I personally think its a bad idea to display the price on the front of the house.

Although some buyers have the ability to assess a house based upon a quick drive by of the front, I don't think many really can.

Some houses have a great interior, nice features, or more room than it looks like from the outside. As a seller, you're turning away people from looking at what you have if you have a percievably high price displayed compared to how the front of your house looks. If they look online, the buyers can see in more detail what you're offering, same if they call, buyers can hear from an agent, about the house.

You as a buyer many want to find a price first and sort out the details later, but that doesn't help sell the house. Contact with agents, looking at the interior shots, inquiries those help sell the house, the agent has a shot of hooking the buyer.

if you're looking at houses on the road that are double your budget you need to, either look at a lot more houses or talk to a RE agent. You shouldn't be confusing a 250K house with a 500K house. If you're looking in a defined area you should have a good idea as to what the price of the house should be.

"if you're looking at houses on the road that are double your budget you need to, either look at a lot more houses or talk to a RE agent. You shouldn't be confusing a 250K house with a 500K house. If you're looking in a defined area you should have a good idea as to what the price of the house should be."

This.

If you cannot make a call to find a price you are not interested anyway.

RE sales are very often about contacts.

I have purchased before houses even officially 'hit the market' through my agent's contacts.

She keeps in touch and knows what I am looking for, a new house for me or another investment property.

A simple call would provide the price, and if it is out of your range the possibility of other ones in your range.

"A simple call would provide the price..."

If only a call was simple, this could be nice.

In reality, when you call, there is a high probability you get VM or a receptionist that takes a message.

Your return call might occur within 24 hours, or might occur 3 days later or might never occur.

If/when you get the return call, you might have a list of 10-15 homes that you called about. Then, while driving and searching homes, you have to go through your list and try to match the caller to the scribble note of the home you called about. Then you get it mixed up with the 50 other homes you saw over the past 2 days. (Was it the tan home with the large tree out front? In Creek Cove subdivision. Oh darn, I saw 4 homes in that subdivision and 3 were tan)

Or, you might be back home from your house hunting trip by the time you get the return call. Oh darn, what if the home was within your price range but you can no longer go see it because you left town already. If you had known the price range up front, you might have called back a few times trying to arrange a showing. But because you didn't know the price, you weren't as forceful on seeing it.

Yep, just a simple call.

"You shouldn't be confusing a 250K house with a 500K house. If you're looking in a defined area you should have a good idea as to what the price of the house should be."

This is not necessarily as black and white in all areas. For example, if you look at the region of the Hudson Valley, which is one of the areas we're looking in, driving by you can very easily weave in and out of different price ranges. Also, there are a lot of homes where the interiors don't match the exteriors and vice versa. Many homes are updated, and some are not, and that alone can dictate the price of the home dramatically. Then there's acreage... So area alone doesn't dictate what a house is worth. If anything, that's the biggest misconception there seems to be.
If I were shopping for a home in Beverly Hills, then I would say 400-500k budget would be unrealistic, but here the listings vary drastically, and there's no way to predict it unless you call, and again, having to call every single listing is tiresome, especially when you're doing a lot of home searching. Some are not worth the effort.

I'm really surprised you all don't already know this..

Of course if I see a house that's worth checking out, I'll go on the internet and check it out, however, there are many houses that we come across that are borderline and so most of the time we either forget and don't bother. Especially homes you can't even see from the road and you're not allowed to drive towards to check out. Those are just absolutely ridiculous and we 100% don't even bother with.

I'm really surprised you all don't already know this..

ps.

didn't mean to type "I'm really surprised you all don't already know this.." twice. It was an editing error on my part.

I remember years ago when one would drive past a house for sale and see the listing price listed above the sign.

And now you don't. Maybe all those tens of thousands of blundering fool real estate brokers and agents know something you don't. Just saying.

And that's why also so many people are complaining and crying they can't sell their house..

Last month I called my bank to find out what kind of interest they were paying on a certain type of investment. Two words would have answered my question. The teller I usually work with when I do this wouldn't or couldn't give me that information anymore .......... I had to talk to their investment counselor now, but he wasn't in at the moment.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what they're doing. They want all possible interested parties to be funneled to the person who can deliver the best sales pitch and chance at landing an account. Yes we know it's a marketing device but that doesn't mean some people don't resent being made to do the song and dance routine when all they want at the time is a number.

