Popular wisdom in the real estate industry says the reason homes don't sell is because of their price. Maybe we should look at how the agent is marketing them to find the real problem.
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Popular wisdom in the real estate industry says the reason homes don’t sell is because of their price. Maybe we should look at how the agent is marketing them to find the real problem.

Why is it that some things just won’t go change? There, on my doorstep, was a reminder that some companies still don’t get it. Nearly two pounds of absurdity, neatly wrapped in a plastic bag, and personally delivered to to my front porch, was a reminder that the more things change, the more some things stay the same. Absurd, when you think of it: Who uses the Yellow Pages these days?

Video blog entry from Matthew's blog post titled "The Persistence of Absurdity"
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A recent quote from Walter Percy Chrysler has been stuck in my head lately: Most people never get ahead in life because when opportunity knocks, they are out back looking for four leaf clovers. These days, it seems like Chrysler’s perspective is particularly appropriate to the real estate industry crisis. In addition to merely waiting around for Uncle Sam, Freddie, Fannie and even China to revive the housing industry, most brokers are busy scurrying around looking for lucky charms to help them survive the downturn. In fact, it’s even worse than usual – beyond burying statues and rearranging furniture – when we see brokers doing the absolute worst possible thing they should be doing right now: Recruiting the agents from failing firms. Did anyone every wonder to ask just why that firm was failing in the first place? History has shown us that good companies gain market share during downturns. Usually, that means they sell more of their goods or expand into new territories. Of course, the real estate industry has never used traditional business concepts to measure success, so for them, having more agents than the competition is supposedly a sign of success. Never mind that majorities of their [...]

Here’s a really simple idea for REALTORS who are struggling to sell “overpriced listings.” Just Say No! Call it the Nancy Reagan Rule of Real Estate: Some listings are “bad” for you – kind of like certain kinds of substances are bad for you. But sometimes, we REALTORS just get on a “listing high” when we get a homeowner all geared up to sign on the dotted line. After pouring our our hearts in a listing presentation, filled with facts and figures and advice, we become momentarily vulnerable to a moment of insanity called “I’m gonna get this listing!” And that’s when we all-too-often shoot ourselves in the foot. Every REALTOR “knows” better than to take an overpriced listing. But they need to start “doing” better if they want to survive the downturn. Here’s a simple economic fact: the buyer of any product sets the price. Period. No ifs, ands or butts, unless you’re a one-of-a-kind painting or bejewelled egg. As long as there are “other options” in the marketplace similar to your product – other computers, MP3 players, airline seats and houses – to choose from, the buyer sets the price.