Continuing with my efforts to sell my condo ‘by owner’ I have to say it has been a little bit of a roller-coaster ride. Selling a home (or buying one) can be quite stressful. You would think that the stress would come from the piles of paperwork, or perhaps the actual closing, or maybe the negotiations process. For me, I haven’t even gotten to these points yet and I am already feeling exhausted! The hardest part is having to clean your house spotless for each showing. This is especially stressful for me, since I work from home, and when the showings come during work hours, the entire process from cleaning to the actual showing can take several hours. This process is even harder for me, since many days I have my 2-year-old at home with me, and it seems like we are on the continuous loop around the house – me cleaning, and him “undoing” everything I just did. But, I realize that this is a very integral part of the process, and the more showings I have, the more chances I have to sell the place.

The most frustrating thing so far for me has been the one realtor “no call no show.” You may be asking why a realtor is involved if I am doing this ‘by owner.” I decided to advertise that I would co-op with realtors. Basically, if a realtor can bring me a buyer, I will pay the buyer’s commission. They have to call a centralized showing service that I use to set up the appointment, and then they can come see the place with their client. Pretty standard.

This particular one came on a particularly busy day for me. The showing service called and said that the showing was from 5-6 that evening. It was already 2 in the afternoon, and the house was a bit of a mess. My wife even took a few hours off of work to come help me clean and “stage” our place. Lost work time for both of us!

We got the place spotless, and left at about 10 until 5. We decided to go out for a quick dinner while the agent showed the property. We even left fresh lemonade out.

We got home at 6:30, and it was immediately obvious that nobody had been by. Realtors are supposed to leave a business card on the table when they show a property to let you know that they have been there. We saw no business card, and no note. The lemonade was not touched.

I was pretty pissed, I have to say. I know that it is their perogative to not show up if they don’t want to, and there is nothing that I can do about it, but it irked me to no end to think that I lost a good part of my work day (and so did my wife). Would a simple phone call to me or the showing service have been too difficult?

I ended up e-mailing the realtor to ask her what was up, and she wrote back and said “We decided it was too far to drive” – the drive is actually only about 10 minutes from where they were coming from.

I didn’t write back, too fumed about the whole thing. I looked at this particular realtor’s website, and she writes about herself ““My buyers, sellers, and investors expect and deserve the most professional, ethical and loyal representation. ”

I’m not sure if she has kids, but in the future, I hope that she, and any other realtor who wants to see a home, realize that when the home is occupied, and especially if there are kids, that a simple, quick phone call if you don’t plan on showing up can save a lot of time for the sellers, and can help to improve the reputation of realtors in general.

Incidentally, we have had 7 showings so far – 4 independent, coming off of public listing sites like craigslist, and 3 from the showing service.   All four of the “independents” showed up and were punctual.

I have always wondered what kind of response I might get if I posted a very basic ad on my site. Of course, the ad would be fake, since it is me. I haven’t done it until recently because I have a problem with wasting people’s time posting an ad without a rental to back it up. However, my curiosity got the best of me.

The ad I posted was the smallest one on the page. “One Bedroom Apartment for Rent – Central Location.” That, plus my contact e-mail was all the ad consisted of.

I had the ad on the site for one day, and got about 10 responses. 3 of those were asking more about the apartment. 3 of them were scammers or crooks trying to rope me into a ‘rent payment transfer scheme.’ The other three wanted the apartment regardless of the features or cost per month (I did not include the monthly rent.). The city I posted it under currently has a vacancy rate of less than 2 percent, so apartments are hard to come by.

I was happy that the site was a ‘success’ in generating leads for my fake apartment. I was not so thrilled that I got so many idiots trying to scam me. But, I have also posted rental ads in the past on Craigslist and other places, and have gotten the same type of idiots from those.

I don’t think we’ll ever get away from the bottomfeeders of the internet (most, unfortunately are still in the Western African Countries). However, if you use a free email service (as most people do when they post a public ad), you can find out where the email originated from. This should help you to figure out if their intentions are good or bad.

If you look at the header information from the email, you will usually see a “Received” header that is followed by an IP address (4 numbers separated by periods). That’s what you need to find out where the email came from. Take that number and put it into a good IP tracking tool. I use this one: http://www.ip-adress.com/

To those few people that contacted me through my fake ad, I apologize. It did help me with this post, which I hope people will find useful if they get a fishy email. Remeber, the number one piece of advice when you get a fraudulent email: IGNORE IT AND DELETE IT!

Happy Renting!