Being secretive about the price is like buying one of those two very expensive vacuums. You can't cut to the chase but must schedule in a demonstration to be 'convinced' why its worth so much money. ;-)

Exactly. I think the biggest issue here that I failed to mention is dealing with the real estate agents. As Sweet Tea, mentioned above, if it were only that simple. I'm really sick and tired of dealing with agents and their *shtick*. Maybe it's different when you're a builder because it's your job to deal with them, but when you're one purchase is the purchase of the actual home you're going to live in, you don't want to have countless agents convincing you to choose THEM as an agent. I swear, it's worse than going to a car dealership. Not to mention you feel totally obligated to deal with them. Then they go into 101 question: What brought you to the area? what is your budget? Do you have an agent? Where are you from?
No it's never "that simple". I know many people somehow think that if you're serious enough you'll call, but sometimes if I sense inquiring about a particular house is going to be more hassle than it's worth, I will not call, and forget about houses FSBO. I gaze over FSBO as if they don't even exist because I don't want to deal with the owner directly. They're too emotionally attached to the house and always think the house is worth way more than what it's worth.
Paving part of the way to make it clearer/easier for the buyer to look at a houses without having to go through the hassle of an obstacle course is common sense marketing.
And for what? so the neighbors don't see how much you're selling your house for? Well they're going to find out over the internet as soon as the sign goes up. Not displaying the listing price is the first shot in the foot.

Why are you even doing your real estate agent's job for them? If you're not getting a listing of all of the new homes to hit the MLS that are in your price range (or near it) and then doing the driveby, then you are working with the wrong agent. You're definately working too hard to complain about a non issue!

I have to agree with Pollopicu on this one. DH and I used to get very frustrated when we were looking and there was no price either on the sign or on a flyer. We were looking at horse properties, and it is not uncommon in such areas for prices to vary from $300K to >$1M on the same street.

Of course the listing price may not end up being the selling price, but we didn't want to waste anyone's time, including our own, looking at properties that were clearly out of our budget.

In the majority of cases where we had to call for pricing, the realtors seemed more interested in gaining another client than in selling the houses we were inquiring about.

We sold our previous house FSBO. We did not want to deal with tire kickers; we put the listing price on the sign with a phone number. We also provided flyers with information a potential buyer may want to know including floor plans, photos and details spec. etc.

We sold the house in 3 weeks. Yes, the market was high; nonetheless, our sold price was higher than all the other similar houses sold by realtors in the same neighborhood at the same time. We did very well especially without paying for the commission.

Selling a house is a business transaction, it is important to remove potential road blocks for potential buyers. Everyone is busy nowadays, who has the time to jump through hoops. In addition, above certain price range, the potential buyers know what they want, they don't need a realtor to coax them. Being secretive about the price, intentionally forcing buyers to hear the sales pitches are counterproductive to say the least.

Someday If we would use a realtor to sell our current home, the first two requirements would be "to put the listing price on the sign" and "the address in the ads".

Maybe you should get an agent and let them do the work for you. If you're not buying FSBO then there are going to be real estate agents involved eventually. You might as well get one working for you. They have tools that will help you save time. I do have a funny feeling you might have issues with them though.

You're definitely working too hard to complain about a non issue!

You're thinking that too, the OP seems a little over the top about this matter of showing price, how about we all just agree maybe this tirade will end...

My last buyer had one of the new phones that showed the address, price and pictures of homes for sale within a certain radius and a gps of how to get there.
I think that is the way to go, they found their home without me. I just had to negotiate the price and a few other things for them for the best deal possible.

I'm over the top... this is a real estate forum and we're all discussing an issue that obviously everyone has strong opinions about. What better topic is there to discuss than one that stirs all different kinds of opinions?
"Over the top" is a bit of an exaggeration.

pollopicu,
News Flash... You can go online to one of hundreds of real estate sites and create a CUSTOM search within a custom area, with your custom price range, and your custom criteria. As new properties come on the market that match your criteria, they will be emailed to you the same day!
Then you can sort through the listings at home, and THEN go drive by each one that looks interesting to you. And you will even have the price, pictures, and the agents phone number all printed out in front of you.
Like others have said, if you are not willing to call the listing agent or even go online to find the listing price, then you were never a serious buyer for that property to start with. I can guarantee you that if you pulled up in front of the "perfect" home, and it did not display the price, you would take the time to find out.
Why are you wasting precious time and fuel driving around aimlessly looking for properties when you can take a few minutes and set yourself up on a custom listing search? Do you really think you are seeing everything that matches your criteria by randomly driving around?

