Why don't HP'ers get invited to these swanky brokers parties with the free wine and cheese? I think we'd have a lot to add to the conversation (he he he). Combine hungry and desperate realtors with nothing but time on their hands and you're probably getting record attendance at these things around the US.
Intellectual conversation? I think not. Probably a lot of grunting and moaning and talk of Lexus payments and the latest Botox news.
The chandelier glitters over the gleaming dining room table, where cheese trays are garnished with jolly bunches of red and green grapes. Laughter tinkles from the kitchen, where there's a jam-up at the granite service counter lined with bottles of wine and Perrier.
The revival of brokers' opens means a steady supply of nibbles for interested agents. Other inducements include T-shirts, champagne and drawings for gift certificates.
In a market gone soft, with a glut of property available, agents are dusting off sometimes rusty marketing skills, honing new ones and making sure the word gets out to their peers.
The response was just what Milanese hoped for: "It's the busiest brokers' open I've ever had," he said. Agents from five different companies showed up, several with clients in tow, and the house hadn't even officially hit the market. There were no other opens in the area that evening, which helped attendance, as did the curiosity factor.
Although the property is still unsold several weeks after the bash, Milanese is pleased with the response. "It's being shown a lot," he stressed. "That there are no offers yet is not a surprise."
December 17, 2006
Must've been the free cheese: "It's the busiest brokers' open I've ever had,"
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13 comments:
Yea, may I state the obvious. The Realtwhores can not afford dinner and drinks. No buyers. No commission. No money.
Na! Velveeta melted on crackers..nothing to see here move on folks!!
They'll try beer and hookers at the next Broker party since there still won't be any sales.
Just drop the damn prices!
"That there are no offers yet is not a surprise." No kidding.
Wine and cheese and glittering chandeliers is just more lipstick on the pig. It's still a pig. Price the house so the buyers can afford it.
You know, it occurred to me that there may not actually be that many bubble-sitters who have the money saved up, are ready to buy but just want a better deal. We're not 'waiting' for prices to come down - we honestly can't afford the homes unless prices come down. Given the foreclosure rate, it appears that many buyers couldn't afford their homes either.
That would increase the certainty that this decline will continue. Especially when you consider how far outside any normal 'affordability index' home prices have gone.
The real story is realtor bribery - the 7% and 10% commissions (versus 3%) being offered to corruptable realtors to steer shills into overpriced homes
A lot of those bribes only kick in if the realtor presents the seller WITH A FULL PRICED OFFER. In other words, they have to con their client, who they have an ethical responsibility to, to make a full priced offer.
Yes, this should be illegal. No, it is not. Yes, it will be after the 2008 Congressional Hearings on the housing bubble and more media attention.
Until then, realtors have one responsibility and one only - to earn the biggest commission they can, and fu*k their clients
It's a sick world we live in today
Here's something interesting...
Of the information from his study, conducted between 1994 and 1997 of almost 60,000 closed residential transactions in Tarrant County, Texas, what surprised him most?
That homes with "motivated" sellers stayed on the market 15 percent longer than average and sold for 4 percent less. His theory: "They overpriced the house to start with and eventually had to lower it. That explains the length of time on the market and the lower sales price."
Does he have any advice for today's sellers?"Yes," he said. "Avoid the word 'motivated.'"
"Gorgeous" might be a good bet to keep this Los Angeles house from further discounts - "beautiful"
moves homes 15 percent faster, a new study shows.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ydo9f6
to earn the biggest commission they can, and fu*k their clients.
***********
So true, and I have see them ruin lives, with my own eyes. Wish I had said that myself, Keith.
"Other inducements include T-shirts, champagne, drawings for gift certificates and barf bags for the few "clients" in attendance.
Broker's opens are jokes. The agents hosting them just want to talk about meanlingness crap and think that their overpriced listing will sell because they gave other agents a free meal.
Yes, a lot of consumers have been screwed by agents, especially recently. As an agent, I fight an uphill battle daily gaining trust with new clients because of the negative stigma associated with agents in general. But I regularly tell clients who want to see listing that offer higher commission "no, it's a waste of time because the home doesn't fit your criteria". My name and rep are worth more than extra $10K or more I could possibly make over one deal.
There are still a few of us left out there that do care. It's the ones that don't that give us all a bad name. They should have their license yanked as easily as they got it (that's a whole new discussion in itself).
Well I used to work at wine auctions. We found that if we got our clientele drunk, they would bid irrationally. The amount spent on fine wine and champagne for bidders was nothing in comparison to what they spent. So any broker reading this- find a way to get your customer drunk, and get the to sign on the dotted line QUICK! Or get your seller to drop the price...
Realtors are sales reps who work on 100% commission. They will fuck over their clients in a heartbeat just like any other sales rep. Don't nee congressional hearings to find that out.
"Until then, realtors have one responsibility and one only - to earn the biggest commission they can, and fu*k their clients"
You miss the point that this was a Senators house? And that security concerns were going to be a factor in showings and open houses?
Not sure about the rest of the country, but where I am we brokers tours on Tuesdays. About a third do some kind of food, usually sandwiches, or something in a crockpot. We usually see about 8-10 houses on those days in about 3 hours.
@ Keith re: 7-10% commission sides. They don't have to be illegal, but they should be disclosed. All those wacky commissions come from builders as well.
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