Check out this guy who went onto the British version of “America’s Got Talent” and blew everyone away. He is a cell phone salesman who has “confidence” problems. Here is is.

Enjoy!

PS – He went on to win the competition.

Since I have been trying to sell my condo, I have posted it in several places out there in internet-land. Every ad that I have posted has said specifically “please do not call me with other commercial interests.” In the past two weeks, I have probably received about a dozen calls from realtors who start off by saying they want more information about my property. Within about a minute, they say something like “I see you have your property listed FSBO. Did you know that real estate is all about marketing, and that’s where I can help you to meet your goals.” I then usually ask them straight up if they have a buyer interested in my property. Every time the answer is ‘no.’ All they were trying to do is to pawn their expert services to me. They are a tricky bunch, starting off by implying that they have a buyer that is interested. Not the case though. All they are interested in is their big fat commission.

I had another realtor insist that she could sell my place within 3 months. I asked her if she knew anything about my complex or my area. She didn’t. If she had done any research, she would have discovered that there are almost 30 units in my complex that are for sale, and the last one that has sold was back in early March – Over 3 months.

The latest and greatest email “phishing” scam that I am seeing is where I get an email from someone saying they want to buy my place, but that I have to fill out a questionnaire with about 30 questions, some of which I found personal and irrelevant. If they had just looked at my ad (where they got my email address), 99% of their questions would have been answered. They don’t need to know my monthly payment. Here is their lame questionnaire:

“Good Afternoon,

I saw the property you have for sale and would like to get some more information regarding the property. I realize that there are several questions on here and some of which might seem personal, however, I assure you that any information you provide, will be used to help make a better offer on your property. I am not trying to sell your house for you; I am interested in purchasing the property myself! Thank you!

Questions:

1. Owner Name first and last:?
2. Property’s Street Address:

City: State: Zip: County:
3. Asking Price: $
4. # of Bed and Bath:
5. Is the property Vacant:
6. Scale of 1-10, what is the condition of Property:
7. Are there any needed repairs:
if yes how much: $
8. What is the layout of the property (1-Story, 2-Story etc):
9. Is there garage or Carport:
if yes how many:
10. Any unique features:
11. Does the property have a basement:
if yes % finished:
12. Year house was built:
13. Size of lot:
14. Total square footage of House:
15. How long have you owned it:
16. Why are you the selling the property:
17. how long have you been trying to sell it:
18. What date would you like to close by:
19. How did you come up with the asking price ( Cost-Based Appraisal CMA Guess) :
a. If appraisal: Appraisal Date:
Amount: $
20. What would your bottom cash price be? $
21. Is there a mortgage on the property:
if yes amount: $
22. Would you consider other options as well:
23. What are the Taxes on a yearly basis: $
24. What is your total monthly payment (PITI): $
25. What of that payment is for Taxes & Insurance: $
26. Rental Range of the area: LOW $ HIGH $
27. Has the property been listed in the MLS in the last 12 months:
28. Your contact info: Mailing Address:
i. Phone:
ii. Fax:
iii. Email:
iv. Alt Phone:
29. Other Comments:

Please fill out as much information as possible, the more info I have the better offer I can make you. We want to help you! We truly do care about your needs and want to help you. I thank you for your time in filling out the questionnaire out on the property you have for sale.”

Notice how they don’t include any company info, or a phone number to call. However, the name attached to the originating email address always seems to be someone tied to the local high school sports scene – I did a search on three of the names form these deals.

Back to the realtor thing – I have had them call at all hours of the day and night, and on the weekend too. Every ad I have placed has said pretty outright not to contact me if you don’t have a buyer. I know they make their money off of commissions, and I know that the market is cutthroat, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t conduct your business ethically and with respect. I believe that realtors are a dying breed, and the more they pull these shenanigans, the quicker they will be a relic of the past.

On a positive note, I have to say that not ALL realtors are bottomfeeders. When I bought my condo many years ago, I used a realtor. She busted her rump for me, and acted professionally and respectfully at all times. I found a great place at a great price. She is still in business today, and from what I understand, she does quite well. I think people will use a realtor if they have a good reputation, but unfortunately, building integrity and a good reputation is a step that is skipped by many realtors.

So far, I have had two showings for my place. One came in from craigslist, and the other came in from the MLS. We cleaned the place spotless for both, and it really looked like a brand-new unit, with the exception of our furniture being there. The first couple that came through (the craigslist couple), I could tell immediately that they were not ready to buy. He was a recent graduate, and his girlfriend said that she worked three jobs. They sounded like they were on limited means, and even admitted that they had not gone through the pre-approval process for a loan.