NCrealestateguy, one of the biggest problems with agents is that they don't listen, and you just proved my point.
Did you just skim this thread and not read all of it? we're talking about DRIVE-BY'S. When I'm home I go online and I perform my searches and I visit houses from those sources as well. We've been talking about being ON the road and unexpectedly coming across listings that have no listing price.
I honestly believe this thread upsets agents because they see someone out there who is not going to be suckered into their marketing schemes and tactics. Yes, I am a serious buyer, again, I am currently shopping for a home as we speak, our lease is up in Nov.
However, I rather not call about every single listing I come across if I sense It's more trouble than it's worth, because as stated above, in case you didn't read the entire thread, it's not that simple calling an agent. They never pick up, and they call you back days later when you've forgotten which house you've called about. Then finally when you do get a phone call, you have to answer 101 questions. Do you realize how time consuming it is to do that with say, 15 houses a month?
I don't want every listing handed to me, but why can't agencies make it easier? well, because they want to sucker people into all these other homes they need to show to get rid of, homes they know don't even fit your criteria of needs. That's the part that's a waste of time, it's not actually getting on the phone and calling a telephone number. It's dealing with agents like you who don't listen.

You don't need to call an agent to find the price of a home. If you know the road name, it takes 10 seconds to find it online.

If you call a sellers agent, guess what, they represent the seller and will try to sell you a house. They aren't there to make your life easier. They are there to sell their clients homes quickly and for as much as possible. If you don't want to deal with a sellers agent yourself, then you can get a buyers agent to do it for you. If you want to skip the buyers agent and do the legwork yourself, that is certainly your right, but don't complain about how burdensome the legwork is.

Oh well, it sounds like you are just one of those people who likes to listen to their own voice. Most of the responses to your post have told you how to avoid the problem you are having, but you are more interested in ranting about agents than finding a solution.

Well thanks for admitting it's not an agents job to make things easier for the buyer..

This is the problem right here..as a buyer I am giving feedback, and what better feedback than from the person you're trying to get the cash from? With that attitude a lot of agents and sellers are missing out. Whether you like to hear it or not, this is how several of us buyers feel, and we're the ones with the money to buy. As the buyer we're in a better position to pick and choose. If we have to extend our lease we will, but your tactics does not force people to buy houses they are not in love with.
I think the sophist here is you, Bill. You're more interested in winning an arguement than searching for the truth.
I'm not trying to tear down agents. I am simply stating the obstacles that one has to overcome to inquire about multiple properties, and quite frankly agents happen to be the biggest one. That's a fact. Don't dismiss the discussion by simply accusing me of having beef against agents because that's a sleazy way to end the discussion.
You still haven't provided a solution...I have. Other than not wanting "neighbors" to see what your house is worth, what other possible reason could there be to not display the listing price of a house on the "for sale" sign, other than trying to catch potential buyers in a sticky web of marketing tactics? Why in the world would I agree to be suckered into all that? who but a newbie would? I'm sorry, but after about the 10th time, you get pretty tired of it.

How about at least having a number that when you call an automatic voice message tells you everything about the house? "hello, the house you're calling about is 2,300 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, one bath, 7 acres..."

Don't even get me started on the sites you have to register on to see the listings..

How about "Open Houses"? you can't go into an open house without being attacked and followed throughout. Why can't they just leave you alone? We all know why we're there. I'm capable of deciding on my own whether or not the house suits or needs. I have eyes and I'm right there, so why do I need an agent after me telling me all about the homes features? I know they're there, if I have a question, I'll ask, so back off. Now I refuse to go into an Open House. Simple as that, and if I feel that way, I guarantee a lot of other people feel that way too.

How about at least having a number that when you call an automatic voice message tells you everything about the house? "hello, the house you're calling about is 2,300 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, one bath, 7 acres..."

Don't even get me started on the sites you have to register on to see the listings..

Pollopicu, years ago complaints such as yours were common. There were obstacles to getting information on properties, but that has changed.

You should not have to call a telephone number at all. The listing information including the price is probably available on the internet - and from a number of sites. If you are familiar with web searching, none of this should be difficult. If you have any piece of information, such as the address or the agent's telephone number, a google search will start you towards the info you need.

It sounds almost like the OP is one of those folks that knocks on front doors and asks the occupant to show them the house.

I have always told them to call the listing agent and schedule an appointment.

pollopicu - apparently you fundamentally misunderstand the role of agents in realestate. The listing agent works for the seller. They do not work for you. They aren't their to make the process transparent or easier for you. They are their to quickly sell their clients homes for top value. Their job is to have "marketing tactics" that draw potential buyers in and have them make a connection with the property and eventually an offer to purchase it. They are not, and should not be, interested in your speed-dating approach to looking for a home. A selling agent should not be looking up home prices for you if you have an agent of your own. That would mean they are basically doing your agents work for free.

As for a "solution" - you certainly haven't proposed anything useful. You basically just want everybody else to change so it is more convenient for you.

The real solution is out there and has been for years. The MLS is a continually updated database of all homes being sold by realtors throughout the country. The data is piped out to hundreds of sites and readily available to you, 24 hours a day, completely free. It is infinitely better than someone recording a voice mail every day. If you are too lazy to look the information up (or have your agent look it up) well.... that is your problem.

I have skimmed most of these posts, and forgive me if anyone has already said any of my ideas before.

First of all, IMHO, pollopicu, has every right to believe the way she does and she has some very valid points. It would be easier for the buyer to see not only the sale price, but a lot of other details about a house when you are driving by. The smart sellers provide fliers that you can run up and grab that would list every wonderful thing about the home, including the price. Those could be changed whenever there is a change in price or details much easier than a sign.

On the flip side, however, a seller doesn't do themselves much of a service if they post their selling price up front. It's no different than buying a car. Unless you are getting employee pricing, you save the negotiations until the end after you have test driven, inspected and researched the vehicle. It is only THEN that you can really decide how much that vehicle is worth to you. Seeing it sitting on the lot where you have a vague idea how much it is, will not tell you if the ride, the interior, etc fits with what you want.

The same is true for a home. I would never put my selling price on my sign right now in this economy because you would have no clue from driving by that we have a home theater built in our basement. Put on a flyer with the price, yes. Blasted on a sign, no. I'm sure there would be plenty of people driving by that would say "OMG, they must be crazy cuz they want $25k more than what the average house in this neighborhood is selling for." However, if they would have come in and seen what we have, their reaction might be completely different. "Oh, that is a lot of extras for the difference in price."

Marketing has developed over the years and prices are not on houses for this very reason. You don't know what it is worth to you until you get the ENTIRE picture. The price on a sign will never tell you that.

I respect, however, anyone that would post their price but I would caution them that in this economy now it may appear to be a sign of desperation.

Just my 2c.

However, I rather not call about every single listing I come across if I sense It's more trouble than it's worth, because as stated above, in case you didn't read the entire thread, it's not that simple calling an agent. They never pick up, and they call you back days later when you've forgotten which house you've called about

It sounds like you need a new agent! Any agent with a qualified buyer who is ready to buy a home should be eager to get you the information that you are looking for.
I agree with the other posters here that just putting a price on the sign, without more information about the house isn't necessarily helpful. I work in a RE office and most of the agents do put flyers at their listings, some of them use a flyer box that you insert a flyer in that cannot be removed, so if the last one has been taken the information is still there.
However, there are some agents that would prefer to have phone calls from buyers so that they can verbally give them the information.
Occasionally I see signs with the price on them, but I have the feeling that most homeowners feel uncomfortable literally putting a price tag on their home.
The best way to find a house is to work closely with an agent that you like and have them set up to automatically notify you when new listings that meet your search criteria hit the MLS.

What we've got here is failure to communicate, some men you just can't reach. --The Captain.

...but it's the agents that want a commission for nothing these days...

I expect someone to say this when they are technologically challenged, don't have a clue about agency and want to place blame for their shortcomings.
Enough said.

Bravo, Berniek. That was a brilliant intellectual contribution to the discussion.

I'm surprised at how any of you have defended your arguments by resorting to insults. It only displays your lack of solid defense and demonstrates ignorance.

You've insulted all of the agents that post here and only exposed your limited understanding of how modern home listings work. You're not doing yourself any favors, and it's no wonder that your agent isn't doing a stellar job in finding you a home. You're difficult to communicate with and blame your shortcomings on others.

