A Fresh Approach to Real Estate Rookie-hood with Jennifer Allan: January 2009

There's a conversation going on at another forum about whether or not to work with an Internet buyer who wants to buy a home in June. The general consensus is that the agent shouldn't waste his time on a buyer who is not ready, willing and able to buy today.

WHAT??????

This attitude completely befuddles me. Are real estate agents in today's world so darn busy that they can't spare a few hours to build a relationship with someone who showed up at their door - -LIKELY AS A RESULT OF THE AGENT'S ADVERTISING??? Are they so arrogant that they must actually belittle the buyer for contacting the agent TOO SOON???

Or, are they so damn dumb that they can't see the value in having a nice full pipeline??

Hey, if someone is crazy busy and has a true need to triage his time; well, then sure! Refer to the buyer to a hungrier agent or, if he prefers, rudely blow him off. But somehow I don't think that's the case for most of us...

If you find yourself with a Denver buyer who isn't up to your standards of readiness, send 'em my way. I'll be delighted to work with them, build a relationship, and enjoy their business and referrals for years to come.

A Soulful Bootcamp for Green Bean Agents!

Why do we put such stock in the Average Days on Market (DOM) statistic in our MLS's? I suppose it might be meaningful if YOUR average DOM is much less than the overall DOM, but otherwise, I believe it's a totally meaningless number.

If I were to run a market analysis of all the 1920's Bungalows that have sold in my market (NW Denver) in the last three months... (okay, wait a sec, I'm going to do that right now... BRB).

Okay, I ran my analysis. Had to go back six months 'cause the last three have been kinda quiet around here.

The DOM of my subject search ranged from 2 days to 171 days. The average DOM was 53. However, out of 21 properties, seven sold in under a week (five of those in less than 3 days), eleven in less than three weeks, while five took over 100 days to sell. Only three of the 21 properties had a DOM of anywhere close to 53.

So, when a seller asks me what the average Days on Market is in Northwest Denver, I tell them "I don't know" and explain why. I then explain why my goal is to sell their home in 30 days or less (obviously it's perfectly do-able in my market), and how I'm going to do that.

But maybe that's just my market. Do you feel that the DOM statistic is meaningful in yours? If so, please explain!

RELATED BLOGS
Houses aren't pet rocks!
I'm the best listing agent I know. Are you?
Seller's Regret - Which would you prefer?

For Sale Signs Don't Pay the Bills - 74 Ways to Sell Your Listings in Any Market
On Special $14.95!