It many sound a bit odd when we talk about "accepting listings".  Many agents take every listing that comes their way.  They want signs up so people will call them. We work differently.  On average, for every listing we take, we have to politely turn down three listing opportunities.  While you might think this is a good thing for us, it has also led to problems. 

We know we might be burning bridges by saying "No thank you" when someone invites us into their home.  No seller likes to be rejected and I'm sure there are sellers who will take it personally.  But we have created a certain expectation with the public about what they will see on our site.  If we take a listing that makes people wonder "Why did they take that home?That doesn't look like one of their normal listings." we have created doubts about us in the mind of the public.  Our goal from day one has been to affiliate our company with the best homes in every price point.  We have never or will never deviate from that. 

You will always see expensive homes on our site.  Those sellers seek us out to market their homes and this website is one of the main reasons why.  But please don't assume all we do is list homes at the highest price points.  We list homes down to about $250,000.  And in case you are wondering, we provide the the exact same care with the exact same marketing services to the sellers of our $250,000 homes as we do to the sellers of our million dollar plus homes!  Unlike companies you have seen that offer different levels of marketing depending on where the home is priced, we consider all of our listings to be "premier" properties and we treat them as such.

There is no exact formula we use to decide which homes we will commit our time and resources to, but here are a few things we always take into consideration ...

• We have to be excited about listing the home.  We are no different from anyone else in that we want to be able to enjoy what we do.  Again, this has nothing to do with how expensive the home is.  I have listed and sold homes for $250,000 that were so much fun to work on!  The homes had real character, showed great, photographed beautifully, and the pride of ownership was evident everywhere.  I was proud to have those homes on our site and I think the sellers felt the same way about us.

• It is imperative that the home show well not only from the street, but also inside.  It must be well cared for and clean.  If deferred maintenance or landscaping is an issue and the seller does not want to address the problem, our experience tells us it is going to be a losing proposition.  We would rather another agent take that listing.  Every home we list has our company name associated with it, and we take this seriously.  Buyers who visit our site have a certain expectation of what they are going to find, and we don't want to disappoint them.  This is one of the main reasons they keep coming back looking for a home! 

• We must have a reasonable confidence that we can sell the home.  We certainly don't need the practice when it comes to listing and marketing homes.  We need to know the Sellers are going to be reasonable with their expectations.  If the seller asks us to list their home at a price we cannot justify by any stretch of the imagination, we will suggest they let our competitors have their business.  We will even recommend someone to them if they wish.  As the old real estate saying goes ... "Sometimes it's best to be second in line on a listing".   I would rather those sellers call us down the road if their home doesn't sell than be upset with us because we cannot sell it at an inflated price. 

• If we think a Seller is going to pressure us into implementing ineffective or "old school" techniques which we left behind years ago, we will cordially "pass" on the listing.  We tell sellers up front that we don't believe open houses are effective, we don't place flyers in front of our homes, we don't believe newspaper or magazine advertising is effective advertising in today's world, and we don't leave "sign in" sheets to see who has come in the door.  We rely on our tremendous Internet marketing presence, the multiple listing service and Realtor.com.  That is how buyers have always found us and keep coming back to us.  Our website is what fuels our business.  We do things non-traditionally, and we are simply not going to change our business plan for any one seller.  We are always looking to the horizon for new marketing ideas, but until we see one we believe might be worth a try, we are going to stay the course with what we know is effective.  Our sellers have to trust in what we are doing, especially if their home is not selling as quickly as they wish. 

• We must have confidence that the seller is going to be patient in selling their home.  Our goal has always been to find the perfect buyer for every one of our listings and that just takes time.  If we believe the sellers are going to be unreasonable with us in their expectations on how long it will take to sell their home, we will "pass" on it.  Unfortunately, we just cannot manufacture buyers at will.  But we can make sure our homes are seen and beautifully presented to the world.  And we believe we do that better than anyone!

If by chance you are sitting on the fence trying to decide whether to call us or not, we hope you will pick up the phone or send an e-mail to us.  We would love to come by and visit with you.  We will be truthful with you.  If we think your home is a better fit for another Realtor, we will tell you.  And if you and we think your home is a good fit for our portfolio of homes, why not list with the best in the business?  We hope to hear from you!

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Tom Grisak Estate Homes Realtors, Inc - Texas License # 0329533 43008

Your Realtors for Allentexas, Fairviewtexas, Lucastexas, McKinneytexas, Murphytexas, and Parkertexas