You're all over the map (literally) with your home search and only want to play the blame game rather than actually doing all of the legwork that you claim you are doing. If you pull into the driveway and enter the address into your search engine, within about 30 seconds, you can find out pretty much anything you want to find out about the home you're such a tither about not having a price on the sign. If you're really serious about finding a home, that is, rather than just griping about it. And, if you don't have a smartphone or a notebook with dedicated cell modem, then you should---IF you're serious about house hunting in a modern and technologically savvy manner. Otherwise, you'll end up doing exactly what you're doing: driving around uselessly.

Wake up and join the 21st century rather than griping about the 20th!

If you have an agent who is "bothered" by you calling them to ask for information about homes for sale YOU HAVE THE WRONG AGENT! I answer the phones at a RE office, and it is so annoying to have someone call for information from one of our agents when they are already working with another agent, but "don't want to bother" their agent. Who do they think is going to be paid when they buy a house? And a good agent doesn't want you contacting the listing offices. They want to know what you are interested in looking at.

"I'm surprised at how any of you have defended your arguments by resorting to insults. It only displays your lack of solid defense and demonstrates ignorance."

Another example of your handicap. You don't read or respond to the suggestions that make it easier to get the info. you want.
Many years of working in RE has tought me something, to let buyers like you spin their wheels any way they feel fit. It's your dime, not mine. Unless you are serious and sincere, keep spinning your wheels hoping to find that one sign rider with the right price.
If you were working with me, and you had access to the mobile internet by cell phone or otherwise, everytime there is a new listing meeting your requirements, you would know everything instantly. Isn't that what you want? But I have this feeling that you don't know what you want besides price.

Graywings, my point is that it's an inconvenience to have to search for the listing price of every single waking house you come across. You all keep saying the same things over and over again...

Pollopicu, I agree that posting the listing price of a house for sale would make it more convenient for people who drive around and search for houses as you do. However, you are a small minority of the total number of homebuyers, and people who shop for houses in that manner are considered to be not serious about buying. In other words, sellers and agents are not interested in accommodating your personal preference in this matter. They would rather conduct their business another way and are willing to take the chance that they will lose a sale to a small number of potential buyers who chose not to be inconvenienced.

It is similar to deciding not to hold an open house. An open house will potentially attract buyers who would not otherwise view the house. But some sellers don't want to do it. We could be having the exact same conversation starting with: Not having an open house is one of the biggest real estate market blunders I've ever seen.

A seller who feels the way you do will list the price on his sign. Sellers who don't will not. That in its simplest terms is what it comes down to.

And by the way, you had better be prepared for this: when you find that particular house that you want to view, you likely are going to have to demonstrate that you can afford to buy it by being pre-approved by a lender. But that's a whole other discussion . . .

Livewire, in what way have I insulted agents here, or anywhere for that matter? Everything that I have stated is not only true, but some of you have even admitted to. I'm not here to advertise the bad qualities of agents, but I'm not here to sugar-coat them either. This is a discussion about listing prices and the subject on agents came up. You don't like it? I guess that's tough. Searching, simply does not take "30 seconds". Entering info on google does, however, searching for homes, listings, maps, registering on real estate sites, calling agents for just ONE house is very time consuming. Imagine doing that for 15-20 houses a week.. what part of that can't you understand? have you read anything at all, or are you just another "skimmer"?

I clearly stated that I do much more than my share of internet searching, hence why It's exhausting. This is obviously an issue that concerns various members here. The ones who are mostly up in arms about this are the agents and or "buyer/sellers". This is why people hate dealing with them. They're like car sales men.

Berneik,
"to let buyers like you spin their wheels any way they feel fit."
This is exactly the kind of attitude that is not appreciated in an agent. Your attitude is despicable. It's actually pretty disgusting. I'm glad you're not my agent, but then again, I'm too sharp to work with someone like you for a second time. That's probably what bothers you, doesn't it?
In this short sentence not only have you managed to judge
and generalize a potential client, but it shows that you also regularly practice automatic dismissal.
I guess the first thing an agent "like you" does upon meeting a client is to assess what kind of a sucker they'll be, and if it turns out they're pretty savvy, you automatically label them as a *difficult* client.
You sound like the kind of agent that has very poor work ethic to begin with, so I'm not surprised this topic has touched a nerve with you.
What surprises me most is that as an agent you have tons of time to be on the internet, on these message boards. You must be extremely busy with tons of buyers breaking down your doors. Bidding wars must be stressful too.

