CATHY SLOAN's Discussions

My service area is Northeast  Florida:  Jacksonville, Orange Park, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, North St. Augustine, NAS Mayport, & NAS Jax.  Will gladly pay customary referral fee.  Sorry, haven't had anyone heading to OR in a while but certainly will keep your info.

Wayne Brown:The referral agreement between agents is signed by the agents Broker of record.  Totally leagal in Florida.  It clearly stipulates that all checks to be made payable to the Broker. Every Realtor understands this.  Attorneys and Title Companies always make the checks out to Brokers

We Realtors are not known for our typing skills.  Many of us have assistants that are proficient in typing

JoseI looked in your zip code on Forsalebyowner.com.  There were two homes in zip code you indicated for 359K.  One in Grand Floridian may be yours.  I cross referenced that with Realtor.com.  The two did not show up on Realtor.com for your zip code. (Realtor.com gets 6,600,000 visitors a month) You may be mistaken as to the marketing coverage your are getting.  There were several photos in a slide presentation but no virtual tour.  The photos on both those listings appeared amature and did not show either of those homes favorablyResearch the Realtors in your area.  Find a realtor with an agressive marketing plan.  Competition in Florida is fearce.  Too many homes on the market.  We have a 17 month supply of homes in my area.  You must create a demand for your home so that the Buyer's are asking to see your home.  I pay a substantial annual subscription fee  that is in the thousands to market my listings agressivly in Realtor.com and to place the homes as showcase listings.  I also have subscription meberships  that I pay for in Homes.com for featured listings and 3 other major Real Estate sites. My virtual tours can cost several hundered dollars. Professionally printed flyers, Virtual tour CD's and TV advertising all cost. Depending upon the home, my advertising fees can be between $800.00 to $1200 to set up a listing the first week. The longer the home is on the market the more it cost.  As a FSBO the Buyer's Agent has to take the responsibility of both sides of the transaction.  Every FSBO I have sold was more work and liability for me. Check out one of my listings: Realtor.com, Zip code 32258, MLS  415330 Price $429,900  does your listing compare?

Jose I just read your post to Mike.  What worked in the past 10 - 15 years isn't working anymore.  This is the 3rd market slow down In 30 years.  This is by far the worst.  According to reports 30% of Realtors are leaving the business.  A majority of the realtors with 5 years  or less experience are already working in other careers.  I wish you luck.  But if your stradegy doesnt work by the end of April dont' miss the best selling months.

JoseI think you are missing the point. It is not whether or not my listing and yours are comparable, it is how it is presented. The marketing efforts on the home I saw in Grand Floridian is lacking on Forsalebyowner.com and MLS.  I just located that listing in MLS.  1 photo.  If there is only 1 photo in MLS there is only one photo in Realtor.com.  Depending on the survey 75% to 85% of all home buyers start looking for homes on the internet.  Those surveys also say that buyers screen homes by the number of photos and don't bother with the listings that do not have numbers of photos to view.    The days of listing in MLS and sticking a sign in the yard and getting a sale in 30 days or less are long gone.  Ask the Realtors that are no longer in the business.  I wanted you to look at the photos, video tour and the virtual tour.  If my listing and your listing were the same price in the same area, which listings do you think the buyer is going to spend the time to consider viewing when there are dozens or hundreds for the same price in your MLS.  I have had buyers tell me they don't read any further if there are not photos. Agents also search the photos to make sure the home measures up to the description before they show the home.  If you're missing the market in MLS you are definately missing it in all the other marketing avenues.  But don't just list with any Realtor.  Check out their marketing before you commit.  By the way listing commissions in Jacksonville are ranging between 6% & 7.5% here. 

Unfortunately, the public does not realize that the Zillow.com estimates are rarely correct.  I do not know how you can correct.  

Actually, In Florida it was supply and demand.  The demand was too great for the numbers of homes on the market.  In Jacksonville we had bidding wars over homes.  Then the investors started buying up New construction homes making the 6 month build time extend to 12 months or more.  Every month the Builders raised prices and the existing home sales followed. A percentage of our market is dependent upon  our influx of new residents selling the house they have back home. In jacksonvile we have seen the supply decrease from 23 month supply to 17 month supply in Feb.  Hopefulle the supply with continue to decrease and sales and prices can stabalize

Not sure where in Florida you are.  I am in Jacksnville. According to MLS stats I ran last Friday homes are selling at and average of 96% of the listed price in our market.

Fallenstar26I appologize if my comment regarding typing offended some and distracted from you getting  good advice. Thank you for verbalizing that everyone makes typos. Perhaps I worded that wrong.        However, Lynn, Durenda & Marci gave good advice & suggestions.  When considering bank foreclosures it is in your best interest to have a Realtor experienced in representing buyers negotiate foreclosed and bank owned properties.  The proficiency of your Reatlor will determine if you or someone else gets the bid accepted.  Many have learned that banks take their sweet time responding to an offer and when they do it may be verbal.  Verbal means nothing, don't get excited until all parties have fully executed the written purchase agreement for the price and terms you originally agreed upon. MarciI am sorry I offended you.In Florida un-liscensed  assistants are allowed only to handle clerical duties such as answering and transferring calls, typing, & filing. They cannot write offers, negotiate contracts, show property or give information about a property. Liscensed assistants are usually Buyer's Agents.   I too can type but there are others that type faster and more accurate than I.  Perhaps we got off on a wrong foot. ScottIts not the 120 hours of class that makes a Realtor.  Your opinion may have been fueled by the 86% listed below who thought it did.Here are some statistics from Realtytimes:1. There is an average 1st year failure rate of 86%. That works out to 30 agents remaining in the industry for every 200 who try.2. Only 7% of the 30 will renew their license.