Clients can be friends or neighbors but one thing is certainly true. They are looking for a professional agent to give them valuable advice, correct?
Well, that is what I did. I have their home listed this year for 40,000 less than we listed it last year. It was high last year and they wouldn't budge on price.
This year the market has dropped even more. But believe it or not an agent in our office brought them an offer the first day after the home was listed! The offer was 20,000 lower than listing price and the real kicker for my clients was: they asked for 7500.00 for their closing costs. The fur flew with that one... they expected the offer price, but not the closing cost request. I explained several things to them about our current market and about my experiences with stubborn sellers.
I told them this very true story:
I had clients in December who put an offer on a home that was listed at 389000. We offered 20,000 less and the sellers refused our offer. It was much more complicated than this, by the way. Long story short, the same house now has a purchase price under 300,000 and is still on the market. The people who put an offer on my current client's home had put two offers on the previously mentioned home also.
So as we worked through the thought process of countering the offer my sellers (and neighbor) said to me: "everyone is representing the buyer" who is representing me?" Well, I am I said. I am representing you to the max by educating you about the current market and the consequences of not taking ANY offer seriously. His health is not good and they really want to move on....so they told me. He calmed down and we have countered after a verbal agreement with buyers' agent. It should all workl
The point is: sellers have tough pills to swallow. It may feel like their agent is representing the buyer in this unprecedented BUYERS' market. To represent our sellers we must help them see how many options buyers have. If we don't accept their offer, there are so many more homes to choose from and the prices continue to drop.
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