More house questions

[reynardo]

We've discovered that all of the agents knew which was our property, and thus have decided to go with the ones that were honest enough to tell us that they knew. Their price is also equal to most of the others (the cheapest had expensive other items so would have made the difference up that way) and they didn't try to brush us off or send us massive chunks of glossy literature that said nothing. They also spellchecked and grammar checked their documents (one small apostrophe which we will allow them) which is much better than some of their rivals.

So - the question. They're offering various different types of publicity prior to the auction. I'm curious as to which would attract your interest, especially if you yourself have bought a property.

[Poll #1479269]

Comments

[moxie_man]

I spent two years looking for a house before settling on the "Squirrel's Nest". The real estate market in this area became very "hot" as I searched and my first real estate agent was not helpful in the least. By the time I'd get listings from him that met my parameters, half of them would already be under contract. The rest were "Needs TLC Specials" (i.e. petro, match and start over from the foundation). I found more places to look at searching on my own through the Internet. Places would go under contract before I could even look at'em. Then a month or so later, they'd be flipped back onto the market with a fresh coat of wall paint (and little other improvement) for double the original asking price.

My second agent was more of a go getter. She emailed me stuff that met my parameters as soon as said property came on the market. Actually, her realty had this nifty email program. It simply would send me notice whenever a new listing was posted that met my parameters. Even then, the market was so "hot" at the time that there were a few listings emailed to me that went under contract within hours of being listed!

The funny thing is, the "Squirrel's Nest" didn't meet one of those parameters. My minimum lot size was 0.15 acres (basically, room for the house, driveway and a small back yard). This place is 0.14 acres. So, how did I find it? I came across it by chance in a small 2 inch by 1 inch (5cm x 2.5cm) newspaper classified ad. After looking at it, it was close enough to what I was looking for as a first home.

Those glossy real estate magazines are nice to look at, but are only good if you're in no hurry to sell. It takes time for them to get the ad in there, printed and distributed.

So, I guess, what I'm trying to get at is: Use the new technology (Internet), but don't forget the old stand-by (newspaper). You never know.

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

I'll freely admit that I won't tick any of the paper things because I don't read them. I don't get any newspapers (except the Messenger, which doesn't count) - I do read the ads in the back of magazines such as Earth Garden, but they have the ads up on their website as well. Anything else that gets dropped in my mailbox gets composted or otherwise disposed of.

Having said that, various members of the family would tick the paper things :P

[sorscha.livejournal.com]

Random sidebar: not our balcony, nor anybody's we know, thankfully. We were in Esperance for my sister's hen's night in any case :)

Cool find on the "how we met" thingy! xx

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I'm responding according to how I would if I were actually looking for somewhere to live. Because generally-speaking, I don't really look at real estate listings.

I'd leave the suburban newspaper feature for a few weeks, at least, since I would guess that'd be the most expensive option.

And I can't emphasise strongly enough the importance of good photographs. If the agent doesn't use a proper photographer, and you know someone who can take pictures of architecture, I strongly recommend you try and rope them in. Cheap point-and-click with bad flash makes every house look like shite. Lots of pics, good light and wide-angle lenses! :-)