Today, I held an open house at a very overpriced listing that I took with the understanding that I would try selling the home at the sellers’ price (despite the comparables), but I would monitor the market closely and if there wasn’t enough buyer interest (with proper advertising in place), they would have to lower the price.  I think that with all of the tools and information I have given them from the start, they really do understand where their house should be priced to generate showings and offers, but they just aren’t ready to pull the trigger and lower the price yet.

Ironically, when an overpriced house that has been well advertised sits on the market and few people are even interested enough to attend an open house, and even fewer people make appointments to see the house, we have to blame something.  Today, it is the fact that I didn’t have balloons tied to my open house signs.  The sellers swore that if I had balloons tied to the signs, throngs of people would have come to the open house and they would have at least one offer in hand.

Now, understand that I didn’t have balloons because I was too cheap to buy them, or too lazy to tie them to the signs.  The fact is that in Maryland, each county has a sign law to which realtors are supposed to adhere – although admittedly a lot of realtors don’t – and in the county where this home is located, balloons are a violation of the sign law.  Given that I don’t like to test my luck with these kinds of things, especially when the fine is $500 per sign per day, I used the approved signs in the specified manner for that county.

The fact that the home itself, as well as the open house, was advertised everywhere someone would look if he was interested in a house such as this one, didn’t matter – it was the lack of balloons.

Trust me – if balloons sold houses, I’d quit my career in real estate and buy a company that manufactured those inflatable colorful suckers.  I’d even start a service that would go around town on Sundays and tie balloons to the signs for the realtors (kind of like the companies that install sign posts).  I’d be a millionaire!

If only it were that easy.  If only price, condition, and location didn’t matter.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri