Never under estimate the power of newspaper real estate advertisements. While it’s true more than 80 percent of home buyers begin their search online, there are still plenty of folks who love the feel of newsprint in their hands.
Barbra Stover of Rodeo Realty’s Beverly Hills office recently ran an open house box advertisement in the L.A. Times for her client’s $1,475,000 Malibu property. The home is located in the Las Flores Canyon area.A very nice lady called from the ad, was excited to see the property, and attended the open house. The woman had been looking in Sea View Estates for a while, according to Stover.
After attending the open house, the woman visited again with her family at least three times. She loved the house, pool, and location. Stover and her co-listing partner had taken extra time to partially stage the property.
The woman finally pulled the trigger. Since she did not have an agent, Stover and Erika Mlachak of Verde Realty represented both sides of the deal. The home was only on the market for a month and sold for the listing price. Comparable sales in the area went back a year!
On another recent occasion, a prospective buyer attended one of Ollie Brown’s advertised open houses for a $1.675 million home in Calabasas.“The buyer came in without representation, was straight-up, and came back several times with his family, ” said Brown, adding from the beginning he knew the person was willing to go the distance.
Even though other parties expressed interest in the property, and a willingness to pay more, Brown encouraged the seller to go with the gentleman from the open house.
The other buyers talked a lot about wanting the house, he said, but they never followed through on submitting formal offers.
Brown proceeded to represent both sides and use Encore Escrow, L.A. Mortgage and Progressive Title in the deal. He said all of these companies put a solid transaction together quickly. The story gets even better, because Brown just listed the buyer’s other home in Woodland Hills for more than $700,000.