I received a referral from an agent in another state several months ago. I really love referral and was glad that this agent chose to call me. She has a relative in my area who needs to sell a property and could I talk to her relative. Certainly. So I call this relative and no return call. I email this relative and a couple of days later i get an email. I am asked to go pick up the keys to the apartment and check things out which I gladly do.
When I finally got to meet this referral we sat at the dining room table. We talked. We talked about the comparables. This seller had bought the property two years. There is a lot of inventory and prices are down slightly. I told this seller what I believed the property was worth.
We discussed the measurements of the apartment. The owner believed that she had purchased about 1000 sq ft two years ago. The previous listing said the square footage was around 950. We measured the apartment and we came up with about 850 sq ft. Now comes the problem. This owner did not want to take a loss. She had paid $250,000 two years ago and wanted to list it at $280,000 now. This is a one bedroom/one bath with unrenovated kitchen and bath in a very good location.
The ethical dilemna for me was that this owner did not want to put the measured square footage we did on the listing. She wanted to show a larger apartment than it actually was so that she could possibly get a higher price. This seller had to list with another agent and one that was sloppy and would not measure the apartment, an agent who would just copy the information from the old listing.
When the appraiser comes in and measures the apartment i am not sure what this owner will do as this is a waste of time to sell with incorrect measurements. Most buyers do not measure an apartment before they buy it but if a buyer finds out the square footage is wrong will get angry. Buyers often arrive at the price they want to pay based on price/square foot.
I am keeping an eye on this apartment as I am curious what will happen. Will this seller get her price? This is a good example of why a buyers agent is necessary. A buyer should measure the apartment, should check previous sales and be cognizant of market conditions when arriving at a price they are willing to pay.
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