(it's a wire stripper!)
Did that get your attention? Well what I REALLY want to talk about is comparables.
Comparables: homes similar in features, size, etc. to a home for sale, usually comprised of SOLD homes to obtain pricing information.
And here's the rub, not all agents are equal at this type of analysis, and an inability to pull the ideal comps can be the death of a deal before it ever gets started.
If the listing agent overshoots with their selection, or just gives the seller the price the sellers wants and not what the market will support, buyers are going to continually offer LOW. Or at least that will be how the seller will interpret the offer.
And if the buyer's agent pulls the lowest of the low from the comp pool, the buyer receives an artifical perception of what a home is worth.
But this one time at band camp, a buyer paid $120,000 for a 4 bedroom home with a fully finished basement and a .5 acre lot, so I want that too!!
Well buuuuudddddy, that home was a foreclosure with a flooded basement and next door to a heavy machinery plant running a 3 shift operation. In other words, it's NOTHING like a normal home and can't be used for pricing purposes.
And what further complicates the situation?
Ego, both from clients and agents.
It's not that uncommon for a buyer's agent to ask the listing agent for comps.
It might be because the buyer's agent just isn't good at pulling their own information.
Or maybe they just want to poke holes in the selections from the listing agent to justify a lower price.
But IMO, it's unlikely there's going to me much shift in pricing opinion as a result of this I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
If the buyer's agent realizes they totally screwed the pooch with their selections, they've got to go back to their buyer(s) and point out they totally goofed with their previous advice, and what agent wants to admit to a client they didn't know how to do their job?
And you can expect the listing agent to pull THE most favorable comparisons. If there are 6 similar homes sold, you can bet the top 3 prices are what are likely to be used (and that might be spot on to do in a housing shortage market).
So ego aside, there MAY be a middle ground where buyer and seller can meet, as long as the agents don't muddy the waters too much.
There's only one way to find out, put the offer on paper and let the dance begin.
Serving Greater Cincinnati home buyers and sellers,
Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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