Showings and Contracts; Is one Dependent on the Other?

Getting traffic into your Athens, GA home for sale. That is the end all. At least they tell me it is the end all. Okay, okay, I know I am a Gen X'r and a Contrarian, but while I do agree we need showings, I still hold fast to the concept that the technology we have today does weed out and therefore reduce physical showings. This is okay. I mean, you don't want 47 people to walk through your house creating foot patterns in the carpet and also requiring you to possibly have to clean it each and every time there is a showing lined up when a handful of showings can just as well do the trick thereby creating a sought after Contract.

Examining showings on a few of the home listings that I have had recently go under contract or sell, this is my finding;

		Showings	Days on
Location		90 Days	Market
Sunset Drive		18	103
Brookstone Drive		6	137
Sterling Drive		48	269
Averages		24	169

So a few questions arise.

1. Do the number of physical showings (i.e. walking potential buyers through the front door) cause the house to have a higher probability to be sold as compared to the next home?
2. Does location weigh into whether or not a particular house is sold more quickly than another?
3. Does price factor more heavily than other variables in getting a house sold? Does price if it is too high also possibly reduce the number of showings as well as create a prohibitive environment reducing our opportunities for contracts of sale?

The answer to these questions are "no, yes," and "definitely yes."

What is almost humorous to me, forgive me if I make myself chuckle in my analytical geekness, is the fact that I did not include the sales price of any of these homes. What you might find interesting is that the home with the most showings was the least in price of the three sales. It's also quite surprising that it had the longest days on market. Why? It missed on location, the neighborhood had too much competitive inventory on the market for sale, and was vacant which hurt it compared to other homes which were furnished or staged.

The property with the least showings in Brookstone sold for 98 percent of list price, and sold at a relatively low number of days on the market. Why was this the case? It had great location for the buyer. There was also fewer comparable properties on the market for sale in this subdivision. The Sunset Drive property was the most expensive of these listings and sold in the fewest number of days on the market. This was a result of location, location, and location.

In the end, none of these sold as a result of a great number of showings where real estate professionals dragged people through these homes. None of them even had, are you sitting down, a single "Open House." They sold because of hundreds and hundreds of views online, they were priced right, and they had good location.

I know these are only three sales in my example, but I could throw you another that sold in 44 days on the market, was priced at $239,900, and had but 2 showings. Again, it sold due to location and price for the area.

Keep this in mind if you are in the process of selling your home or are thinking about it. Through keeping the "masses" off your carpet, hardwoods, and rugs, you will have less to have professionally cleaned for your buyer when it does go under contract!

Words not to use when Advertising your Home

Got a PDF today regarding words that you are not supposed to use per the following remarks from our MLS. The local board stated, "Attached are the list of words that you are not allowed to use according to HUD. It has come to the MLS board's attention that many agents across the board are in violation with their listings and especially public remarks shown on pictures. Please police your own listings to make sure you are in compliance."

Wow! Made me afraid. What could it be that people are saying or words they are using to send an email out to every local real estate professional?!?!

Some of it is real. For example you can't use terms that discuss ethnicity, nationality, or religious institutions in a given area near a home for sale. Even if it is near the "Baptist Church," you can't "say" that or risk offending HUD. In the "BIBLE belt" it can be pretty difficult to omit every church that might be nearby a home you happen to be selling.

What I thought was funny however were a few of the terms you CANNOT USE! One in particular struck me as funny. The term is "Anglo Saxon." Just WOW! I never would have thought of that one. Frankly, if you are Welsh or Irish you might be offended, but who in this country and in this day and time (especially with our educational system) would know or care what an Anglo-Saxon was anyway? Who would use that term to describe a home? I can see it now;

"Beautiful 3 bedroom/2 bath for the Anglo Saxon in you!"

It is kind of a Jeff Foxworthy(ism) that says, "If they put it in the list of words not to use, then some dang fool used it."

Terms that you MIGHT USE, which means they may violate the rules still, are words like "fisherman's retreat." Yes, you read me right. This term "may" violate the law. We don't want any fish getting offended and we also don't want to be providing an unfair advantage to the fish!

Another that I know you have seen is the term, "handyman's dream." You can say "fixer-upper," but again, we don't want to have people assuming we only sell to "handymen." If you want to use it, beware! If you want to use the word Catholic or Mormon in your advertising you had also better think about it, but according to the rules please state proudly in your advertisement the word "EASTER BUNNY!" It is actually in the list of okay phrases. Again, who would use this term in an advertisement to sell a house?

We MAY NOT say Christian, but we can say "Happy Easter" and "Merry Christmas." Also, don't even dream of using the word "Empty Nesters." The word "traditional" might violate the law if you use it, and while our own Association has changed "Master" Suite or bedroom to "Owner's Suite," HUD says that Master Bedroom is perfectly fine to use. No worries, you won't offend anyone so says our government!

The words "must comply with park rules" and "newly-weds" are potential no-no's, and while you can't use the term Jewish, you can specify that "kosher meals available" with confidence. Now how does that make any sense?

In the end, feel good because "nanny's room" is okay to use with no one need be ashamed!