I was a bit disheartened, since we burned 2 hours of our precious Sunday afternoon cleaning for them. I guess that’s part of the whole process though. I have a friend who told me that his parents are trying to sell their home, and they have had 77 showings in 100 days, and no takers. Scheeesh! At least they don’t have kids at home!

The second group came in with a realtor. I left the place (as you’re supposed to do) but I saw them drive up. They were two guys, and they just didn’t seem too excited. They went in and left within about 10 minutes. They did eat some of the cookies I left out. Amazingly, they did not close the front door. When I got home, it was unlocked and wide open. I have an indoor cat, and if she got out she would disappear, so I was a bit miffed at this.

The realtor submitted her report later that night about our place. It said that her clients were not interested in buying our place, since it was overpriced compared to other units in the area. What? Ours is the lowest priced unit in the complex! They also said that should look better. What again? It looked like a professional had cleaned it. The only problem is that there’s not much furniture in our place right now, and not many pictures on the wall. If their lack of imagination is why they didn’t like it, then that’s another story.

I am starting to get anxious about our condo sitting on the market forever. The market in general is really bad right now, and I read something this morning that it is probably going to get worse. And, my sister reminded me that July and August are really soft months as well, since it is hot, and many people are on vacation, and not thinking about real estate.

So I am now starting to think of my contingency plan if I don’t get any offers in the next month or so. The only one that is logical is to rent it out for a while while the market recovers. I am not in the mood, and I don’t have time to be a landlord right now, so this is not the most favorable option for me. I’ll also take a loss on the place if I do that, since with the going rental rates around here, adding the HOA dues, I’ll be paying more than I’ll be making with a renter.

My wife and I both agreed that it is still early, and it has only been on the market for a few weeks. We plan on riding this out for about 3 months to see what happens.

“Knowing when to apply effort, and when to let to” – I refer to this phrase often when I have a lot on my plate.    Right now, trying to make my condo really attractive and unload it as soon as possible has taken a lot out of me.  I’ll be honest in saying that there haven’t been a ton of phonecalls on it.  Actually, there have been phonecalls, but unfortunately they are spammy people wanting to sell me their real estate services.  This annoys me, since on every ad that I have posted I clearly state ‘do not call about with other commercial interests.”  Anyways, I delete them and move on.

The market for condos in my area is not very good, so you have to have a really attractive place, and you have to be the best price around.  I have seen several similar units around me sit on the market for 9-10 months.   It is a bit scary.  Many people just end up renting them out since they can’t find a buyer.

I have done everything I can imagine to help my cause – I have listed on every website out there, from Craigslist, to Owners.com.   There are several local sites that I have used as well.  I am sitting here right now at my desk, wondering what else I can do, when I thought of my little phrase “Know when to apply effort and when to let go.”

There isn’t much else I can do.  The word is out as best as it can be.  I have priced aggressively, and I have staged my place as best as I can with new paint, new carpet, new dishwasher, wood floors, and a thorough cleaning.  It’s feeling like I am watching and waiting for the pot to boil.

So, I am opting to let go for now – to go outside on this beautiful day, and take my son for a stroll.   It’ll do me some good to get my mind off of things, and who knows?  Maybe when I get back there will be an email or message from a legitimate person wanting to see my condo.   Sometimes when you aren’t trying so hard, things seem to just ‘happen.”

Continuing the process with my condo that I am trying to unload, I decided to walk around my complex to see how many other units are for sale, and at what price.   My complex has about 300 units.   I was a bit discouraged to learn that 28 (by my count) were for sale.   That is a lot of competition!   I am starting to think about how FSBO can work to my benefit, and the one way I can think of is PRICE!   If I can do a true ‘by owner’ sale, I will basically save about 6% on commission, which I do plan on passing on to any buyer.    Today I posted the price in the window, and from what I can see, I am the lowest price of all comparable units (in terms of size, beds, baths, etc.)

It’s a tough local market when there’s a lot of inventory.   Everything I know says that you have to set yourself apart somehow.   I have looked at quite a few of the other folks’ signs and fliers, and quite honestly, they are pretty boring.   Mine is also one of the only ones with new carpet and wood floors.   I made sure that was prominently in the flier and on my signs.

I did have my first showing this weekend – someone who saw my ad on Craigslist.   They were a young couple and didn’t seem terribly prepared, so I don’t think I’ll be seeing them again.   It was a bummer, since for every showing you have to do the ‘flight of the bumblebee’ to get your place into ‘show’ mode.  Not an easy task for me with a 2 year old running around and ‘undoing’ everything I just cleaned!