed and I left them every place I
> could.
>
> #10 - The inspection report shows credibility to the potential buyers. It
> shows you are not hiding anything.
>
> What I do not agree with is
>
> #2 - Getting charged $3,000 is too much money. You can hire a title company or
> attorney (depending on the state your in) to handle the whole transaction. It
> will be a fraction of the costs as what Help-U-Sell charged Eric.
>
> #3 & #1 - The money you save from using a title company or attorney, put
> towards signs that George sells on his website. I used them in both of mine
> and 80% of all people who showed up for the open houses did so because they
> saw the signs throughout the neighborhood. It is a powerful tool if you use
> the right brake screeching signs. Putting a sign on a telephone pole will not
> get noticed if it is too small.
>
> #9 - Your reserve price should be undisclosed. You should never disclose your
> minimum reserve price. You should never show your poker hand before the river.
> Let people bid up the price on your property and keep an undisclosed reserve.
> This way if the reserve is met the bidders will keep bidding it up because
> they do not know what the reserve is. Disclosing your reserve is like saying
> this is what I will accept for my house. People who may still bid won't if
> your minumum reserve is more than what they think the home is worth. On the
> other side if the reserve is lower than what they think the house is worth
> they will think you are real desperate and try to command the bidding process
> by making a ridiculous high bid that will scare away all other potential
> bidders. In the end they won't go through with that price, but will offer you
> your reserve. You will be stuck and you will either have to take it or do the
> sale again in 3 weeks. Either way you lose.
>
> #2 - If you do place your add in the paper place it for 8 days and place it in
> the paper that has the most real estate adds. This will generate a lot more
> interest. It did for me.
>
> #1 - Flat fee MLS do not do it. You can not legally add a three percent
> brokers fee to the final price. The final price is what the commission has to
> be based on. If you try and tack one on the commission you could have problems
> with governing bodies. Plus I believe you can only advertise a sale price with
> them not a starting bid price. I tried the flat fee MLS and ran into nothing
> but headaches. Every realtor went after me with every legal body they could
> complain too. Don't Do IT it's not worth it.
>
> Final suggestion is to also get an 800 number voice mail. This will also
> reduce the number of actual callers you get and free up your time for other
> things. George Cappony also offers this service. By getting it through George
> it will be a flat fee instead of buying the number and paying per minute.
>
> If there is something I missed and you want to ask go ahead and ask.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>
>> From: eric huang <mailto:huangeric123 at gmail.com>
>>
>> To: 5-dayforum at mailman.howtosellyourhomein5days.com
>>
>> Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2007 1:00 PM
>>
>> Subject: Re: [5-DayForum] completed the process
>>
>>
>> Scott,
>> I sold my San Francisco condo last year using the 5-day method. It was fast,
>> it worked, and everything went smoothly. I'm not good of a "story" teller,
>> but I'll tell you what worked and what didn't:
>>
>> What worked:
>> 1. Website created by George Cappony's service. Included listing in
>> craigslist.org <http://craigslist.org> , updated every 3 days. Also included
>> traffic-tracking software.
>> 2. Closing agent - I used Help-U-Sell, they charge $3000 to handle the
>> transaction. They also let me borrow A-frame signs
>> 3. A-Frame signs to advertise our open-house on the day-of. Decorate the
>> signs with helium balloons.
>> 4. Walkie-talkies to handle communication between me and my helpers - got
>> lots of compliments on this ("You are so organized!)
>> 5. Info-signs in each room (lets people do self-guided tour) about size,
>> carpeting, blinds, etc
>> 6. Cleaning out all of the clutter. Think "minimalism" as your
>> home-decorating theme. (got lots of compliments about this). Minimize the
>> number of pieces of furniture in each room, get rid of knick-knacks, etc.
>> 7. Minimum reserve price made me more confident about putting on the sale,
>> but wasn't really necessary.
>> 8. Sending info about your sale to every mailing list I belonged to
>> 9. Making the reserve so low, people said, "are you crazy?"
>> 10. Pre-inspection report
>>
>> What didn't work:
>> 1. putting up signs around the neighborhood before the day of the
>> open-house. Takes a lot of time/energy, but nobody looks for a house by
>> reading signs on telephone poles.
>> 2. newspaper ads - it did generate some interest, but I think readership for
>> newspapers is way down. If you are going to do this, buy Sunday to Sunday (8
>> days)
>>
>> What I wish I had done:
>> 1. advertise with flat-fee MLS - there is no reason to fear/dislike buyers
>> agents. Just say in your materials that people who have a buyers' agent will
>> get a 3% fee tacked on to the final bid price. That way everyone is happy.
>>
>> By the way, with the website, you don't have to stay home to answer the
>> phone before the open house. I just went to work as usual and answered
>> people who left message on my answering machine. I got maybe 10 calls by
>> Friday, but almost 1000 unique IPs on my website by the end of open house
>> (about 600 by Friday night).
>>
>> If you want to know any other details, just ask.
>>
>> Eric
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>> From: Scott Clawson <scott at scopeitout.us>
>>> To: <5-dayforum at mailman.howtosellyourhomein5days.com
>>> <mailto:5-dayforum at mailman.howtosellyourhomein5days.com> >
>>> Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 07:43:30 -0700
>>> Subject: [5-DayForum] I would like to hear from the people that completed
>>> the process
>>> Hi,
>>> My partner and I are going to conduct this 5-day process in the next 3
>>> weeks. Unfortunately it has to be on the upcoming holiday weekend but I am
>>> praying that turns out to be a positive and not a negative. No choice if we
>>> want to have it in May. We live in Seattle, Wa. I read all these questions
>>> about the people who are going to do the 5-day process but what about those
>>> who have completed it recently. I would like to hear from you that have
>>> been
>>> through the process and how it went. Did it go like you thought? Did you
>>> get
>>> the price that you thought? Recently, One person posted that they were in
>>> the bidding stage and was going to get back but I never did see how it
>>> went.
>>> I would really like to hear the start to finish stories. Are there any out
>>> there who are reading these? Thanks.
>>>
>>> Scott/Todd
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>> >
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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