Real Estate Buzz: Hot on the Market, Beverly at Preston
Everyone has been talking about the beautiful home at Preston and Beverly that was for sale by owner, but as of today, the property is listed with Keller Williams. (I guess even a property that visible was difficult to sell without a Realtor?) So here are the details: 4201 Beverly, asking price $2.495 million, on .4314 of an acre. The listing agents are Mary Jane Young, Cathy Baldwin, and Mary Ann Evetts of the Mary Jane Young Team at Keller Williams. Cathy said it should be on MLS today and will be on the Keller Williams site shortly.
14 Comments to “Real Estate Buzz: Hot on the Market, Beverly at Preston”
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I just posted this comment on Dallas Dirt but thought I would represent on Overheard as well. The consumer that is going to buy a home like this (and their agent) will most likely know it’s been FSBO for a while thus making it a stale listing even before it goes into the MLS. Sellers underestimate a buyer’s market knowledge. And - thanks to your blog -the savvy consumer and agent will remember they were asking $2.25 million 1 month ago. Commission at 6% is $90K. What’s the $245,000 price increase for? Maybe they replaced the carpet? My prediction, %1.9 to $2 million sales price…or below. Every investor and top agent in this area knows about this house and they were unwilling to spend $2.25 million. So the market has already told this seller they are priced too high. Just my two cents. But I’m a Realtor so what do I know?
As part owner of the house on Beverly I have to say that you appear to not know what you are speaking of. It was far from a stale listing. After having the house on the market FSBO for 2 months we had over 700 calls and 3 contracts for full price. Apparently those who submitted contracts didn’t have the funds. The only thing keeping all realtors, like yourself, away was the fear of having to tell your potential clients that they would have to pay your commission. And, to top that off, many said we could get more than what we were asking. As the only owners of the property for 53 years and 4th generation “parkies” I think we know the value of this prestigious property. Do your homework, it appears you haven’t been in real estate for too long….
Well played, Leslie.
I’ve always wondered about male realtors…
pull the claws back in!
As another family member I would just like to add a footnote to Leslie’s post. Those 700+ calls came with absolutely no marketing except for the 2 small signs in the yard. There were no ads and no virtual tours. The decision by the family to hire a realtor was made not as a result of too little response but too much.
Having been a friend of this family for all of my life, I feel compelled to
speak out on their behalf, especially in light of the uninformed and erroneous
comments made here by Jeff Duffey.
The sellers have had a master plan for the sale of this property from the
beginning that was developed with the help of their team of experts. They
have the best law firm, the best investment advisors, and the best accountants
in Dallas on their side, and now they also have the best real estate firm and
team behind them also. They did not underestimate anything. The entire
family was raised by an entrepreneur who had extensive real estate holdings
back three generations, as well as 23 corporations. They know far more about
real estate and its valuation than any real estate agent will ever know.
Real estate agents are just commissioned sales people, they are not experts
in real estate investing, except in very rare instances. Some are excellent
at what they do, which is to sell property, but they know nothing of the
intricate world of residential and commercial property investing, as this
family does.
Their plan was to FSBO the house for a few months to get a feel for the
depth of interest and hopefully sell it to a teardown builder, or to the
builder’s customer without having to pay the ridiculously high commissions
that agents get on expensive homes, just because they are based on the selling
price of the property. I feel that the commission structure should be reduced in
percentage as the sales price goes up. If an agent sold a $15,000,000 home
he makes a $900,000 commission at 6 percent. Has he really earned it? Has
he really done any more work than the agent who sold a $150,000 house and
made $9000 for his 6 percent? Sure, he worked a little harder, spent more
advertising money, etc. But was all his work really worth $891,000 more than
the other agent? I hardly think so.
Then Plan B was to list with an agent after the first of this year, 2008, if the
house didn’t sell as a FSBO, and raise the price to cover all commissions. They
had offers of reduced commissions from several firms that were very anxious
to list this “stale listing”. The family was able to pick and choose from many offers
and they chose the best, as they always do. There was no carpet replacement,
as Mr. Duffey suggested (jokingly, I hope). The house is being sold “AS-IS, Where Is”
and there is no intention of spending one dime to improve it in any way. It is
a “Tear-down” or a complete gutted “Redo” if anyone has the money, time and
courage to attempt it. The price was not arbitrarily raised. It reflects the
advice of real estate agents who felt it was underpriced as a FSBO, and also
from other factors such as comps in HP and other proprietary factors.
There is no such thing as a “stale listing” when you have the ultimate premier
property in all the world (pardon the exaggeration to make a point). To use
many real estate agents own words, the most important factor is LOCATION,
LOCATION, LOCATION, and they have it. Beverly Drive and Preston Road
is jokingly referred to by “Parkies” as The Crossroads of the World. And it
is, if you grew up under the Bubble. This property will sell to someone with
a big ego who just HAS to live across the street from the Dallas Country
Club, within walking distance of the Highland Park Village, and wants to have good
neighbors such as Sam Wyly, Ed Cox (right across the street), Charles Pistor,
Jerry Jones, Carl Thorne, Doc Swalwell, Billie Leigh Rippe, Dr. Harvey Carter,
Mr. Muse, (need I go on?).
