new marketing strategy enters real estate market
By Joyce Owen
Realtors using value range marketing say it?s an unusual, new and foreign concept, but in the much slower real estate market, if it brings in buyers it?s worth a try.
With value range marketing or VRM, properties have one list price but are marketed within a price range. The higher price in the range is listed in the MLS, or multiple listing service as $###,876. The number 876 corresponds to letters on the telephone keypad and indicates the property is a VRM listing.
To date, no properties using VRM have closed. However, since few homes in this area have sold in the last six months, that?s not an indication the program doesn?t work, Realtor Mark Frohsin said.
Frohsin, Garner Chandler and Bryan Pritchett, real estate agents with Davis Properties of Northwest Florida, have 16 listings using value range marketing. Some are new listings, but others converted to VRM when the real estate agents began promoting it in August. The agents hope the program will generate interest and encourage negotiation, which could lead to sales.
The Realtors are trying to educate sellers and other Realtors about how the concept works.
An excerpt from ?Homes on the range,? a press release that was issued by Davis Properties agents in late August explains the VRM concept:
?Marketing properties for sale in a price range instead of a fixed price can often spur interest and get real estate sales moving in a down market or encourage multiple offers in a sellers? market. Called ?Value Range Marketing? or VRM, properties have one list price but are marketed within a predetermined price range.?
EDUCATION, THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Jess Eberhart, an agent with 30A Realty, and Davis Properties? agent Todd Sachs have co-listed a property using VRM.
?I was familiar with it,? said Eberhart, a member of the MLS Committee, where the concept had been discussed earlier this year.
When Sachs suggested listing with VRM, Eberhart said he didn?t have anything against it and was willing to give it a try.
?It?s an interesting concept. I understand it is widely used elsewhere,? Eberhart said. ?But here, I think there needs to a lot more education before it is accepted.?
Agents using VRM hope to increase visibility and open the door to negotiation.
?The whole idea in showing a range encourages buyers to step forward,? Eberhart said.
The benefits to providing the range for buyers is that it takes some of the mystery out of negotiation, he said.
The agents at Davis agree that offering property with a range gives buyers an indication of what sellers might ?entertain.?
?People need to get realistic if they want to sell,? said Pritchett, but buyers are reluctant to make low price offers that might offend sellers. With a range already established, the buyer can determine whether the property is in his price range and make an offer.
?This concept can bridge the gap between buyers and sellers,? Chandler said.
Both sides then negotiate, Frohsin said.
Negotiation was a part of the process, until two years ago when property values went sky high and buyers were willing to pay the list price, sometimes much more. Now buyers are looking for bargains, while some sellers still think their property is worth more than it is, Pritchett said.
With fewer recent sales, sellers look to the high prices a neighbor might have gotten last year and base the selling price too high.
The standard question Realtors still hear from buyers and other Realtors, ?What do you think the seller will take?? will not be answered by this new approach. However Chandler believes it gives buyers a guide. Ultimately the best way to determine the price is to make an offer, put something on paper and present it to the seller ? that opens negotiations, she said.
For Realtors that have embraced VRM, the idea of creating a larger pool of buyers is enticing. However, it took time for the concept to become accepted elsewhere and Realtors were prepared for skepticism when they announced plans to market property using VRM.
?It?s not a quick fix or magic elixir,? Frohsin said. ?It?s a realistic view of what your property is worth.?
By Joyce Owen
Realtors using value range marketing say it?s an unusual, new and foreign concept, but in the much slower real estate market, if it brings in buyers it?s worth a try.
With value range marketing or VRM, properties have one list price but are marketed within a price range. The higher price in the range is listed in the MLS, or multiple listing service as $###,876. The number 876 corresponds to letters on the telephone keypad and indicates the property is a VRM listing.
To date, no properties using VRM have closed. However, since few homes in this area have sold in the last six months, that?s not an indication the program doesn?t work, Realtor Mark Frohsin said.
Frohsin, Garner Chandler and Bryan Pritchett, real estate agents with Davis Properties of Northwest Florida, have 16 listings using value range marketing. Some are new listings, but others converted to VRM when the real estate agents began promoting it in August. The agents hope the program will generate interest and encourage negotiation, which could lead to sales.
The Realtors are trying to educate sellers and other Realtors about how the concept works.
An excerpt from ?Homes on the range,? a press release that was issued by Davis Properties agents in late August explains the VRM concept:
?Marketing properties for sale in a price range instead of a fixed price can often spur interest and get real estate sales moving in a down market or encourage multiple offers in a sellers? market. Called ?Value Range Marketing? or VRM, properties have one list price but are marketed within a predetermined price range.?
EDUCATION, THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Jess Eberhart, an agent with 30A Realty, and Davis Properties? agent Todd Sachs have co-listed a property using VRM.
?I was familiar with it,? said Eberhart, a member of the MLS Committee, where the concept had been discussed earlier this year.
When Sachs suggested listing with VRM, Eberhart said he didn?t have anything against it and was willing to give it a try.
?It?s an interesting concept. I understand it is widely used elsewhere,? Eberhart said. ?But here, I think there needs to a lot more education before it is accepted.?
Agents using VRM hope to increase visibility and open the door to negotiation.
?The whole idea in showing a range encourages buyers to step forward,? Eberhart said.
The benefits to providing the range for buyers is that it takes some of the mystery out of negotiation, he said.
The agents at Davis agree that offering property with a range gives buyers an indication of what sellers might ?entertain.?
?People need to get realistic if they want to sell,? said Pritchett, but buyers are reluctant to make low price offers that might offend sellers. With a range already established, the buyer can determine whether the property is in his price range and make an offer.
?This concept can bridge the gap between buyers and sellers,? Chandler said.
Both sides then negotiate, Frohsin said.
Negotiation was a part of the process, until two years ago when property values went sky high and buyers were willing to pay the list price, sometimes much more. Now buyers are looking for bargains, while some sellers still think their property is worth more than it is, Pritchett said.
With fewer recent sales, sellers look to the high prices a neighbor might have gotten last year and base the selling price too high.
The standard question Realtors still hear from buyers and other Realtors, ?What do you think the seller will take?? will not be answered by this new approach. However Chandler believes it gives buyers a guide. Ultimately the best way to determine the price is to make an offer, put something on paper and present it to the seller ? that opens negotiations, she said.
For Realtors that have embraced VRM, the idea of creating a larger pool of buyers is enticing. However, it took time for the concept to become accepted elsewhere and Realtors were prepared for skepticism when they announced plans to market property using VRM.
?It?s not a quick fix or magic elixir,? Frohsin said. ?It?s a realistic view of what your property is worth.?
