I almost threw the phone out my car window...
I placed a call the other day. It was a social call to another agent. We are friends and I hadn't talked to her in a while. So we're chatting it up and as always our conversation turned to business.
Now this agent has been around for a while. I consider her a mentor. When I first entered real estate I knew I could call with questions because she would have the answers.
She stated that she has been incredibly busy with buyers, but the buyers weren't buying. They are sitting because the buyers don't think the market has reached bottom. She agrees with the buyers.
Now that is all fine and dandy until she starts talking about her sellers. She is frustrated because her listings aren't moving. Common problem when the buyers aren't buying. She tells me her sellers won't lower their asking prices.
She isn't talking about one seller, she is talking about FOUR of her sellers.
So I ask the million dollar question, "Did you agree to list the houses at your recommended price or at the price the sellers wanted?"
I'll give you one guess on the answer.
She justifies listing the price at the seller's price because she gave them a letter at the time of the listing that basically states, "You are over pricing your home for the market." (Oh, and these homes are over priced by $50,000 to $100,000)
I don't think she cared for my response.
I told her my opinion and my opinion is this:
The market has not reached bottom and we as professionals need to turn away business when our clients don't value our opinion enough to follow our advice. We can't complain the buyers aren't buying if we are telling our sellers we will sell their home at their price, even if the market won't sustain it. Why would a buyer consider buying a home if you are basically telling them it won't be worth at least the sale price in a year?
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