Q: We’re planning to sell our home. Seems like everyone who sells has an open house. Do you think it’s necessary? Sabrina, Passaic, NJ A: Many people mistakenly believe that you need to do an open house to sell a home–perception often becomes reality. Realtors throw open houses to please home sellers or because they buy into the misguided conventional wisdom that open houses are an effective way to sell a home. Open houses are normally a waste of time. The truth is that houses sell primarily based on 3 factors: 1) Buyer Awareness—if buyers don’t know about your house for sale, they won’t buy it 2) Buyer Preferences 3) Buyer Budget. Open houses can attract foot traffic—people may show […]
continue reading Q: Gerald, I’m newbie real estate investor. I know you’ve said that I should work with investor-friendly realtors. What exactly is an investor-friendly realtor? Carlos, Union City, NJ A: Realtors are typically trying to maximize their commission checks while investors are typically trying to buy properties as cheap as possible (these are not the same goals). Consequently, realtors will often look at investors as time-wasters, which is why you should always be upfront about being an investor and never feel bad if a realtor doesn’t want to work with you–just move on to the next Realtor until you find one that is investor-friendly. Good realtors usually have a niche and for some realtors that niche is investors. Investor-friendly realtors are […]
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