In conclusion, the family expects to sell to an ultimate user of the property, not
a “top agent” or “investor”, so it just doesn’t matter what they think of the price
or any other factor. And I do agree with Mr. Duffey on the fact that his opinion
is only worth two cents, and that he is just “a realtor, so what does he know”.
Maybe he should go back to sacking groceries at Safeway.
Leslie, Jeannie and Ryan, I apologize for being rather flippant about your pricing strategies but I certainly did not personally attack you, your family or the property in question. (Go back to sacking groceries at Safeway? Really?) I was simply offering my opinion on how today’s buyers will view your hike in asking price. You don’t have to agree with me - and you obviously don’t. But to call into question my real estate knowledge and experience without knowing me personally or my professional achievements unfortunately exposes your comments for what they truly are, unsubstantiated diatribes stemming from strong emotions instead of factual real estate data. Contrary your comments I take pride in doing my “homework” when it comes to real estate. My opinions on pricing homes are based on experience and statistics, not how many generations of “Parkies” have lived there.
We’re in a market where most buyers expect the sellers to give the home away for pennies while the sellers are trying to test the market with unrealistic asking prices. When that happens, homes don’t sell. And this home hasn’t sold for a reason. What your lack of objectivity won’t allow you to see is that your 700 phone calls and 3 full price contracts (that fell out) is the market telling you buyers are not willing to pay your asking price. If your home did not attract a buyer at $2.25 million dollars why would someone fork over $2.495 million because you need to cover your closing costs? This is terribly flawed logic even to the most naïve real estate investor.
Everyone’s opinion is just that - an opinion. You are expecting the buyers in this market to play by your rules and you feel you know best and want to be in total control. That is perfectly fair - and your opinion - but not the right attitude when it comes to selling a home.
I know Mary Jane Young and Cathy Baldwin personally and they are wonderfully talented Realtors. You should feel privileged to work with them and they are worth every penny of their commissions. They certainly have their work cut out for them.
And for the record, I never sacked groceries at Safeway. (Are they even around anymore?) I was more partial to Piggly Wiggly.
And to Sharon Wyly of Keller Williams. What’s with the comment against a fellow Realtor? You of all people should understand the concept of pricing seeing as how it took you over 2 YEARS to sell 6719 Anita in Lakewood. You also had to reduce the asking price over $200,000 in order to get it sold. Am I missing something here or did this hit too close to home? I see you office out of Plano so if you want to talk real estate numbers South of LBJ you know how to reach me. PS I live in Lakewood so I certainly wouldn’t go there.
The only thing worse than thinking you know it all is working with someone who thinks they know it all. Mary Jane Young and her team will certainly earn their commission with these sellers.
All homes are for sale by owner. It is the owner who holds the title. There are unrepresented sellers and those with agents, like myself, who represent and advised the seller while marketing their home. In the unlikely event that the sellers want to consider actual statistics: Homes sold with the help of a real estate professional in 2006 sold on average for 32% more than FSBO sales. The 2007 stats will likely reveal the same.
Selling a home involves pricing accurately, qualifying a buyer, advertising, following residential (not commercial) real estate regulations and contracts, and coordinating the details of a closing. The greatest downside is the demand on your time and the legal and financial risks. Mistakes often cost the money that you’re trying to save.
These folks sound penny wise and pound foolish.
I just got an e-mail saying there is a house near the one we’re discussing that still has Christmas lights up. Could that be the problem? ijs.
Jeff:
Meow!
Hey Jeff, Sorry about the rude “sacking groceries” comment, I apologize. Your reply shows you have class and are not the kind of person I was judging you to be after reading your first comments about my friends’ property. And you are right, Safeway is gone from the Dallas area, but they now own Tom Thumb which is a rotten disgrace and a slap in the face to Dallasites who grew up with Tom Thumb being the finest grocery store in the USA. Their produce was second to none back then, head and shoulders above everyone else and now its just ordinary. But thats another subject for a different forum than this.
So putting 2 signs in front of a house and fielding 700+ calls means no one is interested in this house at this price? Three contracts in 2 months means no one is interested in this house? I’m sure hiring a realtor and reaching a bigger market will indeed be a help to these clients seeing as the entire population of Dallas doesn’t necessarily drive past the Beverly/Preston intersection on a daily basis to see 2 small FSBO signs, but insinuating that these sellers are know it alls or foolish, as Lydia commented, seems a bit overstated. Were they know it alls or foolish, they probably wouldn’t have hired such a great team of realtors. As for raising the price, I can’t imagine that this move was made without the advice and/or suggestion by their realtor. Furthermore I would think a realtor would appreciate clients that are wise enough to know thier market, do some research and put a little effort into the sale of their home.
Lorrie, you are so right in your assumption. It was our realtors who set the new price for the property, not we owners. Far from being “know it alls”, we are smart enough to know when a project is too big for us while managing our own careers and families. As a family we have extensive experience in both commercial and residential real estate in the Dallas area going back three generations and continuing today. Jeff, we know that Mary Jane and her team are talented realtors as they are already handling several other projects for us. We are happy that they agreed to take this one on, too.