Lehigh nit
Many property listings are not customer friendly
The market in Lehigh never ceases to amaze me. Currently property is escalating in price on an almost daily basis and investors are snapping up every well-priced parcel within hours of it hitting the market.
A common practice among some many Lehigh realtors is to ask the buyer to pay for the title insurance policy and sometimes other closing costs as well. I am told this custom in Lehigh dates back to the days when lots sold for almost nothing and the title insurance and closing costs significantly eroded the sellers take. I get particularly annoyed when the seller wants the buyer to pay all closing costs and also wants to dictate what firm will handle the closing. Unless the property is seriously under-priced, I avoid buying property listed with these types of arrangements.
If there is anything that I learned in my nearly 20 years in the telecommunications industry, it is that customers want bundled pricing and a service provider (or seller in the case of real estate) that is easy to do business with. Having a listing chocked full of nit charges is not a way to entice me to take a close look at or buy the property.
I do not understand why listing realtors just don’t simply raise the price of the property by the amount of the closing costs and eliminate these customer negatives in their listings. To me this just seems like a basic marketing 101 practice that would only help to sell property more expeditiously. With most vacant parcels in Lehigh selling for over $40,000, it is time to get with the program and end this silly practice. As Bob Dylan so eloquently stated, “the times they are a-changin,” it’s time to turn the page.
The market in Lehigh never ceases to amaze me. Currently property is escalating in price on an almost daily basis and investors are snapping up every well-priced parcel within hours of it hitting the market.
A common practice among some many Lehigh realtors is to ask the buyer to pay for the title insurance policy and sometimes other closing costs as well. I am told this custom in Lehigh dates back to the days when lots sold for almost nothing and the title insurance and closing costs significantly eroded the sellers take. I get particularly annoyed when the seller wants the buyer to pay all closing costs and also wants to dictate what firm will handle the closing. Unless the property is seriously under-priced, I avoid buying property listed with these types of arrangements.
If there is anything that I learned in my nearly 20 years in the telecommunications industry, it is that customers want bundled pricing and a service provider (or seller in the case of real estate) that is easy to do business with. Having a listing chocked full of nit charges is not a way to entice me to take a close look at or buy the property.
I do not understand why listing realtors just don’t simply raise the price of the property by the amount of the closing costs and eliminate these customer negatives in their listings. To me this just seems like a basic marketing 101 practice that would only help to sell property more expeditiously. With most vacant parcels in Lehigh selling for over $40,000, it is time to get with the program and end this silly practice. As Bob Dylan so eloquently stated, “the times they are a-changin,” it’s time to turn the page.
posted by Mark Washburn on 4/25/2005
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