NorthStarNerd.Org

Price Cut

Hi folks. Molly and I are going to be aggressive about marketing our home. We are 13 days into the process, and we have decided to drop our home's price by $10k. Although we believe we have one of the top homes in the neighborhood, we don't think it's wise to be the top priced home. We gave it the old college try at $249,900, but now a price cut in time for the weekend. Our Realtor from Edina Realty originally suggested a $5k price drop, but we all agreed in the end to the $10k number.

Here are some comparable homes from the neighborhood. What do you think? We're we smart? Dumb? A few years back our home would have sold in the $300k to $325k range.

 Home #1: $234,000

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Home #2: $249,900

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Home #3: $239,900

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Home #4: $237,900

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Home #5: $239,900  (our house!)

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See other posts: Selling a House in a Lousy Economy

Trans-Superior Tour 2011

Many of you know that Carl and I biked the BWCA Superior Tour this past August (Trip Report / Echo Trail Segment). It's been amazing over the past two months how many folks have asked ... will you arrange another ride next year, and can we get involved? The answers are ... yes and yes.

Most people seem to want to take a ride in the northern wilderness along the shores of Lake Superior. Thus, tonight, planning officially starts for the Trans-Superior Bike Tour which will take place during the Summer of 2011. 

The distance from Sault St. Marie, Ontario to Duluth, Minnesota via the northern route (i.e. we won't go through Yooper Land) is approximately 625 miles. The tentative dates are Friday, August 5th to Monday, August 15th. My plan is to research hiring a commercial van / bus to drive us from Duluth to Sault St. Marie, Ontario. In addition, we would NOT have a van accompanying our ride. Participants would have to carry all their own clothes and repair gear. In my case that also includes a notebook computer! We would stay at small town motels every night.

Interested? Contact the Northstar Nerd at RichardHoeg{at}Gmail.Com to express interest.

Click to maximize the image given below.

A Blind New Yorker

Sometimes I think the publishing industry must be totally clueless. Notepads (Apple or Android) represent possible salvation for their industry, and then a magazine like the New Yorker proves they just don't get it. If you desire, you can purchase a print subscription to the New Yorker for about $2 per week; if you want an electronic iPad subscription you must pony up an additional ... that's right ... an additional $5 per week. 

Obviously the monocle is frosted or cracked ...

 

Maximizing the Map

You may remember that I had stated, no Open Houses for the general public. Like always I reserve the right to change my opinion. While I'm still very skeptical, given all the data I've been presented, that an Open House will sell a home via that event, it does "Maximize the Map". If you believe that most home shopping is done online, one needs to become search engine relevant. Obviously we're not talking Google, but rather how our property displays via the private databases for Edina Realty and the local MLS. 

My goal, is to Maximize the Map. With so many properties for sale, I need to draw attention to our home. Thus, I need to take actions that draw visual attention while the online shopper is engaged in research. For the first seven days of a listing, you get a "new flag", open houses also give you a visual flag. Take a look at the screenshot given below (click to maximize) and you'll see what I mean. Listings with "flags" jump out at you.

 

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See other posts: Selling a House in a Lousy Economy

 

Real Estate Web Analytics

Our house has been on the market six days. Earlier this week, my Realtor hosted an open house for area Realtors. We had 12 real estate professionals visit the home, and I am told that is a very nice number for this kind of event. The feedback on our home both in terms of price and condition was positive.

Now my next question, Edina Realty provides homeowners basic web analytics, but why am I not provided some benchmarks? Here are my private home seller's stats:

1. Number of times my home's "details" page was viewed: 478
2. Number of times my home has been saved as a favorite: 3

Note: Results ignore today's data.

Expanding upon my question. Item #2 is the equivalent of a web analytics conversion. Being saved as a favorite is a desired action. However, with respect to items #1 or #2, just giving me actual numbers is meaningless. Without a frame of comparison, I don't know how to interpret these numbers. Here is what I would really like to know (i.e. benchmarks):

• What is the average "details" curve for a house in my area with similar price points?
• What is a normal conversion to "saved as favorite"?

Edina Realty should have this data. It would be nice for the customer to also see this information. For instance, if I have a strong viewing details and a favorites conversion number compared to the average ... and we are also experiencing good traffic through the home (i.e. showings of the home), then I would know my house is being effectively marketed and my price point is well received by the market.

Without the benchmark data, I just have a number. The number 478 is meaningless w/o this information. Good start, Edina Realty, but more work required to have effective analytics.

(click to maximize my data given below)

And always, what it's all about ... our house!

• The Movie
• Still Photographs

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See other posts: Selling a House in a Lousy Economy