According to The Florida Times-Union, a statewide open house will be taking place on April 10-11, 2010, with the goal of getting more people to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit before the offer expires on April 30. Additionally, this promotion should spur sales for Realtors during this traditionally slow real estate month.
But we're not so worried about those Realtors as we are our Florida 'For Sale by Owner' flat fee MLS listing clients. While this event is being sponsored by the Florida Association of Realtors, there's no reason why our FSBO flat fee clients can't take advantage of this big event marketing push. Since would-be buyers are probably anticipating attending this massive event, you should plan to host your own open house on this date.
First and foremost, contact your flat fee listing broker, and inform them that you will be participating in the statewide open house, and give them the times you will have your home open for foot traffic. Give them as much notice as possible, as your broker will add this information to both your MLS listing AND on Realtor.com for maximum exposure.
Reportedly, blue balloons with the "R" Realtor logo will be used to mark open houses. Ask your broker if they have these balloons you can use, or if they are available for purchase. Or, if you are a straight-up 'For Sale by Owner' home seller, without our or another flat fee service, go out and purchase some blue balloons to use for this day.
We often tell our clients that open houses are more easily hosted by home sellers themselves versus a listing agent. Home sellers can point out their favorite aspects of their home, while a Realtor would not have this perspective. Home sellers should make sure to keep any personal details to a minimum, as in "Check out this backyard - it's fantastic for hosting bar-b-ques and summer events!" versus "We have wonderful memories of this backyard - this is where our son learned to catch a football, and where our dog had her first litter of puppies..."
If you want to host an open house, related to this massive statewide open house date or otherwise, make sure to have plenty of flyers ready for your visitors. Make sure your home smells fresh and clean: no pet odors, smoke odors or ethnic food odors allowed! (Ever tried to stomach the smell of garlic or curry at 9am?)
Your home should already be staged for selling. For staging tips, check out our Staging YouTube video.
Good luck selling your home! Get those fresh-baked cookies ready! If you're interested in selling your home by owner in Florida, see our Florida For Sale by Owner Homes page.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
New CREA Regulations - Too Little, Too Late
ForSalebyOwnerHomes.com operates within the United States of America, and does not have a broker network currently extending into Canada. But, we sure think it's interesting watching the Canadian flat fee MLS drama play out! From the sidelines, the similarities to our American DOJ vs. NAR fist fight are quite entertaining.
On Monday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) approved changes to their legislation that will allow a little more wiggle room for those organizations wishing to offer flat fee MLS listing services. Specifically, folks wanting to buy or sell their homes will have more power to handle some details of the transaction on their own.
With the new legislation approved and waiting to be implemented "as soon as it is reasonable at each local board", a client will be able to pay a real estate agent a flat fee to list their property on the MLS. Additionally, agents are required to provide the home seller's contact phone number to an interested buyer, if the seller opts to offer this information.
These changes were instigated when Canada's Competition Bureau launched an investigation against CREA, saying that the current system's requirement that all consumers listing within MLS must 'employ' an agent throughout the sales process leads to higher prices for consumers.
Even with this new legislation, the bureau says these changes don't go far enough because CREA can still change rules and create new restrictions on organizations or agents who try to offer innovative services. A Competition Tribunal will be held to further investigate the matter.
Tribunals aside, we're impressed with the aggressiveness of newly-appointed Competition Bureau Commissioner Melanie Aitken who has vowed to improve the bureau's record of going to bat against organizations accused of anti-competitive behavior.
All of this news sounds all too familiar to those of us here in America, backing the Department of Justice's fight against the National Association of Realtors (NAR). To read about the latest efforts by the DOJ in their battle with the traditional real estate industry, see the links available on our website.
Sigh. I'm brimming with frustration that this is even a battle. Organizations like CREA and NAR aren't preventing consumers from being harmed in anyway. Rather, they're battling the evolution of an industry. And preventing change for the better, just so you can make a few bucks, is wrong.
On Monday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) approved changes to their legislation that will allow a little more wiggle room for those organizations wishing to offer flat fee MLS listing services. Specifically, folks wanting to buy or sell their homes will have more power to handle some details of the transaction on their own.
With the new legislation approved and waiting to be implemented "as soon as it is reasonable at each local board", a client will be able to pay a real estate agent a flat fee to list their property on the MLS. Additionally, agents are required to provide the home seller's contact phone number to an interested buyer, if the seller opts to offer this information.
These changes were instigated when Canada's Competition Bureau launched an investigation against CREA, saying that the current system's requirement that all consumers listing within MLS must 'employ' an agent throughout the sales process leads to higher prices for consumers.
Even with this new legislation, the bureau says these changes don't go far enough because CREA can still change rules and create new restrictions on organizations or agents who try to offer innovative services. A Competition Tribunal will be held to further investigate the matter.
Tribunals aside, we're impressed with the aggressiveness of newly-appointed Competition Bureau Commissioner Melanie Aitken who has vowed to improve the bureau's record of going to bat against organizations accused of anti-competitive behavior.
All of this news sounds all too familiar to those of us here in America, backing the Department of Justice's fight against the National Association of Realtors (NAR). To read about the latest efforts by the DOJ in their battle with the traditional real estate industry, see the links available on our website.
Sigh. I'm brimming with frustration that this is even a battle. Organizations like CREA and NAR aren't preventing consumers from being harmed in anyway. Rather, they're battling the evolution of an industry. And preventing change for the better, just so you can make a few bucks, is wrong.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Market Your For Sale by Owner Home with Great Photos
The first in a series of 'FSBO Tip' videos, check out this Photo Tips for Your MLS Listing video. For more guidance on this subject, see our website - http://forsalebyownerhomes.com
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