29 replies to this topic

[mysage]

I don't mean to come across as rude or anything but I take the lack of a price on that website as a very pompous thing to do. The house is in Sooke not Malibu, it's not worth untold millions and yes I am sure it is a wonderful home but IMO it looks a little dated and very likely not worth whatever figure the sellers have in mind.

I am in the market and the several homes I have viewed that are being sold by their owners without an agent have been priced higher than comparable homes and the owners seem disinterested in negotiating.

This begs the question, do people who choose to sell their own home have a tendency of being cheap or stingy with greatly exaggerated opinions of their home's value or are my recent experiences an anomaly?

I think that is a fairly accurate statement. In our experience those selling their own homes seem to be trying got save the commissions. The result is often a home that is priced beyond market conditions, (because no one has taken a disspassionate view of the home) does not have all of the pertinent information readily available (because the seller really doesn't know what the Buyer may be looking for) and are difficult to negotiate with because they are trying to save money by way of no commission and "it is my home dam it and so you should love it as much as we do!!).

All in all we gave up in trying to deal with properties being sold by Owner. Give me a qualified Realtor with a properly listed home any day!

[vandervalk]

I don't mean to come across as rude or anything but I take the lack of a price on that website as a very pompous thing to do. The house is in Sooke not Malibu, it's not worth untold millions and yes I am sure it is a wonderful home but IMO it looks a little dated and very likely not worth whatever figure the sellers have in mind.

I am in the market and the several homes I have viewed that are being sold by their owners without an agent have been priced higher than comparable homes and the owners seem disinterested in negotiating.

This begs the question, do people who choose to sell their own home have a tendency of being cheap or stingy with greatly exaggerated opinions of their home's value or are my recent experiences an anomaly?

I can, with certainty, tell you that they weren't being "pompous" because they chose to keep the price off the website. We discussed this in length from the start and I agreed that we would try this approach, myself thinking it would be a good idea to try. It's a 5 minute website update to include it. Again, they aren't in a rush to sell and the property just went on the "market". The masses here overwhelming said add the price and I will suggest that to the owners. Great online feedback!

They are not looking, or expecting in this marketing to sell to "local" people; and I mean the Vancouver Island market for that matter. Likely this property will appeal to the Asian market overseas or someone looking to invest into a property for a vacation home.

The whole, it's in Sooke, not Malibu, is irrelevant. There are many, and I stress many, of million dollar homes along Hwy 14 from Sooke to Port Renfrew, probably way more than you'd even think. Most you cannot even see from the road. Some even belong to pretty well known people internationally. You must not be familiar with ocean acreage in this area or the cost of 1 acre of oceanfront property in the Sooke Region.

This is nearly 2 acres of oceanfront property, over 250 feet of beach front. From what I've seen, this property alone is about a million without house and massive gardens. (Again, I don't know and this is a personal assumption based on what I've seen around Sooke prior)

The whole "Sooke stigma" need not apply here though, unfair.

They are also older folk. This house is only 12 years old, custom built, so it's not dated, perhaps dated in your tastes, which is fine. Cosmetic changes are simple. The house is gorgeous.

And they've owned this house since it was built. This is, I'm sure, the first time they've done private sale by owner and the first time they've tried the internet to sell, so I wouldn't go bashing them about it. It's not like they are flippers trying to get the most bang for their buck. They are trying something new. They aren't anxious to sell. They don't NEED to sell.

I don't know their reason for listing private over Realtor and I don't care. I have some best friends who are Realtors. I've nothing against them. This is their choice.

I also want to say that I have no idea what market value for their house and property is and whatever I've said is personal assumption.

I have been asked to shoot photos, videos and create a website, and try to get the word out.

Have you questioned whether Realtors list a house price, in this market today, at a price to sell because the market is slow, not what it's worth? Contrary to what private sellers go after, especially ones that can wait a year or more?

After all, Realtors make money from sales, not from listings. Maybe that is why they choose not to bicker and "negotiate" from the listed price. Sooner or later someone will pay what they are looking for.

[dasmo]

Web site with great photos is a good thing. Yours is that. Still a price is key. I'm curious what they will list it for. Better have lots of 8's in the price I guess...

[VicHockeyFan]

Well we all agree it's a good-looking site, VDV, so again, nice work there.

[Mike K.]

Yup.

That being said the price of anything is merely an opinion. Land assessments, the value of nearby homes, etc, are irrelevant. Buyers offer what they feel is a reasonable price and sellers who are unwilling to negotiate have every right not to but buying and selling is based on negotiating. Remove the element of negotiation and lots of potential (and qualified) buyers will walk.

[vandervalk]

15 years ago the acreages you speak of were attainable by a much larger portion of "locals" than you might think. It is sheer luck that so many properties rose as high as they did as quickly as they did throughout the last decade and all of a sudden Otter Point/rural Sooke/Shirley waterfront homes are for the upper crust?

BC Assessment values the home at $1.3 million. Adjacent properties are $0.94 million and $1.02 million. And when new assessments come out in 2013 I am certain the values will drop. Homes at these prices sell every day throughout the capital and I do not understand why the sellers believe locals need not apply. I return to my feeling that it is pompous to list a home for sale without a price and particularly so if the sellers are of the opinion that their home is more suited to wealthy Asians than us lowly "locals".

15 years ago homes in general were more attainable by everyone, so no surprise there.

