Is it even necessary to have a good real estate agent in Coppell?

www.CoppellRealEstateExpert.com   www.DFWTexasDreamHomes.com

We are still in quite a seller's market here in Coppell, Texas! As a result, we are seeing a lot of crazy things. It's amazing just how many people have become licensed real estate agents, and how many other people think they have all the answers without having the "expense" of a real estate agent.

In a recent Facebook post to a local community group asking for recommendations for a realtor, 136 comments quickly came in naming dozens of real estate agents, or having comments like "just plop a for sale sign in front...I bet you have 3 bids by dinner". If only it were that easy!!!

I've owned my home in Coppell for over 23 years in the area known as the Lakes of Coppell. This is an area that is in very high demand. Coppell has a very convenient location, whether going to Dallas or to Fort Worth or to Denton. DFW International Airport is at our southwestern border, and Dallas Love Airport is about a 20 minute drive away. Coppell also boasts some of the best rated schools in the state of Texas, and has an incredible park system with ponds, hike and bike trails, swimming pools, and other recreation. 

So, it stands to reason that selling a home in Coppell really is easy, and ANYONE CAN DO IT, right? Well, maybe not. Let me share with you an actual example, right here in the Lakes of Coppell.

A couple of months ago, someone asked me why this certain house in the Lakes of Coppell seems to have been on the market "forever". So I looked up the listing and found that it wasn't over priced for the area, in fact it was priced maybe a little below the average of recent nearby home sales. So that wasn't it! However, it was pretty evident that the home was poorly marketed. There are a lot of factors that go into the proper marketing of a home, besides just the pictures and description (although those are very important, and were certainly lacking in this example). It took almost a full year, many price reductions, and a change in agents, before this home finally sold. With the new agent (not me or anyone associated with me, by the way), the marketing was tremendously improved and the home sold pretty quickly after that. But, the damage had already been done. The sellers agreed to a price over $47,000 lower than the original list price (which again was priced a little below the average for the area as it was!).

OUCH! What if the sellers had just chosen a really good agent to begin with? Real estate commissions aren't fixed, and can be negotiated depending on the level of services provided. So, just for an example, let's say you find a really good agent who charges 7% in commissions (to be split with a buyer's agent). In this case, if that agent had done the job and closed the sale at $450,000, the total commissions paid would've been $31,500. I just mentioned above that these sellers finally agreed to a price that was $47,000 lower (and they still had to pay commissions on that price!). 

So, does having a really good agent actually cost you more money? Or, does it save you money? If you are still stuck on the "cost", let's review the math and drill down on it further. A $450,000 sale minus $31,500 in commissions results in a "net" of $418,500. A $403,000 sale ($450,000 minus $47,000) minus $16,120 in commissions (let's say that the commission was only 4%), results in a "net" of $386,880. The difference between the 2 "nets" is $31,620 to the seller's benefit by using a really good agent to begin with.

If you'll contact me (David Bell, David.Bell@kw.com), I'll be glad to share with you the specific listing I used in this example.

Here are some more statistics that not everyone shares with you. For example, did you know that in the past 6 months there have been 16 listings that have expired in Coppell without having been sold? And, not just the super expensive ones - one property was listed as low as $289,900. And, did you know that there are 84 currently active (as of today, June 28, 2017) single family homes in Coppell that have been on the market for more than 30 days?! 

If you'd like to have someone with the training, knowledge, and experience to get your home SOLD for the most amount of money and in the least amount of time, please contact me! I'll be glad to help you! I proudly serve Coppell and all of the Dallas Metro North area.  (PS - don't bother asking for recommendations on Facebook unless you just like being overwhelmed with responses!)