What am I, a circus monkey for your entertainment?
A previous client referred a seller to me who wanted to list his house.
On the phone, the seller told me that the house was in very poor condition.
When I met with him at the house and saw the actual house, I thought that using a description such as "poor condition" was a statement of puffing for this dump.
Nevertheless, I gave him my opinion as to what a fair market value would be for this property. I looked at it in two ways, one was as a house needing to be rehabbed, and two was as a potential lot for a new home, which, of course, would require the knocking down of this beauty.
My estimate was that it was worth about $75,000 for either of the options. He could start with a slightly higher price, because it still would have easily have been the lowest priced home in the area.
Apparently, he thought that he knew much more about the values in the area than I did, even though he did not use data to back up his estimate of value like I did. He decided that we should list it at $150,000, which we did.
We received an offer for $70,000. Not a chance.
We received an offer for $75,000. He was not going to give the house away.
The price was lowered to $130,000.
We received an offer for $80,000, with a feasibility contingency. Not happening.
The price was lowered to $125,000.
Next, the price was lowered to $90,000.
We received an offer for $50,000. You must be kidding.
We received an offer for $80,000 (as is, 25 day settlement). He wants to counter at $90,000.
Throughout the process, when the house was priced at $150,000 and, especially, when the house was priced at $90,000, there were plenty of showings and plenty of similar offers. The general feedback was that it needed too much work.
He did not owe money on the house and he did not even live in it. With a leaking roof, the house was only getting worse.
Eventually, he accepted an offer and the house sold for $75,000. Can you imagine that?
The Seller was pleased with my service and satisfied with his price.
So then I ask, if the Seller was okay with the price that I suggested in the beginning, why then did he make me struggle for several months trying to get an unachievable price?
What am I, a circus monkey for your entertainment?
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