If you want me to act quickly don’t give me all the time in the world
This is the lead statement in the general comments of a property first offered for sale on February 5, 2008.
Act quickly!! Offers will be accepted until February 20th 2008.
I have to ask myself, “Why should I act quickly?” It would seem to me that I have at least two weeks to get over there.
Most of us can understand a seller’s desire to leverage a seller’s market.
In my opinion, this is a good example of a seller shooting themselves in the foot, and most likely failing to achieve what they’re hoping to accomplish. It’s terribly difficult to generate a lot of excitement around a property that isn’t even really for sale. This property will be old news before the seller is anywhere near ready to look at offers. Many buyers will probably be reluctant to even give it the time of day.
Last year, while this was going on I did my best to keep my sellers focused on two day time periods. This is plenty of time to reach the most motivated buyers and create a bit of a buzz around a property. Any longer and time begins to work against you.
Read also: Seller’s will review all offers…someday
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
11 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Hi Norm, have enjoyed your blog and postings over the last few weeks.
We just bought into the Saskatoon market a few weeks ago and agree that this presentation of offers strategy does not make much sense, at least not for the market conditions we experienced.
We wanted a “mature” home and yard and there was not a lot of quality out there to look at. When we found the one we wanted we quickly put in an offer and, had we been aware of other interested buyers/offers, would have offerred accordingly higher.
If we had to wait a week or 2 for the outcome and something else came along in the mean time, we would have jumped at it.
Same thing on the sale of our old house. Not a lot on the market, 8 viewings in 1.5 days (pretty good for our market) and 3 offers to consider the next night. If we had delayed looking at offers for a week, that urgency would likely have been lost.
My 2 cents, anyway.
FX
May 21st, 2009 at 12:03 PM
This seems like a way to cheat the selling process. As if you’ll just sit down after dinner next Friday and choose a buyer from your stacks of offers. The if and when of the offers is the great unknown when selling.
It’s also a way to pull a few more dollars out of a fast rising market, or sneaking a sale through without an inspection. Buyers should be wary of these things. There is no good reason to bypass home inspection. Foundation issues can be very costly. If they are there, a buyer needs to know that.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Thanks FX,
I appreciate you sharing your experience.
Congratulations on your purchase and sale!
I don’t really object to the idea of “delayed presentations” under the right circumstances. When inventory is exceptionally slim, it seems fair to give buyers some time to get there. However, if it’s going to take them a week to two weeks to get there I doubt that they’re very good prospects to begin with. The most motivated buyers have made shopping for a home a priority and they’re going to find a way to get there within a couple of days. Dragging things out too long means risking the loss of your best buyer to another property.
When this practice became the norm last year, I made my best case to my seller clients to limit the delay to a couple of days. A handful insisted on more time, and of course, I accommodated that. I always keep a written schedule of showings including date, time, and showing agent. In the majority of instances, with over 50 listings, the successful buyer viewed the property the first day it was for sale, sometimes the second, but rarely later than that.
Part of my normal process is a couple of days of “pre-promotion” and that can also be helpful in giving people a heads up so that showing numbers are strong at the outset. The key is to get as many in as possible in the shorter period of time.
Best wishes in your new home, and thanks for reading.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Mike,
In 15 years I have yet to meet a seller who wasn’t interested in “a way to pull a few more dollars out of a fast rising market” or a buyer who wasn’t interested in paying a little less.
I agree that buyers should not pass on the opportunity for a home inspection under any circumstances. I actually stopped working with buyers when all of the “unconditional” stuff was going on. I strongly warned sellers about the dangers of accepting unconditional offers. It can work against the seller in very painful ways. That said, when the market goes nuts like it did last year it’s not that difficult to get a inspector to do quick mini inspections on the major components of a property, at a reasonable fee as well. Basement, wiring and plumbing inspections are fairly routine and easy.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:05 PM
LOL – when I first opened this thread I thought the picture of the guy was Leah Brisdon. He has some really similar looking advertisments around town.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Jason,
Lol. The same thought actually occurred to me when I selected the image. Leah uses an old Century 21 ad image and had his head photoshoped over the other guy’s.:) Though Leah has no shortage of energy, I don’t think he can actually jump like that.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Norm,
I don’t know if this is one for the books but here it goes:
Property is listed for sale MLS but we can’t show it till the staging is complete in two weeks. Sheesh!
Me thinks this must be the only property for sale but wait – MLS shows another 800 units. In two weeks the new buyers will be moved in. .>)
May 21st, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Larry,
Perfect! If it can wait two weeks for showings, you have to wonder why they couldn’t list it in two weeks, after the staging is complete.
Must be nice to have 800 listings though.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Two weeks is a VERY long time. Like another commenter noted….this property will be old news. 2 – 3 days would be the idea time frame in my opinion. We are seeing similar situations in St. John’s. Longest I’ve seen was a 5 day exposure period. However typically they are 2 – 3 days.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:07 PM
I think when you move that fast people think something is wrong they are not giving me time to have it inspected and make a decision. I think this could hurt the seller.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:08 PM
BVR,
We’re not advocating unconditional offers. What’s happening is that people are placing property on the MLS system and then instructing their agent not to present offers for some period of time. Obviously, the objective is to create some competition for the listing. I’m just suggesting that two weeks is a little much for a seller to say, “I won’t even consider your offer until…”.