Graywings, I've been looking to buy a house for quite some time now...In other words, I have my ducks in order.
It was rather silly of you to bring up something so irrelevant to this specific topic. Pathetic attempt at grasping at straws, don't you think?

Much to my chagrin, this thread has inadvertently demonstrated how agents *really* feel about most clients.

I think this has now turned into a "pride" argument and there are very few new ideas to lend to this disagreement. Everyone has their perspective and their opinions. Nothing pollopicu says will change how homes are marketed and she has the right to disagree with this fundamental premise. However, it appears to a person like me who is neither in the real estate business nor is looking for a new home (they'll carry me out in a pine box) that this topic has been exhausted.

Anyone agree to let sleeping dogs lie? (I do really hate that saying and need to find a new one)

Pollopicu, take a deep breath and exhale. And maybe consider letting go of this discussion entirely. From your postings on another thread, I know you are have been through a lot. I wish you the best in finding your dream home.

I don't need to take a deep breath, gray. Nice try, but thanks for the well wishes. I appreciate it.

"You sound like the kind of agent that has very poor work ethic to begin with, so I'm not surprised this topic has touched a nerve with you."

Hmmmm, I could collect SS and be retired comfortably, but I still work over 40 hrs a week.
So, what did you think of my suggestions? (trying to keep things on track)

If you want to change something I suggest you get more support.

The desires of a single person about 'how they want things' to simplify THERE search are not enough for the added expense and trouble, especially when the up side is just not there (and goes against many years of marketing).

Pollypoo,
Your home buying process is totally bass - ackwards... please answer this?

1. Why do you not call YOUR agent when you come across listings with no sales price on the sign, instead of the listing agents? After all, she is the one working for you.

2. Why do you not have your agent set you up on an automatic listing search that matches your criteria? The new listings will be emailed to you the day they come on the market. This way you can have all the information right in front of you EVERY time. And, you will not have to worry about unexpectedly running into a listing while driving, because it was already emailed to you the day it came on the market. If you do see a listing while driving, and it was not emailed to you from your search, you instantly know that it does not meet your criteria, and you can move on. If you let your agent set you up on this search, you would never have to drive around aimlessly again, nor would you have to spend hours exhausting yourself out by searching online.

So, you asked for answers to help you out. I just gave you a solution that does that. I would appreciate a response.

And I AM a very good listener, and if I am awake, I answer my phone. I took a business call last night at 10:15 while watching my WV Mountaineers beat Marshall.
You say you do not like working with RE agents, you do not like working with FSBOs, and you do not like Open Houses, and agents do no work and get paid huge amounts of money. Do you realize that over 80% of agents who get in the business fail after the first 5 years? And that an average annual income for agents in 2008 was a measley $34,606? And most of us work way more than 40 hours a week. You are probably wondering why we do this work then. I will tell you why... because we have the freedom to choose who we work with, and who we don't, and I would have fired your snotty ass long ago.
You need to cheer up, use the availiable tools that are offered to you, and stop making your life way more difficult than it should be.

Did she ask for help? I thought she just wanted to tell you how her idea is the best thing since sliced bread.

I reread the original post and nowhere did I see she asked for help. I'm starting to wonder if her "issues" with her ex neighbor posted on another post might be a two way street.

"Did she ask for help? I thought she just wanted to tell you how her idea is the best thing since sliced bread."

You are right. It was just pointed out by pollopicu, that agents not doing what was suggested are marketing blundering idiots, and that's where our roads part. More technologically constructive proven ways of achieving better results were suggested instead, but rejected.

No one puts a price on signs in my area. Many of the houses are second homes which might be unoccupied during the week and much of the winter. It would be like advertising for a burglar to pay a visit.

Well, first of all, I guess my suggestion is not totally and utterly ridiculous, since so many of you are adamantly passionate about defending your point of view. I would venture to say that if it was indeed totally ridiculous, a lot of you would have ignored my post completely.

berneik, I read your suggestion, and again, my issues are not with searching at home, which I already stated several times I do on.a.daily.basis. My issue is with Drive-by's. No matter how many times you repeat it I'm still going to stand by what I feel would work better for all. If you don't like it, then I really don't know what to tell you. I'm not going to force you to believe what I feel. I am simply discussing a topic just as you are.

Brickeye, "The desires of a single person about 'how they want things' to simplify THERE search are not enough for the added expense and trouble, especially when the up side is just not there (and goes against many years of marketing)."

-----It's *their* not *THERE*.

