On Tuesday Shelley got a phone call from a reality producer about possibly being the pilot of a show for The Learning Channel, which would utilize the methods (and the expertise) of a book called How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days.


So... after 11 years trying to get into The Industry, we may finally get there... by leaving LA!

This process takes the following course:

1) on a Tuesday place an ad for your property in the paper, but don't give the address; do list the price at 50% of what you expect it to end up and say it will be sold for that, or best reasonable offer; and say there's an open house Sat. and Sun., and the house will be sold on Sun.

2) field phone calls for the next three days; if you don't have at least 25 by Friday evening, cancel the open house.

3) if 25+ people are coming, have well-prepared open house Sat. and Sun. People leave bids while there.

4) Sunday night, you have a round-robin of calling everyone asking if they want to overbid the highest offer. Repeat until one left, and a backup or two.

The basis of the method is that instead of the traditional price high and come down, this starts low and finds the true value of the house; and avoids agent fees.

It's intriguing.

As of today, both us and the TLC rep. aren't sure that we'll get the right people by starting at 50%, which may be required by the execs if the book is being followed exactly (as opposed to it being a guideline).

From Shelley:
It's non-binding, so we don't have to accept any offer if they're not acceptable. They really hope that the house would sell -- especially for the pilot episode.

Since it's a reality show, there's filming involved during each step. Filming would start the week of 3/17. They're looking for a decent house, not in foreclosure, sold by folks who need to move for whatever reason,or need a new house because of a larger family -- it's not about a sob story on the seller's part, but about the method and the method's success. Having an adorable, talking toddler seems to be a plus as well.

The author of the book is there behind the scenes, providing advice all the way, and we'd need to follow the book's methods exactly (she's bringing a copy with her on Friday). A couple of things she's researching; we'd need to have a home inspection report available for the buyers (but not sure if we or prodco would pay) and someone to help with the paperwork (again, who pays for that service).

We don't have to take it off the market yet, but if we all decide to do this (the prodco would need to approve our place for the pilot as well), then we can't sell the house until we go through the pilot process.

I think it's a very good idea for a TLC show; a feel-good program about selling houses to good people even in a difficult market.