About this video

• Video Title: LISTING PRICE REDUCTION SYSTEM including Weekly Seller Report TEMPLATE and MLS Stat GRAPHS.
• Channel: RAMS Agents Talk Real Estate
• Speakers: Mike Cerrone, Angela Newman
• Duration: 01:10:47

Overview

This video provides real estate agents with a system for helping sellers reduce listing prices in a shifting or declining market. It covers market analysis, communication strategies with sellers, and practical tools like weekly seller reports and MLS statistical graphs to demonstrate market conditions and justify price adjustments.

Key takeaways

• Market Realities: The real estate market is bifurcated, with some markets stalling or declining while others still rise. Agents need to be prepared for shifting market conditions.
• Seller Motivation: In a declining market, sellers must be motivated and willing to price correctly to avoid being "behind the competition" and losing significant value.
• Builder Incentives: Builders are offering substantial incentives (e.g., $58,000 on average nationally) and buyer agent commissions (up to 5% or $20,000 in one example) to move inventory, setting a competitive benchmark for resale homes.
• Visual Communication: Using MLS statistical graphs (e.g., closed price trends, active listings, days on market, month's supply) is a powerful way to show sellers market data rather than just telling them, leading to better understanding and decision-making.
• Weekly Seller Reports: Regularly communicating with sellers via weekly reports, even with "bad news," builds trust and proactively addresses concerns, often leading sellers to initiate price reductions or repositioning strategies themselves.
• Listing Presentation Strategy: During the listing presentation, agents should clearly ask sellers if they want to hear what they "need to hear" or what they "want to hear" to set the stage for honest market discussions.
• Proactive Price Adjustments: Consider including automatic price reductions in the initial listing agreement, tied to specific dates, to ensure properties are logically repositioned if they don't sell at the initial price.
• "Reverse Offer" Bonus Idea: In situations with failed negotiations or stalled buyer interest, the seller can initiate a "reverse offer" to the buyer with a limited-time incentive to secure a deal.

In the context of the video, a "reverse offer" is when the seller initiates an offer to a potential buyer who has shown interest but hasn't moved forward, or whose negotiation has stalled. The goal is to secure a deal by offering a special, limited-time incentive.

Examples of these incentives include:

• A price reduction: Offering a slightly lower price than previously discussed or listed.
• Buyer concessions: Providing a financial incentive towards the buyer's closing costs or other expenses.
• Special terms: Offering unique terms that might appeal to the buyer.

The key is that this offer is presented as an exclusive, time-sensitive opportunity ("just for you," "limited time special deal") to encourage the buyer to accept within a short timeframe (e.g., 24-48 hours). This is a way for the seller to proactively try and close a deal when traditional methods have failed.