"2. Why do you not have your agent set you up on an automatic listing search that matches your criteria?"

As I have repeated several times, we already do. We're talking about drive by's.

NC
"1. Why do you not call YOUR agent when you come across listings with no sales price on the sign, instead of the listing agents? After all, she is the one working for you."

Like several members already stated...we don't want to HAVE to call our agent each and every waking time we find a listing. Whether you like to hear it or not it's an inconvenience, for everyone. I'm sorry you don't like that answer, however, that's the answer. Besides, it makes total sense that someone wouldn't want to have to contact a third party every time they see a house they *might* like. Seriously, that's insane.

"Do you realize that over 80% of agents who get in the business fail after the first 5 years? And that an average annual income for agents in 2008 was a measley $34,606? And most of us work way more than 40 hours a week. You are probably wondering why we do this work then. I will tell you why... because we have the freedom to choose who we work with, and who we don't, and I would have fired your snotty ass long ago."
hmm...I wonder why? bitter much? then maybe you should look into another career field. I don't think RE suits you. You sure do have a temper...
RE agents are always complaining about how much work they do, but I'd like to see where, because several of them, at several stages of my life have shown the same inadequacy, and that's not to say they are all like that, because I've met some great agents as well. However, in general they tend to be....like you.
Most agents become agents because they want to do minimal work and want those chunky commissions. However, when they realize clients expect much more from them and commissions don't just fall so easily on their laps, they become pungent.

orv1, I was wondering how long that was going to take.. It only shows how inadequate you are in keeping with the relevance of the subject. I think even you're smart *enough* to see that one thing has nothing to do with the other.

Berniek, why does this touch a nerve for you? there's really no need to take it personal. It's really just a message board and a discussion. I think you need to relax a little and stop posting until you realize it's not that much to get excited about.

If you are receiving listings that match your criteria, the day they come on the market, then there are no other listings out there which should be of interest to you.
Answer me this... If you are receiving listings for your criteria, where and how are you finding "15 - 20 listings a week" while driving around that may match your criteria, and that you still do not have information on? I just do not get it.

Pollypoo states...
"Like several members already stated...we don't want to HAVE to call our agent each and every waking time we find a listing. Whether you like to hear it or not it's an inconvenience, for everyone. I'm sorry you don't like that answer, however, that's the answer. Besides, it makes total sense that someone wouldn't want to have to contact a third party every time they see a house they *might* like. Seriously, that's insane."

If you do not like to call your agent each and every time you find a listing, why not just write down the addresses of them every week, and then email these to your agent, and have her give you the list prices?
So there you go... another helpful hint from your NCRealEstateGuy.

"orv1, I was wondering how long that was going to take.. It only shows how inadequate you are in keeping with the relevance of the subject. I think even you're smart *enough* to see that one thing has nothing to do with the other."

Actually lady this thread speaks volumes to the way your mind works. It's not a long leap to see how a simple neighbor feud would escalate completely out of control. That's where the relevance to it is. Even a simple country bumpkin like me IS smart enough to figure that out.

PS, your subject isn't nearly as relevant as you believe. Having bought and sold in the last year I can tell you it's completely unnecessary to post the price on the sign. Of course you're not going to see it so it's a waste of time pointing it out to you. It seems as if your mind is like concrete, all mixed up and permanently set.

What an entertaining thread!

This (from ncrealestateguy) makes perfect sense! If I knew how to bold text, I'd emphasize the 2nd last sentence...

"Why do you not have your agent set you up on an automatic listing search that matches your criteria? The new listings will be emailed to you the day they come on the market. This way you can have all the information right in front of you EVERY time. And, you will not have to worry about unexpectedly running into a listing while driving, because it was already emailed to you the day it came on the market. If you do see a listing while driving, and it was not emailed to you from your search, you instantly know that it does not meet your criteria, and you can move on. If you let your agent set you up on this search, you would never have to drive around aimlessly again, nor would you have to spend hours exhausting yourself out by searching online."

We're talking about drive by's

It's drive bys. It's plural, not possessive.

Some buyers are on their own in the dark ages of real estate not wanting the latest and greatest technology to help them find the right home, and that is their prerogative. I'm not even talking about using their agent, just like my last buyers who found their own home without me as I mentioned above.
This one has their mind made up of wasting time, money and gas. So be it.

Not the same as the price on a sign, but for quick access to listings by location, Google maps does have a box to click to show 'em.