DU real estate class, book help couple auction home

Littleton house sells in five days

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Donna and Jeff Monroe sold their Littleton home in only five days.

They were able to sell it quickly - without using a real estate agent - in a tough market with the help of a University of Denver real estate class and a book.

They followed guidelines set in the book "How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days," by Bill Effros.

Although Effros wrote the book about 15 years ago, it is in its third printing and has inspired almost a cultlike following.

The book calls for advertising the house for five days starting on a Wednesday, then holding an open house and accepting round-robin bids from about 25 people on the following Sunday.

"I was skeptical of this at first. But it's genius, although it's not for everybody," said Kyle Cascioli, an adjunct professor of real estate at the Franklin Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.

Cascioli, a former commercial real estate developer and a licensed Realtor, noted that although his class has recently helped two families sell their homes successfully using Effros' method, DU neither endorses nor opposes the system.

"This was purely a learning experience for the students," Cascioli said.

Donna Monroe said she and her husband had listed their home the traditional way with two different Realtors on two separate occasions.

They had more than 50 showings but no offers over a total of nine months. The five-bedroom, tri-level house has about 2,850 square feet of finished space.

It originally was listed at $329,000, but on Sunday they sold it for $282,000, which they decided was their rock-bottom price. Cascioli noted their price was the equivalent of selling it for $300,000 but giving a Realtor a 6 percent commission.

Monroe said she saw Effros on national TV about four months ago and was intrigued. She read his book, scoured his Web site and sent an e-mail asking if anybody could give her advice. Cascioli contacted her.

"The experience was magical," Monroe said. "I would recommend it. I was scared and excited the whole time."

Angelica Acosta, a senior at DU, said she didn't know the system existed until about two weeks ago. "I think it is a great idea to sell your house in five days. It was a great experience."

She said if she had a home to sell, that's how she would do it.

The downside, as far as Cascioli is concerned, is that all the "stress, anxiety and worry" that people normally experience over an extended period of home selling is compressed into five days.

"It's not easy," he said. "It's a lot of work and an unbelievable amount of stress."

Independent broker Gary Bauer said he doesn't think the system will put Realtors out of business.

"In essence, this is an auction with a narrowly defined group of bidders," Bauer said. "In this case, the end result did exactly what anyone listing a home wants to see - the sellers got the price they wanted."

Rules of round-robin home selling

Sellers take out newspaper and other ads Wednesday, with a suggested opening bid of half the price they want. The highest acceptable bid gets the house on Sunday, following a weekend open house.

The idea is to have at least 25 bidders. Of those, typically three are serious, with the majority hoping to steal the home.

After the open house on Sunday, the seller calls each person interested in bidding. Bidders have the opportunity to raise their offer by at least $500 above the previous bid. The process is repeated until there is only one bidder.

As is typical with real estate sales, there is no obligation to purchase or sell the home until the contract is signed.Sources: How To Sell Your Home In 5 Days And University Of Denver Adjunct Professor Kyle Cascioli

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207