One of the biggest gripes both Listing Agents have, and Buyer's Agents too, for that matter... is trying to sell/show a home that is way over-priced.
When I talk with some of the Listing Agents who have these OPT's on the market... (Over Priced Turkeys), I of course usually inquire about just WHY... the home is priced where it is.
The answer... is most often the same. This is what the seller insisted it be priced at.
I would never show my sellers any sort of "prepared" graphs, charts, or those cutesy CMA presentations that some of the MLS's kick out. Never. Or at least not until I had pulled the correct listing price out of them... first.
I repeat. I would not tell them my recommendation. And I would not show them a CMA all typed out and pretty-like.
Here's what I do.
Before I start... I make sure I have printed out the individual comps... solds, availables, but also "pendings." One printed sheet for each home.
I would show them... each comp... one by one... and we would discuss each one. Usually, they were homes the sellers were familiar with.
Obviously the most important of the comps... were the "solds."
I would parade in front of them as many sold comparable properties as I could find... all the time asking them questions about each one... and getting their opinions as to how those homes may have compared to their own.
All through this... I was leading them where I wanted them to go... which of course, is a realistic price.
Then... I would talk about how it is NOT the seller who determines the price. Of course, when I said that... they would look at me kinda funny-like... (I get that a lot... LOL)... and then they'd try and guess that it would be the buyer.
Noper... said I. Nor is it the Realtor either.
The one who most determines the price... is the appraiser. That is when I would really start laying the blame... or the answer for the suggested list price... right square at the feet of the appraiser.
I'd tell them about the appraisal process... and about how the appraiser has to submit the closest three comparable sales she can find... to justify her price.
Then we would talk about how "accountable" the appraiser had to be... in substantiating, or "proving" the price of the house... when they did the appraisal.
Finally... I would ask the seller this:
Mr and Mrs Seller... if you were the appraiser, and your job, your entire career, your family's future income... if all of that was riding on your submitting the three best comps that "prove the price..." which three would you choose ? Now remember... your job as an appraiser... depends on you picking the most correct three !"
I have rarely, if ever, seen this fail. Usually they end up picking even lower comps than I would have used to determine their asking price.
If they absolutely INSIST on a much higher price than reasonable... well... I will cover that... in my next post.
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