Periodic tips and reminders to help focus your by-owner marketing and win your commission-free sale - from Canada’s by-owner web-site, www.privatelist.com.

THIS ISSUE:      Sales Tax Coming!   /   House Auctions  /  Re-Framing

ARCHIVES:     www.privatelist.com/newsletter.htm

SALES TAX COMING!

As of July 1/00, PrivateList will begin collecting the sales tax on all items listed on our price page, http://www.privatlist.com/cost.htm.

If you, or someone you know, have been thinking of displaying your property online through PrivateList, you can avoid the tax by enrolling with us prior to the end of this month.

HOUSE AUCTIONS

Ex-realtor John Kirby, in his 1997 book For Sale By Owner (Toronto, Uphill Publishing Ltd.), describes how in many parts of the world, including Britain and Australia, auctions are quite commonly used to market residential real estate.

The process typically involves three to four weeks of advertising and week-end open houses, with NO ASKING PRICE suggested. (This is central to auction psychology and explains why you would not attempt this approach immediately after a round of traditional marketing involving a published asking price).

On the allotted day, after a final open house of perhaps an hour, a professional auctioneer assembles the crowd on the front lawn, explains the rules of the game and calls for the opening bid. If he does his job and your reserve bid is exceeded, your house is SOLD! (Deposits and conveyancing are handled the usual way.)

Benefits of the auction approach include:

• the auction-day deadline both creates a sense of urgency among buyers and limits the amount of time and money you need spend on marketing;
   
• limited open houses (often just 45 minutes each on 3 or 4 weekend days prior to the auction) force prospects to view your house together, again heightening the sense of competition and saving you time;
   
• ads and open houses for auctions often generate greater interest than for a more traditional sale, and even the presence of tire-kickers can work to your advantage, given the psychology of the auction environment;
   
• the lack of an asking price and the potential for competing bids prompts prospective buyers to do their homework and determine fair market value for themselves;
   
• seriously interested prospects may even try to avoid competitive bids altogether by making you an offer prior to auction day;
   
• successful bids are submitted to you on standard offer-to-purchase forms, but without conditions - a winning offer constitutes a SALE;
   
• even in cases where the highest bid is insufficient, a door is opened (perhaps with several buyers): over the next few days, you may well be able to bridge the gap and achieve a sale.

Of course, there are COSTS involved as well. The auctioneer must be paid whether or not your house sells - but far less than a realtor! And your advertising, though short-term, must be widespread.

But for an attractive property in an attractive neighborhood, there may be no easier way to generate exceptional interest than to turn your sale into a public horse-race between competing egos . . . er . . . purchasers!

Particularly if you require a sale within a limited period of time, it may well be worth your while to dig out the yellow pages and contact a few auctioneers in your area.

RE-FRAMING

No, we’re not talking about home renovations, but about negotiating.

There’s a world of difference between buyers who feel that your house just isn’t worth your bottom line, and ones who admit the home’s worth but feel they simply can't afford to go that high.

To determine whether the latters’ fears are real (ie., they really can’t afford the house) or arbitrary, try re-framing the issue.

Is an extra five thousand dollars, for example, all that stands in the way of a sale? Borrowed over 20 years at 9%, that sum means an increase in housing costs of only $9.55 per week! So ask your buyers: "If it means making this house your home, can you find an extra $9.55 per week?"

Of course, this cuts both ways. Your response, if the logic is thrown back at you, might be "We feel the value is here and that someone will pay for it . . . " But ask yourself first if you’re prepared to lose a sale NOW over that same $9.55 . . .

FRIENDLY REMINDERS . . .

It's important to maintain an active marketing focus until your property is sold. Just an hour every week-end, spent reviewing progress to date and mapping out a response, can pay real dividends.

Therefore, each e-mail version of PrivateList PROACTIVE ends with a series of reminders, and links to tips and tools for your on-going campaign.

To access these resources, press here.

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