THE NEIGHBORHOOD EXPERT

I was recently speaking with a nice man about possibly listing his home. He said to me, "Kobe, it's great that you sell so many homes, but, how many homes have you sold in my neighborhood?" He then preceded to tell me that the last time the home was listed (and didn't sell) it was listed with the neighborhood expert (I won't mention their name). He was convinced that he should re list with this agent because this agent really knew the area. He told me that this agents signs were everywhere. As our conversation progressed, he agreed to meet with me. Prior to the appointment, I jumped in my car and headed to his neighborhood. Upon arriving, I saw one particular agent's glamour shot and slogan on three bus benches . I then headed into the neighborhood and saw that this agent had four signs on the surrounding 3 streets. Wow - I thought, this agent really IS everywhere. I jotted their name down and headed back to the office and ran their numbers. Here's what I found:

3 active listings (houses for sale)
0 Pending (in escrow)
(The fourth sign was a listing that had expired)

In the past 12 months, this agent had sold 3 homes. They had listed 9. That meant that they were selling 33% of the houses that they listed - 3 out of 10. Hmmmm.... Can you see the problem? If I told you that I had a 33% chance of selling your home if you list with me, would you give me the listing? I hope not.

At the same time, in the past 16 months, I had sold 53 homes. I had also sold 96% of all the homes I listed. I won't mention the fact that of those homes, I sold almost all of them for over 95% of the asking price. How many had I sold in that neighborhood (that consisted of 4 streets) - none. The listings I sell range from Carlsbad to Clairemont to Rancho Bernardo. I recently just sold a home 35 miles from my office in 32 days for over 95% of the asking price. I had never sold a home in the general area before. My point is this: when you select an agent, ask the right questions:

How many homes did you sell in the past year?
How many were listings?
What is your average days on market?
What percentage of the listed price did it sell for?

If you get the right answers to these questions, you will get your home sold fast and for top dollar. In closing, I will leave you with this question: How hard is it to buy advertising on a bus bench?

Be careful! You have a lot to loose! Call me if you need to talk or have any questions.

Kobe Austin : CEO : Realtor
The Austin Group
12265 El Camino Real #180
San Diego, CA 92130
858.371.1700
kobe@groupaustin.com