You're about to discover the kiss of death when selling house. Every year, thousands of home sellers fall into this trap and they later regret it. It can (or may have already) cost tens of thousands and if you are a real estate investor that sells several properties in a year, it could cost your hundreds of thousands over a career. This applies to every home seller, the one who does one deal in a lifetime as well as the person who does a thousand sales. It can be avoided very easily but the difficulty with staying out of the trap is basic human psychology and our hard wired nature. Once you find out what this is, it could be a game changer for your real estate career and if you are a homeowner, could make a huge difference in your life. Here's the kiss of death when selling a house and how to avoid it...
I want to share with you a very important part of the process of selling a house, something that so many people make a mistake on. It's extremely costly. On one property alone, it can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. If you're a real estate investor and you do several deals, it could cost you even more, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a career.
You're also going to discover in this particular video, I'm particularly biased, opinionated, and passionate because it's decisions like this that have made my financial future but it also could have broken it. My livelihood is based on the idea that I am going to make money on my real estate transactions as well as now that I mentor and coach. My apprentices, when I split the profits with them, those deals have to close, so I've literally had to, in the real world, experience this lesson to be able to share it with you. I hope that this is going to save you money, reduce headaches and heartaches when you sell a house, whether you're just a home owner or you're a real estate investor.
What is This Kiss of Death?
What is it that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars that too many people overlook? It's this. It's sitting the property on the market for an extended period of time. That's it. That is the kiss of death. Now in the vernacular of a real estate MLS listing, it would be called Days on Market or the short version of that is DOM. Okay, so I'm going to take you inside this a little bit rather than just telling you what time it is, I'm going to show you how to build a watch here. I think it's critical because it's such an important lesson. I would argue that many of you would get done watching this video, you will think it's terrifically helpful, you may even share it with friends and family, but then in the real world, you may go out and still not apply this. I want to drive this home because it's so, so important.
Days on Market
By the way, I'm going to assume for this video, that you've probably watched a few of my other videos, such as How to Sell Any House Quickly, another one called The Biggest House Flipping Mistake. This one here, we're going to say on the market, this refers to whether you're on the MLS or even if you're an investor trying to flip it to another investor and it never gets on the MLS. The idea is that you have the property for sale on the market. Here's what happens: The more that this number goes up, so it goes from 7 days to 21 days, to 60 days, to 90 days, the less desirable, so I'm going to call it, the desirability goes down.
The Psychology of Persuasion
Now here's the psychological reason for that. Human beings are hardwired for certain, it's very interesting, Robert Cialdini, he wrote the book The Psychology of Persuasion. He identified a few of these. One of them being social proof.
Social proof
Have you ever looked at an article and seen fourteen hundred comments and a thousand Facebook likes and all sorts of other social shares, and you thought to yourself, "Hmm... This must be an interesting article. Look how many people have read it. Look how many people are commenting on this article." That's called Social Proof.
A Simpler Example
If you're walking through a city and someone goes "look there!" and looks up at the sky and some other people look up. You can't help but look up and see what's going on, right?
Pertaining to Real Estate
Social proof. We are hardwired to follow the crowd. Social proof can work in reverse as it pertains to selling a house. That is as the days on market goes up, what ends up happening is, the question becomes to a prospective buyer, they're going to ask their buyer's real estate agent, "How long was this put on the market?" If the agent says, "It's been on the market for a hundred and twenty days." What's that buyer going to think to themselves? What's going on? Social proof in reverse, isn't it? Why has nobody else bought this property? What's going on? This is another part of it too.
It creates kind of a domino effect because not only does it look poorly upon the house, that there's been a higher days on market, but also people are pre-dispositioned to do more to avoid paying than to gain pleasure. We can thank Tony Robbins for discovering that.
What That Means
In the housing world when you're trying to sell one, that they might be concerned that they're walking into a money pit, or they're going to get screwed, or in some they're going to miss something. They're more scared of making a bad decision than making the good decision to move into that home which could be a wonderful home, great backyard, two car garage. It may have everything they want, but the days on market is up there and that's lingering in the back of their minds. Does that make sense? If it doesn't make a lot of logical sense, it makes sense in the real world. Look, I've dealt with this stuff. I've been a part of over a thousand transactions. In fact, I've been using that statistic for awhile so maybe it's up to two thousand at this point. I haven't recalculated it in awhile.
