OK, now that I've got your attention you should know that I am a Realtor as well as Principal Broker and Owner of King Realty Group in Fort Smith. However, my title is actually a chapter in the book called "Freakonomics" which is a book from the perspective of a self-proclaimed rogue economist.  "Freakonomics" makes the point that the Realtors motivation is not necessarily to get the highest price for their seller, but to get it sold quickly because the Realtors cut of the purchase price may range from 1.5%-5% depending on if one or more Realtors are involved and what that agents split with their broker may be. In other words, If an agent encourages the seller to drop the price from $330,000 to $300,000 it costs the seller roughly $30,000 while the difference to the agent is only $30,000 X 3% or $900.00.

By now you may be saying..."Those dirty Realtors...maybe "Freakonomics" is right???" Hold your horses, it may interest you to know that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) posted in its 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers that the main thing that home buyers and sellers want from their Realtor is ......HONESTY and INTEGRITY. That brings us back to the original point...If your Realtor recommends a price drop on your home in order to get it sold based on real live market conditions, does that mean that they're not trust worthy or that they are HONESTLY trying to do their job? THAT DEPENDS ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU TRUST YOUR REALTOR.

My advice is to make sure your working with an agent that you know will do their best to keep your interests at heart. NAR statistics show that using a Realtor on average helps the seller get 16% more for the home because their comparative market values are more up-to-date. For more information on Questions to Ask Your Next Realtor follow the link.

I would like to recommend the book "Freakonomics" as it is a very interesting read although it's a twist on just about everything from the normal way we look at things.  

 -Kevin  King, Broker/Owner

King Realty Group