I didn't say that this area was the "upper crust"? No, I simply stated that there are many million dollar oceanfront homes along this highway, their home is no exception and certainly isn't a surprise.

And how can you assume they are off range with the price of their property if you haven't seen it, or know what it is? Are you assuming they are asking 2, 3, 4 million dollars?

Because they are not.

The fact that I mentioned the property in the same brush as "Asians" is that it is common knowledge that they have been buying property across BC for some time, specifically Vancouver and there have been some print articles out that suggest they are now turning their eye to the island. Again, just what I've read, I could be wrong.

You make it sound like they wouldn't sell to locals, which isn't the case. Marketing to the general area is a given and it will happen. I was making reference to additional, specialized marketing areas and ones they are also targeting. Just because I didn't suggest "locals", doesn't mean it wasn't applied. They'd be silly to ONLY target across seas. As you said yourself, the house price isn't 10's of millions, it IS obtainable by locals and the marketing will reflect that.

You seem to have your panties all bunched up over the pricing, or lack of pricing on the website. It was an initial suggestion or idea to start, the website hasn't even been finalized yet with more images being put on before we call it finished. Actually, I haven't even begun to market the property and this is the first place that the website address has been put on display, so consider it a preview.

So I/we were wrong about this idea of leaving off the price and that clearly it is the wrong way of thinking. Since most everyone here was kind enough to give me advice and their opinion about that in a civilized manner, I will be talking to the owner when they get back from the holidays and displaying it on the website for all to see.

You're also barking up the wrong tree. I'm in marketing/advertising, not a real estate agent, so whatever your anger at towards private sales may be or real estate in general, I couldn't care less.

I simply design nice ****, help the client the best I can and move on to the next job. I certainly do NOT give them real estate advice, pricing or guidance because I have none, but I know how to take a photo and video and design a website that puts a package together.

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and I hope that the New Year brings you continued happiness and joy.

[Mike K.]

I think some buyers in this market are getting frustrated that some sellers can't see the market for what it is and are attempting to sell their homes as though it's 2008 and not the eve of 2013. The latter is likely leading to some angst among potential buyers who are concerned that the market may continue to slip and they'll immediately find themselves with a home valued below the price they just paid, and that sellers are not receptive to this (fair, I might add) concern.

So, lesson learned here for us all. List the price, whatever it may be, and give potential buyers some sense of value no matter who your target buyer may be Unless of course you're selling a $100-million home in which case it is in fact taboo to openly discuss the price and you'll be advised to value the home as "in the range of $100-million."

[MarkoJ]

I think some buyers in this market are getting frustrated that some sellers can't see the market for what it is and are attempting to sell their homes as though it's 2008 and not the eve of 2013. The latter is likely leading to some angst among potential buyers who are concerned that the market may continue to slip and they'll immediately find themselves with a home valued below the price they just paid, and that sellers are not receptive to this (fair, I might add) concern.

So, lesson learned here for us all. List the price, whatever it may be, and give potential buyers some sense of value no matter who your target buyer may be Unless of course you're selling a $100-million home in which case it is in fact taboo to openly discuss the price and you'll be advised to value the home as "in the range of $100-million."

+1

The approach of "if they like the home they can make an offer" doesn't work to well.

Hypothetically, in this market if you have 5 comparable homes listed at 499k, 509k, 519k, 529k, and 539k the buyer is unlikely to offer on the 539k home even if they like it slightly better. They will low ball the 499k home first. The odds in the buyer’s eyes are that the likelihood of the 499k home accepting 460k is higher than 539k home accepting 460k.

And yes, most sellers are still stuck in 2008 which makes my job difficult.

[Bernard]

+1

The approach of "if they like the home they can make an offer" doesn't work to well.

Hypothetically, in this market if you have 5 comparable homes listed at 499k, 509k, 519k, 529k, and 539k the buyer is unlikely to offer on the 539k home even if they like it slightly better. They will low ball the 499k home first. The odds in the buyer’s eyes are that the likelihood of the 499k home accepting 460k is higher than 539k home accepting 460k.

And yes, most sellers are still stuck in 2008 which makes my job difficult.

As a realtor, why not talk to your clients and tell them that in this market offering a low price will work. Why not offer $400k for all three of the ones you mentioned? After all it is a negotiation and some of the buyers have to sell so will take very low offers.

[MarkoJ]

As a realtor, why not talk to your clients and tell them that in this market offering a low price will work. Why not offer $400k for all three of the ones you mentioned? After all it is a negotiation and some of the buyers have to sell so will take very low offers.

Because it doesn't work. Typically, those who have to sell price their home well or drop their price accordingly.

Let me give you an example,

If we take the core areas (Victoria, Victoria West, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Saanich East, Saanich West) and exclude tear downs (below 400k) and exclude high end properties (above 900k) we end up with 1339 sold single family home for 2012 (a very poor market).

Stats for above (400-900k, SFH, core).

Original Asking: $618,446
Price List: $606,427
Price Sold: $590,413

Original asking is much higher in reality as a lot of properties get re-listed multiple times and the stats only reflect the current listing.

The moral of the story is sellers usually don't take a massive cut off current list price even in poor markets. If they are priced at $539k they won't accept 400k unless there are special circumstances. What the seller will do is probably re-list at 499k, then re-list at 449k, then during that listing drop to 429k and it will sell for 415k.

Buyers make their offer on the best value they see....going around offering sellers 15% off asking doesn't work; however, it may work on properties in the middle of nowhere, high-end, or tear downs.