CDOM
This right here is something I am so sensitive to. Either my own deals or also in the deal that I work on with my apprentices. I will ruminate on the decision of how I avoid this, that's what I'm going to talk about here in a moment, for sometimes up to a week because once that days on market starts to tick up, that is a real problem. For those of you who may be thinking, "Well how do I avoid this?" I'm going to go through some important steps in how you do that. Real quickly though, the way these MLS systems work especially, even if you maybe try to take it off the market and put it back on to kind of reset this ticker, now a days they have what's called a CDOM, Combined Days on Market. A lot of MLS's are cracking down on what we used to do if it didn't sell for awhile. We'd take it off and put it back on. There stopping us from doing that, so there you go.
How is This Happening?
What causes this on the market for an extended period of time? What causes this days on market? Here we go.
- Priced Too High
- If you see a property on the MLS for six months, for even a hundred and twenty days, I can assure you, I can guarantee you the reason why it hasn't sold
- maybe it's because of the paint color.
- Maybe it's because the garage.
- Maybe it's because the driveway's too steep.
- You know what the answer is? The price is too high.
- Because if the price is dropped low enough, people will overlook those blemishes.
- If you see a property on the MLS for six months, for even a hundred and twenty days, I can assure you, I can guarantee you the reason why it hasn't sold
If you don't believe, you can even see it in places like Detroit. They sell houses for a dollar. If you tried to sell your home tomorrow for a dollar, would it sell? Yes it would. It's ultimately a priced too high issue if it doesn't sell.
What Not To Do
What often times people, and I'm going to beg that you don't do this so listen carefully, they think to themselves the following logic:
I'll start high, see if anybody makes an offer, and then I'll drop the price.
I'm here to tell you that this right here is a terrible strategy. If you gotten away with it before, that's even worse, because now it's trained you that you can do it again. Do not do that. Terrible idea.
Here's Why:
When you start high, what that means is you ultimately run the risk of no one making an offer. If no one makes an offer, the days on market, the DOM goes up. The longer it goes up, the more difficult it is for you to reverse the problem. Even if you drop the price, the problem is that's still there, days on market, it still shows 90. Why hasn't anybody bought it?
More Problems
This doesn't go away. Here's the other problem, and I want you to be very critical of this.
The first week or two is the most powerful part of the listing.
That's when you're trying to sell a property, whether it's flipping it to other investors, whether it's a retail home that you've lived in for twenty years, when you're trying to sell that house, that first two weeks, that's the big zone right there. The house is the new kid on the block, so there's no reason to think that there's anything wrong with it because it hasn't been on the market for very long. This first two weeks is critical. This is where the houses get sold. The majority of properties that I sell or my apprentices sell that I'm a part of transactionally, we sell in the first two weeks. Why? Because we start low.
Starting Low
You start the listing where it needs to go out at. Where you want to sell it at. If you start high, you run this risk. If you start low, you know, what if you started too low? Well guess what? You'll get a multiple offer situation and the market will bring it back up in most cases. Typically you can't start too low but you can definitely start too high. Some other things, when you put a property in the MLS, it's going to propagate to places like Trulia, Zillow, Hot Pads, and all those other places on the web. People look at those places, but there it's going to get distributed at what you priced it to begin with. What did you begin the offering at? If you start it high, even if you drop the price, it doesn't mean that the MLS is going to update Zillow or Trulia. It may not. You start at the price you need to start at so you can sell.
Figuring Out How To Price
Like I said earlier, I will spend a lot of time ruminating over this subject right here. I'll spend a lot of time trying to figure what this thing should be listed at because it makes such a big difference. That's not something that I can share in this video because it's too complicated. You can take into account the appraisals. You can take into the account the closed comps. Take into account the active. There's so many different variables. You've got to study this stuff. I've spent a lot of time with my apprentices and coaches just working with this particular piece because it's so important. What does it need to be priced at? Where does it need to start at?
Example
I've got a ton of stories on this. I'll do a quick one on this item. Someone I know put their property up for sale and they had it priced a little bit too high. The person actually had contacted me to ask me what I thought. Not one of my students, acquaintance of mine. I told them, "Look, you need to drop the price and just get this thing sold." He goes, "Yeah, but I don't want to give it away. You know Phil, I don't want to take a bath on this." I said, "You're not. This is how real estate works. You have to build in a little bit of factor of margin for the fact that you have to give the buyer what the buyer feels is a deal."
That's part of this. I'm not changing an entire marketplace here. I'm not asking you to tell seven thousand homes below market. For your one house or your one house per month kind of numbers, you sell just a little bit below everybody else, you'll sell it faster. I was telling him this, and he was like, "Yeah, I really want to do this." Long story short, this was right at the top of the market. The market collapsed, as we know, this was several years ago. He made empty house payments on that house for five years, on a four hundred thousand dollar loan. Five years of empty house payments on a four hundred thousand dollar loan. The market eventually came back and he sold it.
You Have to Price it Right
Do you know how much money he lost? He actually had to sell it for less five years later. That is so common. I can't tell you how often people start high and then they drop the price and they still don't sell. Meanwhile, they have the holding cost, the utilities, the monthly payments. Could be the headaches and heartaches because you have to move or something. You've got to price it right right out of the gate. If you have a real estate agent telling you, "You've got plenty of time. Let's start high. We'll get low." That is kiss of death. Sitting that thing on the market is terrible idea. That person did eventually sell their house but unfortunately it probably calculated, I don't know, maybe they lost $50,000. It was huge number. They didn't want to do a short sell, that's why they just didn't turn it loose and give the keys back to the bank. They wanted to keep their credit good.
You start low or at least at the price you want to get rid of the property at.
That make sense? Okay, great. All right so, what I'm about to share with you, I'm also just so passionate about. I can't wait to share it with you because I think it's going to be a game changer especially if you're a real estate investor. All right so assuming you have it priced correctly, it is certainly possible that somebody is going to come along, make an offer, and it's going to be lower than even the low price you had it listed at. This is something I want you to write down, put it on your office wall. I want you to have this everywhere, right on the tablet of your heart, so that you never forget what I'm about to share with you.
Your First Offerer is Usually Your Best
Your first offerer is usually your best. I don't know completely why this is the case, but I can prove to you over years and years and years of doing this, they're almost always, almost without exception is the rule, the only big exception to this rule is going to be what I share with you in that video Biggest House Flipping Mistake, which is where I talk about if you don't get non-refundable, earnest money, if you don't verify the person can get a loan. Again, assuming the offerer has the ability to buy the property, they financially can do it, they're usually your best one to work with.
Notice I Didn't Say Offer
I didn't say the first offer they make. I said the first person that makes an offer. You may have to do a little bit of countering back and forth. Maybe the price has to up a little bit because usually the first offer they make is usually a little bit lower than what they're willing to go with. Maybe you need to adjust the term, such as getting non-refundable earnest money. If you're doing a flip, maybe you want them to close with your title company. There's certain things you may want to massage with the offer that you want to work with first offerer.
Example
I have so many stories on this one. An acquaintance of mine again, they bought this property when the market was actually booming. What they did was, they bought it from a builder who just needed to get it off his inventory because he had gotten like an $80,000 deposit to build a custom home. The custom home got built and then the buyers backed out and lost their $80,000. The builder was willing to kind of get rid of it on a dime. Sell it a lot cheaper. Sold it to my acquaintance for $205,000 plus closing costs, call it $210,000. Now when they looked at the comparable sales and they did all their statistics and they got an appraisal, they thought it could definitely sell for $280,000. They get it on the market. Their first offerer comes by with an offer, all cash, $250,000. What do you do? This came in within one day. I'll tell you what they did.
They thought to themselves, "Geeze, we've got an all cash offer of $250,000 on the first day. Boy, if we leave this out here quite awhile, wait it out, we'll probably get a lot more." Some of you have made that decision in your mind before, haven't you? Long story short, they turned this offer down because he would not go above $250,000. He was a legitimate, bonafide buyer, he was paying all cash. They turned him away. They sold the home for $180,000 in the end. True story, and I know these people. They're very good people. They made a big, big mistake. Don't make that mistake.
A Second Example
I have another example where someone that I know had put a property on the market for $200,000 because he thought the comps supported that. He didn't do his comps research as well as he probably should have, but either way he put it on the market for $200,000 and he dropped it to $180,000 pretty quickly and he got an offer at $154,000. He thought that's way too low. He's got it listed at $150,000 right now and doesn't have an offer again.
Why It is Usually Best
Your first offerer is usually your best. Why? Well, I think, again I don't know all the reasons, but here are a few:
- Some People are Waiting For a Certain Property to Come on the Market.
They have like a little mechanism set up with their real estate agent that when something hit their parameters, they get an e-mail of it.
So often, like the house I just sold about a few weeks ago, they were waiting for a home in that subdivision and as soon as it came up, boom, they made the offer. What did I do? I said yes. I didn't wait. I said yes. Some people are just sitting there waiting for a property to hit the market that first the parameters of the one you're trying to sell. That's one of the reasons why your first offer is your best one.
2. As the Days on Market Go Up, it Becomes Less Desirable
That's that kiss of death we're talking about. Your first offer is usually your best one. If you stick to this rule, you will be so much wealthier as a real estate investor and as a home owner, you will be able to move.
Walking Away
Does it mean you may walk away from some profits? It sure does. That is absolutely possible, but your bigger risk is a higher days on market. That it is that somehow your first offer was such a low ball offer. Again, that could be the case too. Going back to that video Your Biggest House Flipping Mistake, you have to verify that this offer is for real. I mean, some people will make an all cash offer because it's all the money they got. Then you can decide, do you want to do like a first mortgage, seller held, you know, piece of the puzzle? Maybe they bring $250,000 cash and then you carry back $30,000. No, you know. Buyer might not agree to that.
- The point is work with your first offerer
- Treat them like they are royalty.
- This maybe the only offer you get. So many times I've seen this happen. It is so common.
Don't Be Stingy
Like I said earlier in the video, it is entirely possible that you could hear what I'm saying, shake your head and say, "You know Phil, this is fantastic. I'm so glad you shared this with me." Then you go out in the real world and then you fall prey to this. It means that you can't be greedy. You've got to remove greed from the equation, okay? When you get that first offerer, work with them, assuming they're bonafide.
What if they make a low ball offer?
Ask them to support it. Ask them to tell you why the number is what it was. They may teach you something. You may have not evaluated a property as well as you should have. You may not know the rest of the market as well as they do, because they've been looking. They see everything that goes on the market. You may have missed some things.
Do Your Homework
It also means that you need to spend a lot of time ruminating over what your opening price needs to be. If you're not a licensed real estate agent or you don't have access to the MLS through a licensed real estate agent, that puts you at a huge disadvantage. If you're a homeowner watching this, I do have a great video called MLS Access for Investors. You may want to check that out to figure out how you can get access to the real deal comps, so you can do your own analysis.
Real Estate Agents
Look, I'm not going to say anything negative about all the real estate agents that are out there working hard to help their clients, but I will say this, they have a different motivation somewhat than you do. A listing agent is going to get three percent. If it sells in the first week or not, they're going to be okay. If it takes three months and the days on market go up and you have to drop the price considerably lower than you should have to create the desirability, than they don't lost all that much. Three percent of a hundred thousand is three thousand. Three percent of ninety thousand, well it's a little bit less but not a whole lot less. Again, I'm not saying anything about real estate agents, I'm just telling you human psychology, you as the real estate owner, you have to help make a very informed decision here.
That also mean, and I'm going to side with the agents here, many agents understand this rule. Sometimes they try to convince their clients, "Say yes. Say yes," and their client goes, "Well, you don't care. You're just an agent. You know, it's me that's losing the $30,000, as opposed to selling it for $280,000, I'm trying to sell this thing for $250,000." The agent might be telling your absolute wisdom. Your first offerer is usually your best. If it's a little bit low, try to counteroffer with them, you can also ask them to prove. These lessons right here, I really hope this is going to make a huge impact in your bottom line.
A.wagner says
I am a 1st time home buyer. I been hunting for a home,not searching, if that makes sense nowadays. My biggest issue is knowing what to offer that can win a bid but not burn myself. My biggest offer was 65k over the asking price. I do know it is a sellers market at this time. But it is difficult trying to price out what is financially safe for my family especially in a decent neighborhood with decent schools . I feel as if I should give up and go rent..I truly do not want to. I just feel like I’m not gonna get my money’s worth with the way things are today. I do get told I should go high on a bid especially when the home hits all the criteria. Some homes have a rental within and could help to make it comfortable. I feel it’s so ridiculous to offer way over the asking price then be told “if the home doesn’t appraise above how much am I willing to pay under the table “. That puts me in a very uncomfortable position. Maybe I should step back and save more money . I’m just in a very stressful position. I ask my loaner for numbers before I make a offer to build up the confidence to make such offers. I barely get feedback in a timely manner to do so.. I am such a nervous nube. My agent is also showing me homes over my manageable price but at the same time my wife is looking in good school rated areas in long Island. I can’t move out into NJ or PA due to restrictions with my job. So I am stuck . I think I am just venting. Its only been 1 month and I go look every weekend & seen about 70 properties. Another thing is even with bidding I don’t understand why selling agent can’t say the highest bid details so I know I can go higher or not .which would be great . I would then know if I could afford to go up . Still if the appraisal is not in my favor then here we go with the how much under the table question again … can’t wait for this pandemic to pass and go back to normal. I wish everyone to be safe and in great health…
Holly says
DOM, does this count when there is a pending offer? Had our house on market for 3 days, 13 showings, took first offer for thousand less than asking price with one or two near future offers in the works. Appraiser came in incredibly below even though recent appraisals matched our asking price. Buyers can’t make up difference, now we have to go back on after 3 weeks in pending. Does MLS count that differently since you can’t show when contract is pending?
Freedom Mentor says
The only way to reset DOM (Days On Market) is to pull the listing from the MLS and relist the property.
Simon says
Hello Phil, does the kiss of death rule still apply in it’s entirety when the market demand is in a strong trend/phase? Supply and demand could possibly overwrite this rule to some degree. Thoughts?
Phil Pustejovsky says
It applies on individual properties; not on macro economic trends.
Randy Hilman says
Hi Phil,
This video is dead on. DOM is the kiss of death in real estate sales. Thanks for giving your fans, including me, the honest-to-God skinny with regard to real estate investments, practices analytics and sales.
Jared Lang says
Phil, thanks for the tips. I love your videos. This makes so much sense. It is easy to be greedy, but selling lower would be a great win, win, win for everyone.
Calvin Marlow says
I paid 270,000 for my current home just purchased January 2017. Location Tacoma, Washington 98445.
Zillow had it apprised at 253,000.
My thinking is that I overpaid.
It is a VA, with zero down. I am thinking about selling in two years. Any comments is appreciated. Thanks
Phil Pustejovsky says
You probably won’t be able to sell for many years because it sounds like you have absolutely no equity and perhaps you are even upside down. My advice is to get used to that home…you’ll be there a while
Laurie says
Phil, Thanks so much for sharing what you know! You probably saved us so much more than we can imagine right now. We’re learning everything we can about this real estate industry and the more we learn, the more excited we get.
jimmy says
Excellent no fluff info. Enjoyed it and stayed awake. Will share.
David Wood says
Thanks Phil. A true heart of a teacher. You should be called “Dr. Phil.”
Marie says
Wise man.
Harold says
Thanks Phil for your words of wisdom and true inspiration. In regards to properly listing the property (ie. start low rather than too high); would this still be a consideration in a hot selling market such as Vancouver, BC?
Larry says
Thanks again Phil. Good advance. My broker told me the second day on the job your first offer is the best. I have stuck with that ever since.
Ninja says
I am about to sell my home. Man it is a good lesson, Thank you
Lawrence says
Very Good wisdom Phil. I will take whatever advice u give and apply it 2 my life to make my living situation much better
Steve Qualls says
Phil, this is perfect timing for me. I’m new to investing and have read your book and been following emails and videos. I’m about 2 weeks away from completion on my first rehab and flip. So this advice is huge as it will be on the market in 2 – 3 weeks.
Jeff Williams says
This is wonderful news . I’m a newbie and about to start. Love it Phill!
WilliamNancolas says
Awesome wise info on the selling as a beginer i look at properties that have been on the market or forclosure for a long time, thinking these would be the best to low ball.
Daphne says
It happened to us 5 years ago our property listed 1.200 m then goes down 900k then down to 880k nothing until it was in foreclosure. Since then leave in a 2 bedroom apartment up to now. Trying to ask help of how we can avail another property
before my husband retire.
Amy says
Well, I put my house on the market and wish I had seen this first. I priced it high to feel out the market, plus I was not ready to sell due to getting a sub-division of the land. I have lowered it once, it has now been 3 months on the market and is still priced at top price. I wish my agent had explained this to me. So, what should I do to sell the house at this point now? I should be dub divided in 3 weeks and have my new home plans almost in place to build.
What are your suggestions. Thanks
Phil Pustejovsky says
Remove from the MLS and then put it back on at the lower price when you’re ready to sell.
Evgenii says
Awesome! I’ve asked my agent to forward this video to the seller, in case they refuse my offer (which would likely be the first after they lowered the price).
Hung says
I’m kissed all over. Had house appraised at $560k, listed at $549. Showroom perfect. 6 mos , 15 showings ,no offers. lowered to $525. Would you take off market for 90 days to reset the CDOM and relist in December at $525?
Phil Pustejovsky says
Definitely remove and try to get that CDOM reset. Hopefully that only takes about 7 days instead of 90 though.
Court R. says
Very enlightening; I’m new and never thought of this.
RONALD LEWIS says
HEY PHIL WHAT IS THAT WEBSITE FOR MLS COMPS,THANK YOU.
Phil Pustejovsky says
Every MLS is different so every website is different. And you have to be a licensed real estate agent to get access to it UNLESS you watch my video on MLS Access for Real Estate Investors to learn some alternate ways around it.
Juan Carlos Garcia says
Phil…your info is the real deal…thru your trainings I’ve already made over $100K in net profits this year alone and I started watching your videos 5 months ago. The biggest lesson is becoming a “Creative Investor”.
I live in South Florida and hope to take you to lunch one day (I’m sure you get a lot of invitations).
I will let you know once I reach 250k.
God bless you!
LaVonda says
Hi Phil, I am a new RE Agent in the central Virginia area. No I don’t take personal your feelings abt most agents (smile). My fiancé and I are ready to begin our RE investing careers and would love to be mentored by You and your team. We have followed you for quite a while now and have read your book. Looking forward to new Horizons.
Jerry Wolking says
Phil,
So well said . I ve been a real estate agent for over 23 years. negotiated hundreds of deals . The number one topic in taking a listing is the price. I cant tell you ho much I appreciate this video. This is strategy and advise right from my personal beliefs, experiences and advise. Starting high and then reducing does so much damage. Not only days on market, but once you start the price reduced game you are showing signs of bleeding to the public. In many many cases the home will sell for less than what it should have sold for earlier if you would have listed it properly . Desperation sets in, then becomes no more thought of profit but when do I cut the loss. Seen it so many times. In an nutshell , ” the closer you price to reality, the less you have to negotiate” and the quicker you get to closing. There is no such thing as a free house . even if its paid for. Taxes , insurance ,maintenance , utilities. loss of return on on the money laid out etc: I am sharing this video to the agents in my office that struggle with proper pricing. One of the best quotes I ever heard regarding pricing came from one of my investor clients ” pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered” Thank you Phil …. Good stuff!
Phil Pustejovsky says
Amen brother! And I had the “pigs get fed” quote in my notes to say in the video but somehow forgot in the recording. Thanks for your comment.
David says
Hi Phil,
I have been trying to become an investor for sometime now by asking seasoned investors to sort of take me by the hand and show me the ropes. They usually avoid me like the Black Plague . I don’t know if they are seeing me as competition or what. I have a family and can’t afford to “loose my shirt” while learning the business . What is your advice on getting started ?
Phil Pustejovsky says
You ARE competition! If you knocked on the door of the corporate headquarters of Coca Cola and asked them to show you the ropes on starting a soft drink company, what do you think they would do? I have an entire video on this subject: Giving Away Business Secrets
Karl S says
Hey Phil,
This advice was great.
Isabella says
I believed we priced our home low and got an offer after our first open house, it was way lower than what we wanted but accepted. it came off the market then on day 8 her financing collapsed. Then as soon as it went on the market received a full price offer and on day 10 same thing. Is there a way to prevent this to continue? We had preapproved letters from both buyers. So disappointed I am going to go watch more of your videos and keep watching my days on the market go up. I would love to get any advise from you on my property. I live in Florida too!
Phil Pustejovsky says
Of course there is a way. Definitely watch my video on the The Biggest House Flipping Mistake
Craig says
Phil,
I know this subject is about selling a home priced advantageously, but what about holding and renting a home? Does the same principle apply regarding asking the right rent amount, to keep Vacancy low? Would you get comparable rents and stay low or in the middle to be competitive or do you recommend something different?
Phil Pustejovsky says
It holds exactly to this rule. I always price my rentals slightly below market and then I never have to deal with long vacancy delays.
Pedro says
Hi Phil,
I use to own a property in Staten Island, NY, and it was in the market for 185 days. During that time I received several offers, all of them low balls. I was asking $385k, the person who bought the house first’s offer was $340k, then $360 and finally we agreed on $380k. My realtor was advising me from the beginning to sell for $340k and giving me a lot of reasons, some of which made sense. I knew all the time the house was priced right but every body is trying to buy at the lowest price possible. This was between Oct. 2012 and Apr. 2013, should I had follow your advise my loss would be $40k. Thanks for your advise, but sometimes it pays to be patient.
Pedro.
Phil Pustejovsky says
That’s te exception. Most of the time, it doesn’t work out that way. You defied the odds. Well done!
Alison says
Hi Pedro,
I sold a high price home in 2006 the first offer was 400K but I said no. Then the next offer was the same but in the end he paid the full asking price of 585K even though I only had 6 people view the house the 2nd offerer bought it. What is important is to find out why the person wants your house. If it is location you have more of a chance of getting the higher price.
Bao Tu says
Hi Phil,
Do you think that in the hot market like San Jose, CA, more better offers will come after the first offer. Should I always try to work with the first offeror even if he/she doesn’t want to increase the price?
Phil Pustejovsky says
Even in a hot market, however, if the first offeror low balls you, then you can feel more confident in your counter when you are in a rising market.
Osas dane says
Thanks Phil, this is very true. A neighbor of mine once listed his house for $620k, he got an offer for $608k almost immediately and he refused it. He ended up selling for $580k after 6 months on the mls, I am not quite sure if he had turned down the first offeror but after watching this video one can predict that is what happened.
Kristina says
Unfortunately I did not come across this video until just now! Out house has been on the market since April 13th! We had several showings but they were always quite staggered!
Our last showing was June 6th and since then we have had no showings at all! We also have not had any offers yet!
It’s been very slow with kids going back to school and people still on vacation!
Can you give us advice on what we can do at this point?
I feel like that kiss of death might be ment for our situation and it’s very disheartening!
Thanks,
Kristina
Phil Pustejovsky says
Take it off the MLS for a long enough period for it to clear out so it can be started as a brand new listing. In some MLS systems, if takes 7 days.
Mario Parlapiano says
Hello Phil, first just like say, I have been following, watching your videos, downloaded your book etc. since entering into realestate this year as a Realtor. In my opinion your one of the Best, Thank you!
I generally have to agree with Pricing it right and working with any first offer even low in order to sell the property as soon as possible. I sympathize with Kristina cause I am currently experiencing a similar situation selling a personal property. Had run comps, priced competitive, listed in May, had 32k below offer, reduced the price, waiting for another offer..ugh. I believe it is specific to your market as well as the situation of the homeowner. In regards to the taking it of the market or MLS I would have to say that even if you remove for 30 days wouldn’t it just be apparent cause you can just view the property history that is available on many websites these days? So in your opinion 2-3 months without an offer to long?
Phil Pustejovsky says
No, it’s more of an MLS system ruling on the length of time between when you pull it off and put it back on. You want the Combined Days on Market to reset to zero.
Tina M says
I wish you would not use such expression, “kiss of death.” And attorney who used such horrible expression has been victimizing me for over a year, trying to steal my settlement.
I sure don’t want anything to do with anyone that is mentioning such expression.
Tina
Phil Pustejovsky says
I am very sorry to hear that an attorney is trying to victimize you. That’s definitely the right word to describe what a good portion of the attorneys do out there, which is victimize. I believe it was Shakespeare who said, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the attorneys.” Seriously though, this is a good lesson for you to go through from a business standpoint. Lawyers do this, especially in real estate. You could use this experience to thicken your skin and develop the mental tools to combat this for the future. I’ve gone to battle with countless attorneys over the course of my career. There are only a handful of attorneys I like. Most are awful.
Sandy says
Phil, love your use of the expression “thicken your skin.”
Another awesome video from you! I Love watching and learning from your wisdom…wish I had this insight nine years ago when I sold my home up north. We passed on a quick offer below our asking price mainly because there was a contingency of the offeror selling their current home as well. In hindsight, we could have countered and waited a short while until their house sold, but instead turned it down. We made payments on an empty house through the winter arranging snow removal and heating so the pipes didn’t freeze. About eight or nine offer-less months later we finally received one and guess for how much? Wait for it……the same as the first initial offer. At that point we accepted, but not after making a lot of extra mortgage/property tax/homeowners Insurance payments and maintenance costs, and who knows, the first offeror may have accepted our counter offer for more money.
Sandy
sharlyn says
THANKS FOR THAT TIP THE KISS DEATH WHEN SELLING A HOUSE.
Rick Fonseca says
Great info Phil,
I will try not to let greed get in the way of making wise decisions. What you have said in this video makes so much sense to me and I appreciate you letting us know on what to watch out for so we don’t fall into this trap..
Thanks
Greg says
Very helpful and educational. This will be a part of my strategy for the rest of my life.
Thank you
Michelle says
Interesting thought
Chris Bean says
Great DOM video. Thanks for making it for us.
Edmilson Xavier says
Hi Phil,
good stuff!
I must say, that there is something different about what you present – something one cannot put a finger on. Well, I know what it is – not only have you spoken about it, but it shows on the way you present your material. Somehow I can relate to the this kind of faith that fuels your passion for real estate.
I am studying as much as I can about flipping and wholesale. Yeah…. I know… the real deal is not to keep learning, but to go out there and do deals. Perhaps, all need is to find a seller who is desperate to sell – then everything else will fall into place. Perhaps then I will find someone who can help me put the property on contract, funding to pay the deal and closing costs and be able to market and sell it for a few bucks more – and that way gain experience. I am in desperate need to find someone who can help me get started (fair credit, no money, well, beyond broke I should say). But I will keep believing that I will find the way to start and be successful. No matter how long it takes, I’ll keep believing and working hard to become a real estate entrepreneur. I know that somehow, I will.
Best,
Edmilson Xavier/New York City.
Hosea Smith says
Phil, it’s really a PLEASURE to learn from someone who is GOD FEARING and sound. It would be a Blessing to have you mentor me. I will keep studying until my time comes. Prosperity is nothing until you bring prosperity to someone else. This will be a GREAT JOURNEY with you at my side, Thanks Phil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hosea
John Clark says
You just made me a very wealthy man, yet again. Thank you.
G says
Phil:
I understand your comments about DOM & pricing, but would these same rules apply when the market is tanking either locally or nationally, as it did in 2008-20011? The national DOMs then were higher than they are in 2014 because nothing was selling, no matter how realistically priced. How would the selling strategy change to reduce DOM without losing on the property?
Phil Pustejovsky says
This video ABSOLUTELY applies to a completely tanking market. The way you avoid further loses in a declining market is start your opening list price low. Recall that my team and I made a killing flipping properties between 2008 and 2011. This is partly how we did that. We offered our properties slightly lower than the competition.
retta says
Phil, how do we correct the damage once it is done? My boyfriends house has been on the market nearly 9 months without 1 offer. The price has been dropped twice. Are there any options in his case that would improve the chances of selling. In not impressed with his realtor AT ALL.
Phil Pustejovsky says
Take it off the market and put it back on with a new real estate agent and a price that will allow the house to sell fast
Rose Pachura says
Very Good Job Phil! Good information when selling your own home.
valerio pettenuzzo says
Thank you for the advice,@ wisdom.
Andrew says
Sounds good.