There’s a new approach to marketing a Saskatoon real estate listing which is being met with mixed reviews, and it’s having mixed results. When it works, it works big. When it fails, it couldn’t be more boring. I think it has potential but it has to be done right.

I’m talking about the practice of delaying the presentation of offers until a specified date and time. It’s been done before in raging real estate markets across North America. The practice is just recently getting some play from Saskatoon home sellers and their agents. Of course, the objective is to create a bidding war on the property.

There are two factors that I think are critical in using this strategy successfully; timing and price.

I’ll touch on timing first. I saw an attractive new listing come on the MLS® system yesterday. The comment on the listing said, “Offers presented on March 12 at 8:00 pm on seller’s request.”A week is a long time in the Saskatoon real estate market. The odds that any two buyers will ever run into each other at a showing are remote. Nobody will really get the sense that there is any excitement about the property. Those that do see it will probably be back and forth as to whether or not they even want to buy it (I know of several instances where buyers have decided to withdraw an offer they’ve written or adjusted the offer price down). Certainly, they’ll be looking at and considering anything else which comes available in the meantime. That’s okay for buyers. I’m not really sure how it’s good for the seller.

Now, take all of the people that might consider this home, and have them view it within a one or two day period. Buyers are much more likely to encounter other buyers at the property and truly get some sense as to the level of interest that this property is attracting. People tend to want things that other people want. We’re funny that way. Shorten up your time frame and watch the motivated buyers pour in.

Now, let’s get to pricing. Your asking price must be attractive enough that it’s guaranteed to generate offers. If nobody makes an offer by presentation time it sort of takes the wind out of your “sale.”Where do you go from there?“Okay. I guess we’ll review offers on the 19^th.”It’s kind of like planning a big party and nobody comes. Not fun!

I’ll admit it’s very challenging to price home right now. It seems that there are substantial changes from one week to the next. You don’t have to worry about pricing the home too low. You can trust this real estate market to tell you exactly what your home is worth at offer presentation time, provided that your home is properly exposed to the market and buyers know it’s for sale. The more attractive your price is the more showings you’ll have and the more offers you’ll get. We’re seeing many offers which are $10,000, $20,000, even $30,000 over the asking price. If buyers see the value, they’ll pay a fair price and there’s an excellent chance that one or two of them will pay far more than a fair price.

It’s all about creating some excitement. It really is that simple.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. 

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

It was another exciting week in the Saskatoon real estate market, and breakfast today ranks as one of the highlights. It wasn’t the eggs, the bacon or those crispy little tater thingies, though they were all very good; it was the company. I had the opportunity to sit down with Jay Thompson, the one and only “Phoenix Real Estate Guy.”

Jay is well known as one of the most tech-savvy real estate agents in the world. His website is ranked number 1 out of close to 105,000 websites on the Point2 Performance Index. If you’re curious about the odds of that happening, it’s about 1 in 105,000. :)It’s an accomplishment to be proud of, and curious as I am, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pester him for a meeting once I heard he was coming to town. He graciously obliged me and in spite of the fact that he’d just been through one of the longest travel days of his life, including a three-hour stopover in stormy Minnesota, only to arrive in stormy Saskatoon, Jay dragged his butt out of bed and met me for a 7:15 breakfast.

Most of what we discussed would be lost on my local readers, I’m sure. Internet marketing, search engine optimization, blogging, blah, blah, blah. It was largely shop talk which could only be appreciated by a couple of tech-geeks with a burning desire to dominate the Internet.

There was one thing that Jay said which was particularly relevant to the Saskatoon real estate market. I thought you should hear it.

After filling Jay in on the state of the Saskatoon market he said, “Wow! This sounds just like Phoenix a couple of years ago. Properties were selling within hours of hitting the market. Most listings attracted multiple offers and almost everything sold over the asking price, some by tens of thousands of dollars. Investors were pouring in from all over the country buying up real estate in hopes of making a big profit…and then suddenly, like someone turned off the tap, it was over.”(This is not exactly what Jay said. A note pad seemed over the top so I’m paraphrasing.)He went on to share how it “suddenly” seemed like everyone had a property to sell, nobody was buying and values started to decline. While things seem to be leveling out in Phoenix, a fair amount of equity was lost in 2006 and many of the out-of-state speculators have put their properties back on the market hoping to get out. Today, there are 37,000 active MLS® listings in Phoenix. That would be like Saskatoon having 2,000 properties for sale, instead of 200. It would certainly change the climate.

I remain convinced that Saskatoon is much closer to the beginning than it is to the end of this rising market. Most of us realize that this won’t last forever but I must admit I hadn’t even considered that it could end “suddenly like someone turned off the tap.”I’m only certain of two things; this fast-paced market will eventually end and it will produce some casualties. It’s rare that an out of control real estate market makes a soft landing.

Proceed with caution.

Jay, thanks so much for meeting me this morning. It truly was one of the high points of my week. I appreciate the time and the ideas which you shared with me. Next time, let’s do it in Phoenix. 

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra