Patricia Kennedy
By Patricia Kennedy
Last week, I found myself packing for the most amazing vacation I’ve taken in years, maybe ever: three weeks on the beaches of Maui with a man who makes my heart skip beats every time I look at him, and a convertible. As I was packing, it occurred to me how Type-A I have become over the last few years. I mean, look at the stuff I brought:
- Strappy sandals – check
- Bathing suits – check
- SPF 50 sunscreen – check
- Shorts and t-shirts – check
- MacBook Air (with contract writing software) – check
- Kindle – check
- iPhone – check
- Digital cameras – check
- Snorkeling equipment – check
- Battery packs and chargers for items 5 through 8 above – check
With all of these miracles of modern technology, I can be away and still be connected to my clients.
But wait. This picture is out of focus!
So often, real estate practitioners try to get away to recharge and refresh, only to make themselves crazy by trying not to lose a single deal while they are away. So, why even bother to take the trip?
Before I left, I decided that this trip would be different. I called all of my clients to let them know I’d be gone, and that a trusted colleague was on call to cover any real estate emergency that might arise. And guess what? Most of them were headed out of town as well!
I will be checking my e-mail a couple of times a day and answering my phone when it rings — on the iPhone in the convertible. But by and large, I’ve been able to disconnect temporarily from my Washington, D.C. real estate practice. And I am really fortunate to have two highly professional colleagues watching out for me.
And, of course, it’s much easier knowing that Mother Nature dumped a couple of feet of snow on my market area, thereby diminishing any desire any of my clients might have to go look at property!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the gorgeous beaches of Maui!
Patricia Kennedy is an associate broker with Evers & Company Real Estate.Visit Pat’s blog: www.housepat.activerain.com.
By Patricia Kennedy
Patricia Kennedy
How do you market a house that’s beyond awful?
You price it right.
But it’s more important to lower the expectations of colleagues and buyers – and to do it in a way that still gets them in the door and makes them laugh.
In one of Washington, D.C.’s worst ever markets, some dear friends called. Both architects, they had purchased an old fixer-upper in Dupont Circle, a chic and trendy D.C. neighborhood. But instead of fixing it up, they moved to Ireland and rented to a bunch of graduate students at a prestigious nearby university. Now they wanted to sell, and they didn’t have cash to invest in preparing it for the market.
After our conversation, I went by to take a look at this wonderful wreck, and I was pretty appalled. The future diplomats who lived there had trashed the place – beer cans, pizza boxes, and large bags of Goat Chow for the house mascot.
It looked awful. It smelled worse. Still, I took the listing, against my better judgment.
In the MLS information, my marketing materials and the Washington Post ad, I wrote:
Abominable Condition: 4-level Dupont Circle bay front Victorian has seen too many toga parties.
Then I added the price and open house information.
I had a mob scene, and three offers. The people who came in couldn’t believe that a real estate agent would write this kind of ad. They had to see for themselves.
If I’d accentuated the positive – the great architectural details (at least the ones the goat hadn’t already eaten), the convenient location and the size of the property – people would have come by and walked out disappointed. By using humor to prepare them for the realities of this abused former beauty, I had much better luck.
Patricia Kennedy is an associate broker with Evers & Company Real Estate.Visit Pat’s blog: www.housepat.activerain.com.
Recent Comments